The Easiest, Tastiest Challah Recipe

I made a round loaf of challah last night for the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana and when I posted it on Instagram, I got some questions about the recipe so I’m adding it here, below!

I still stand by my original challah recipe (last recipe in my first book ) however I’ve shifted the way I make it over the last several years. I make a slightly bigger loaf now that we have three kids and I have moved away from refined sugar. I also like to use rapid yeast now, so that it doesn’t take as long to rise. Below is my more recent recipe:

CHALLAH

Combine in a standing mixer—>

1 c water

1 packet rapid rise yeast

1/4 c honey or agave

1/3 c olive oil (or veg oil)

2 beaten eggs (but save about 1T of this for later)

1 t coarse salt

(plus bread flour, see note below)

Mix everything together and while the dough hook is spinning, slowly add bread flour. You can also use all purpose flour, but lately I like the texture that bread flour gives. I have found that Bob’s Red Mill flour is totally superior to all others I’ve tried (this is not sponsored!)! I don’t measure the flour but you need around 4 cups. Keep adding flour little by little until your dough turns into a ball and only sticks to the bottom of the bowl a tiny bit. Let the mixer run for another 10 minutes or so on low to “knead” the dough.

Next put your dough ball in an oiled mixing bowl (I use a spray oil and flip the dough ball to coat both sides.) I cover the bowl and put it in the oven (off) with the light on to keep it a little bit warm. Let it rise for about two hours or until it puffs up and seems about doubled in size.

Next, cut the dough into pieces, roll the pieces into ropes and braid it. On an average Friday night Shabbat I do a three-piece long braid. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll watch a YouTube video on a six strand braid, because I can never remember how to do it. For Rosh Hashana, I do a round loaf which symbolizes the cycle of the new year beginning.

Coat the top of your braided challah with that little bit of that leftover beaten egg. You can use a brush, but I just use my hands! Sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or coarse salt and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. (for a round loaf, 35 min) Eat it warm! And if you are like my kids, you’ll smother each bite in salted butter, also.

#shanatovah #challah #roshhashana

Stuffed Baked Apples

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is this week and I am planning our holiday menu! We are hosting a big dinner at the cabin on Friday and I am planning to make baked apples for dessert. Growing up in the apple orchard, we made these when I was little and they remind me so much of Fall. You can really fill them with anything, but I usually do a mixture of butter, dried berries, raisins, dried chopped figs, nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir all the ingredients together, spoon them into cored apples and bake at 350 degrees F, for about an hour. (I do an hour and 15 minutes to get very soft apples). Serve warm drizzled with honey alongside vanilla ice cream.

For more photos and the full recipe check out my post for Better Homes and Gardens today. 

L'shana Tova! (Happy New Year!)

Pomegranate Challah

The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is this week, which continues the season of the Jewish New Year. To celebrate this annual cycle, challah is often formed into a round (instead of being braided) and harvest type foods, like pomegranate, are often eaten. I combined these ideas into a sweet bread, baked with lots of honey and pomegranate seeds. You can work the pom seeds into the dough itself, or just sprinkle them on the top, or both!

I have tried a million challah recipes and came up with this combo of ingredients that I like best. Bread is not that hard, you can do it! Here’s how:

Put one packet of yeast in a bowl with ¾ cup warm water and let it sit for 5 min until it gets a little bubbly. Then toss in an egg, 1/3 honey, 2T brown sugar, a big pinch of coarse salt and a half stick melted butter. Mix it all by hand or using a mixer. Then add flour, little by little until it’s no longer sticking to the side of the bowl and is thick and doughy and doesn’t seem to absorb any more flour (you’ll know…). You usually need about 4 cups of flour.

Knead it for a couple minutes (or just let it go around in the mixer with the dough hook) then throw that lump of dough into a big bowl you’ve coated in oil, and cover the top of the bowl with saran wrap. It’ll rise to about twice the size in a couple hours. Then take it out, roll it into a snake, then coil it into a round. Sprinkle with pom seeds and brush with egg (optional, but makes it feel more official!). Let it rise on a cookie sheet for another 45 min or so, then pop it in the oven for about 25 min at 350 degrees. Check it once in a while to see how brown it’s getting, and tap it on the bottom to see if it’s done (it should sound kind of hollow). Enjoy!

By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast