Holiday Planning & Ideas Hanukkah 16 Hanukkah Desserts You'll Crave All 8 Nights From walnut babka to rugelach to sufganiyot, our best Hanukkah dessert recipes are festive and delicious. By Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years. Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 3, 2022 Close Photo: Will Anderson No celebration of the Festival of Lights is complete without a sweet treat to close out the evening. From all kinds of rugelach cookies to those irresistible fried sufganiyot, the Israeli jelly-filled donuts that are perhaps the best known Hanukkah dessert, there are many different and delicious options for your dessert table on this special holiday. Fried desserts are a time-honored tradition at Hanukkah: They are symbolic of the oil that was only supposed to burn for one day, but lasted eight long nights. Our recipe collection includes several twists (one is actually shaped as twists!) on the fried donut, as well as apple fritters. Among our favorite baked Hanukkah desserts are some decorated in blue and white for the holiday—plus there's a giant chocolate-covered marshmallow version of the dreidel and easy homemade gelt. 19 Hanukkah Dinner Recipes the Whole Family Will Love 01 of 16 Holiday Rugelach Mike Krautter This twist on the classic Jewish dessert is rolled up with prune and apricot butters. The secret to that shiny, slightly crunchy finish is a combination of cinnamon and sugar. Nothing feels more festive than that! View Recipe 02 of 16 Raisin-Challah Apple Betty Justin Walker Similar to a cobbler, apple betty is an easy fruit dessert. It's made with breadcrumbs rather than a flour-butter-sugar crumb mixture and will make for a sweet start to the holiday. Top each portion with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. View Recipe 03 of 16 Walnut Babka Bryan Gardner Though not a traditional Hanukkah dessert per se, babka is part of many holiday tables at this time of year, along with many other iconic Jewish dishes. Renowned babka baker Uri Scheft shared his version with Martha, and now you can give it a try, too. View Recipe 04 of 16 Hanukkah Sufganiyot It's not a Hanukkah celebration without fried, jelly-filled donuts. They're plump and fluffy—and every bite is just so sweet. View Recipe 05 of 16 Chocolate Marshmallow Dreidels Kid-friendly and oh-so-sweet, this is a time when it's actually fine to play with your food. Create an assembly line of pretzel sticks, chocolate kisses, marshmallows, and melted chocolate so everyone can create their own edible dreidel. View Recipe 06 of 16 Apple Fritters David Malosh A plate of these bite-sized treats, topped off with a generous dusting of powdered sugar, is a delicious way to celebrate Hanukkah. View Recipe 07 of 16 Donut Twists To honor the oil that burned for eight long nights, make these delicious and indulgent fried donut twists. They're a delight to eat for dessert, breakfast, or both! View Recipe 08 of 16 Pistachio and Dried-Apricot Rugelach Aaron Dyer Sweet, rich pistachios and apricot jam are an irresistible filling in these rugelach cookies. Make the dough a day in advance, then form, fill, and finish the cookies the following day. View Recipe 09 of 16 Shortbread Cookies These shortbread cookies are very versatile—cut them out in a six point star and create individual monograms so they can double as place settings. Or add color by frosting the cookies with blue-and-white icing, then top with silver sprinkles for a festive Hanukkah finish. View Recipe 10 of 16 Walnut and Brown-Sugar Rugelach Rich and creamy, a batch of these rugelach cookies will go fast. The dough can be made up to three months in advance and kept frozen until it's time to fill and shape them for the holiday. View Recipe 11 of 16 Glitter Ball Cookies Decorated in Hanukkah colors, these bite-sized cookies are just dazzling. They're filled with a creamy ginger buttercream that gives them the perfect amount of spice. View Recipe 12 of 16 Cinnamon-Honey Donuts with Raspberry Jam Enjoy this sweet, spice, and everything nice take on the beloved sufganiyot. Honey adds a touch of sweetness to the dough. View Recipe 13 of 16 Jelly Donuts Will Anderson These are sure to be everyone's favorite Hanukkah dessert. The light-as-air yeasted donuts can be filled with strawberry or grape jelly. View Recipe 14 of 16 Homemade Gelt Aaron Dyer Why not make your own versions of the gold-wrapped chocolate coins handed out to children during Hanukkah? It's easy using our recipe that calls for filling the cups of a mini muffin tin with melted chocolate and topping with orange zest, cacao nibs, and candied ginger. View Recipe 15 of 16 Cake Donuts Here's a fried dessert everyone will enjoy while they're still warm from cooking. Their crisp, fried exterior contrasts with the cloud-like interior; a dusting of confectioners' sugar is the finishing touch. View Recipe 16 of 16 Apple-Cider Donut Cake Jonathan Lovekin Perfect for a crowd, this cinnamon-scented Bundt cake is a delightful way to finish a Hanukkah celebration. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit