Hard to believe Chanukah is creeping up quickly. Here are some of my staple recipes I’d love to share with you.

Luscious Latkes

4 potatoes

1 small onion grated

4 eggs

1 scant cup flour

1/2 cup matzoh meal

1/4 cup corn oil

Peel and rinse potatoes. Grate by hand or with a food processor in a large bowl. Add the grated onion. Add the eggs and mix. Add about 1/4 cup of flour and stir. Add a heaping tablespoon of matzoh meal and another 1/4 cup flour and stir. Continue alternating flour and matzoh meal. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan. Add latke batter forming small pancakes until golden brown. I like to pre spray my pan with Pam before putting oil in. Drain on paper towels.

Tips: When making latkes in advance, make a large batch, don’t fry them too crispy if you are going to reheat them in the oven. Before serving, bake them in one layer on a cookie sheet so there is no waiting for the next batch from the frying pan. The oven heated ones come out crispy when heated at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. During baking, turn them over after about five minutes. You can also keep them in the oven for a few minutes more on a warm setting if necessary. If making latkas for people who are sensitive to fried foods, add 1 tsp. baking soda to the batter. This will help in the digestion process.

DOUGH NOTS

10 5” squares puff pastry dough

5 Cortland apples, peeled

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

12 cup Caramel Chips or Caramel Cream

Confectioner’s sugar

Cut each apple in half horizontally. Using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds making a cavity. Mix together the sugars and the cinnamon. Roll each piece of apple in the mixture until it is coated well. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment (my favorite tool… by the way Christmas Tree Shop always has this on sale with a hechsher)

Using a rolling pin, roll out a square of dough making it bigger. Place a piece of apple on the dough with the cavity facing upwards. Fill the cavity with 2 teaspoons caramel chips or caramel cream. Wrap the dough over the apple bringing all the sides together and press down to seal well. Turn the wrapped apple over and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and apples.

Bake donuts at 375 for 45 minutes or until brown. Feel free to sift Confectioner’s sugar over the donuts and serve warm YUMMMM

Dreidel Surprise Cookies

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust work surface

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup Vanilla Frosting of your choice

blue food coloring

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Roll the cookie dough out to 1/4” thickness. Cut out dreidels using a cookie cutter.

Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a small square cookie cutter or a knife to cut the centers out of one third of your cookies. Refrigerate cookies for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake cookies for 12-16 minutes until just the edges begin to brown. Allow cookies to cool completely. Color vanilla frosting with blue food coloring. Fill a disposable pastry bag or a zip top bag with frosting. Snip off the end of your bag. Decorate one third of the dreidel cookies using the frosting. Pipe two lines of frosting across the dreidel as pictured, then add one of the four Hebrew letters. Allow frosting to dry for about 15 minutes.

Set the cookies with the square cut outs upside down on your baking sheet. Pipe a thin line of frosting down the middle of the cookies all around the square opening. Press cookies, frosting side down onto a plain dreidel cookies.

Fill the square opening with small candies, raisins, or nuts. Pipe a thin line of frosting down the middle of the cookie all around the square opening. Top it with a decorated dreidel cookie.

Allow cookies to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving so the frosting has time to harden and the cookie layers will stay together. You can store the dreidel cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Enjoy…

Gail Hochman has been a resident of Bergen County for over 30 years and has been blessed with many grandchildren.

By Gail Hochman