The Ultimate Guide to the Best Sufganiyot in Jerusalem

As the streets of Jerusalem come alive with Hanukkah’s festive spirit, bakeries across the city showcase their most creative and mouthwatering takes on the traditional sufganiyot. From classic jam-filled delights to innovative flavors like mango passionfruit and crème brûlée, there’s no shortage of options for donut lovers to indulge in during the holiday.

In this guide, I’ve compiled recommendations for the best sufganiyot in Jerusalem based on years of delicious research. Whether you’re seeking crispy and fluffy Moroccan sfinj, French-inspired confections, or modern twists on classic recipes, these bakeries have something for everyone. Let’s dive in and explore the most irresistible sufganiyot the city offers!

A new addition this year is Oneg Patisserie, where the sufganiyot were incredibly delicious, even at the end of the day. My overall favorite this year is Teller Bakery, which combines excellent dough, filling, and flavors. On my hit list to try over Hanukkah are the pretzel donut at La Patissiere and the Dubai pistachio at Neeman Bakery.

I will continue to taste Sufganiyot around Jerusalem in the name of research, so follow me on Instagram or Facebook for more updates. Please share your recommendations and photos in Restaurant Club Jerusalem‘s Facebook group.

Debbest Jerusalem Sufganiyot 

Here is my pick of the best sufganiyot in Jerusalem, based on experience from this year and previous years:

• Achim Haba (Mehadrin), on the corner of Machane Yehuda Street and HaAfarsek Street, sells the best Sfinj I have tried. They are light and fluffy with a crunchy outside (NIS 4 for one, NIS 10 for three). The bakery makes other donuts with good dough but cheap fillings, so stick to the sfinj.

• Gagou de Paris (Mehadrin) on King George makes some of the best sufganiyot in Jerusalem. I am not sure what flavors they have this year, but their pastries are always great and I have always loved the sufganiyot in the past.

• Gourmandises (Mehadrin) make some of my favorite sufganiyot. I like the European style of dough, and each donut has a good dough-to-filling ratio. This year’s flavors include candy apple, caramel, coffee, crème brûlée, Ferrero chocolate, lemon, pistachio, pretzel, strawberry jam (homemade), white chocolate and coconut, and vanilla (NIS 16 each). They don’t have a store but are available for delivery, and you can also order from them to have them delivered directly to army bases via WhatsApp.

• La Patissiere (Mehadrin) has branches in Ramot, Rehavia & Givat Shaul. The donuts are nicely decorated,  generously filled, and have a French-style dough.  I have tried pistachio, coffee, and chocolate in the past, which were all very well-flavored with a rich and silky filling. As well as the classic jam and dulce de leche, flavors include Ferrero Rocher, milk chocolate, pistachio, pretzel & St. Honoré. Prices range from NIS 7 to 16.

• Neeman Bakery (Mehadrin) makes the best sufganiyot of all the chain bakeries. The classic Moroccan Sfinj has always been my favorite at Neeman, but the other donuts are also very good, with simple quality flavors.  This year’s flavors include banana lotti,  Belgian white chocolate, Belgian milk chocolate, Caramelo, Dubai pistachio, Israela (white chocolate with blue and white sprinkles), Lotus, milk chocolate sprinkles, oreo cookies, pink lady, and white chocolate sprinkles.

• Oneg Patisserie opened off Kikar Zion earlier in the year. The kitchen behind the store makes all baked goods on-site. Flavors include almond apple, rice crispies, lemon meringue, mocha, pistachio, and raspberry (all NIS 17). I liked the flavors and texture of the dough. Although the filling tasted good, it was very runny and twice fell out when I took a bite (once on the floor and once down me).

• Paris Bakikar is another newcomer this year. There are only a few flavors to choose from, including milky, oreo, Ferrero Rocher, mekupelet (chocolate curls) and pistachio. I thought the dough was great, it was not too dry or heavy, not too oily. The sufganiyot have plenty of filling, and I really liked the pistachio cream with white chocolate and the Oreo.
• Teller Bakery only started making interesting flavors a few years ago, but since then, they have been consistently excellent. This year’s flavors include black forest, cinnamon, coffee pecan, cookie cream, kid’s candies, kid’s klik, lemon meringue, mango passionfruit, Pavlova, St. Honoré, sweet popcorn, whisky & dark chocolate (all NIS 12 in-store or NIS 13 on Wolt). I loved the mango passionfruit with its smooth, tangy filling, one of the best flavors I have ever tasted. While I liked the caramel crunch of the St. Honoré, I found the dough slightly dry and needed more filling. Teller has branches in Jerusalem, Modiin, and Tel Aviv.

Other Sufganiyot 

• David Laor makes brioche-baked donuts filled with almond cream, apricot and cheese, chocolate patissier, coffee mascarpone, lemon meringue, raspberry pistachio, strawberry jam, and vanilla patissier. The dough is too bread-like and not fluffy enough, but the fillings are fabulous especially the lemon and almond. Donuts can be ordered in advance and collected at the new kiosk in the Jerusalem Pool on Emek Refaim, and are on sale in the kiosk at Gidon Park in Baka.
• English Cake (Mehadrin) has a good selection of flavors, but the sufganiyot are obviously mass-produced and not freshly baked. This year’s flavors include chocolate rolls (megulgelet), chocolate sprinkles (parev), crumb cheesecake, Ferrero Rocher, “Milky,” Mozart (nougat and white chocolate), Napoleon, Nutella, Oreo cream, pistachio, red velvet, and vanilla. All sufganiyot are 5 + 1, with the cheapest being free.
• Fika Bakery makes incredible baked donuts. This year’s flavors include apple crumble, Daim chocolate, orange elderflower, raspberry jam, semla, and Swedish princess cake (jam is NIS 12, the rest NIS 14. Donuts can be ordered in advance and collected at their Tel Aviv and Reut stores and on Tuesday (31st) at HaMiffal in Jerusalem.

• Jorno Bakery (Dairy not supervised) makes incredible French-style donuts. This year’s flavors include classic jam, dulce de leche, vanilla cream, and chocolate sprinkles. There are two branches in Herzliya Pituach, one in Tel Aviv and one in Netanya.
• Kadosh might make delicious sufganiyot, but it is not good enough to wait in line for. If you sit down at the restaurant, you will have good luck getting service.
• Lehamim only makes classic flavors of jam, dulce de leche, and chocolate, but they were highly recommended, so I decided to try them this year. The dough reminded me of Spanish donuts with a slight orange taste, which I don’t love. The fillings were homemade but overly sweet. I bought a box of 4 for a work meeting, and none of us liked them. They have several branches across Tel Aviv.
• Roladin sufganiyot are mass-produced and often look better than they taste, but they are still very popular. This year’s flavors include Bianco hazelnuts, black crumble cookies, café royal, Choco candy, gold cookie cream, mascarpone & berries, pistachio praline, malabi rose, salted caramel popcorn, and sweet sour.

Here is information about Israeli Hanukkah Gift Shopping 2024.

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