Reply To: Very Interesting! The Reason Why We Eat Jelly Donuts On Chanukah

not2bright

According to Rabbi Bodner in his Halachos of Brachos book, doughnuts including jelly ones are not considered pas haba bkisnin. Although he does bring that a Yorei Shomayim should be machmir like the minority Shittah and not eat a shiur seudah outside of a bread meal. Even within a bread meal, I saw that Rav Moncharch on Revach.net discusses it and says “Our doughnuts are even more problematic, since they are eaten as a desert they would not be included in the hamotzi and it would not even help to make hamotzi first. Therefore, other more creative solutions are required. Therefore anyone G-d fearing should only eat sufganiyot as part of a bread meal, and should either make a bracha of mezonos on something else before he washes with explicit intention to exempt the doughnut, or at the end of the meal before eating the sufganiya he should make a mezonos on something that certainly requires a bracha during a meal such as Bisli.

While this is only a chumra, it is one endorsed by the Shulchan Aruch.”

I would say the best move is not to eat a shiur seudah and if you want to be machmir, eat it for dessert after a bread meal after making a mezonos on something that vaday requires a mezonos.