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Here’s a common query I get from many of you out there and this time, instead of only responding to the person writing to me, I would like to share it with all of you.

The answer to this dough and rising issue is one that I know so many challah bakers need to know:

Hi Tamar,
I make challot because both my kids (ages 3 and 1) are allergic to egg and the shop bought ones usually have egg in them. My recipe uses fresh yeast, and then all the usual ingredients except eggs.

I made some today, left the dough to rise for a little over 3 hours as I had to go out and it rose beautifully (see photo) and was very airy.
image001
I knocked it back, shaped the loaves, and left them to rise again for about an hour.

This is when the problem occurs. After they have been baked they never rise more than about an inch. They expand outwards but not upwards. I am sure there isn’t a problem with the yeast as the dough always rises brilliantly when left before shaping but just doesn’t rise again after shaping and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’d really appreciate any advice you can give.
Good Shabbos,
LC

Answer from Tamar Ansh:

Hi and thanks for writing in! Your problem is not really that uncommon – it happens to lots of people. Here’s what I think is most likely the issue.

Your dough is a bit too loose, and too wet. While this will yes net you airier challahs and those that rise a lot, you need to put a bit more flour into your dough so it will hold its shape after rising. I suggest adding in another half cup to a full cup of flour to your dough when you are preparing it.
DSCF6807measuringcup&flour
If this makes the dough too tough, add in a bit more liquid again although not too much and also a bit more oil. Your final dough should be smooth and elastic feeling without being too sticky and too soft.

doughkneadcrop0339
Try this tip and let me know if it works for you. This way, when you go to shape (re: braid, plait) your challah it will hold it’s shape better. It should also be easier to shape without sticking to your hands or work surface, and it will also rise upwards as well as outwards, thereby giving you a higher challah.

DSCF0266
Another solution that I know helps a lot of people is to use a “challah pan”, which is an oval shaped pan that comes in many different sizes to accommodate small to very large challahs. This way your challah cannot spread out, it is forced to rise upwards. (I do sell these pans in Jerusalem, not for overseas shipping though, if anyone is interested.)

Have a great Shabbos and happy challah baking.

A reader named Esther sent in her favorite of Tamar’s challah tips:

I have been baking challahs for more years than I can remember and have tried all sorts of tips light and fluffy.

I have tried:

  • Soda water
  • Punching down the dough in the middle of rising
  • Using “meshaper”
  • And many more

The winner is:

Tamar’s recommendation to knead for 10 minutes, then rest the dough, then knead again for 4 more minutes in order to fully activate the yeast.

My challahs and rolls are rising considerably more than they used to and are consequently lighter too. This
also means an increased yield per kilo. Thank you!

—
Esther
Jerusalem

How to Bake Your Challahs Evenly

No more doughy middles!

Question: “My challahs rise okay and seem to bake fine but when we slice them open they are too doughy or not done enough in the middle. Other times they seem to sag in the center or fall inwards. How do I take care of this?”

Tamar’s answer:

To get challahs to bake evenly, you should check several things, to see which is the culprit.

  • 1. Check that your oven is working properly. Get an oven thermometer and insert it into your oven’s central area. Turn the oven on. When the oven is supposed to be at its designated temp, about 15 – 20 minutes into the time after you have turned it on, check what it says.
  • 2. Do all of your other baked items bake okay and the problem is only your challahs? If this is what’s happening, it could be that your challahs have simply not been inside the oven long enough. If so, increase your baking time by another 5 minutes for your challahs. Don’t worry if the tops get browner, that’s fine.
  • 3. Check with a timer, how long your challahs are rising. Maybe they rose faster than the recipe stated and they are actually a bit over-risen. This will cause challahs to fall inwards once they are egged. If this is your problem, for your next batch of challahs, set a timer for the rising time to be 5-10 minutes less time than you normally would have let them rise.

How to tell if challahs are baked through evenly

Completely baked-through challahs should have browned tops AND, equally important, baked-through and browned bottoms.

To check this, take a long flat spatula and pick up the challahs before your take them off of the tray to cool. If they are firm and browned through on the bottoms as well, they should be done.

Substituting Whole Wheat Flour Instead of White Flour

A frequent question I receive is about replacing white flour in a recipe with whole wheat flour. Here is today’s question from Suri:

I have made your challah (from A Taste of Challah cookbook) many times and it’s delicious. How can I tweak it by making whole wheat using 5 lb bag of whole wheat flour?!?

Whole wheat challahs are so nice, especially if you make part of the dough as rolls that you or family members can use for sandwiches during the week. When I do that, I measure the dough at 100 grams each and them shape rolls with them. This way they are portion controlled.

5lbs of flour is equal to 16-17 cups flour, which is the amount of flour I used in most of my recipes in A Taste of Challah; on purpose since this is the minimum amount of flour necessary according to rov poskim in order to be mafrish challah with a bracha from the dough.

The substitution:

To make whole wheat challahs just substitute whole wheat for the white flour in any recipe you like and add in another 1/4 – 1/2 cup water to the dough also, as whole wheat absorbs more water than white flour does, especially during the first rise of the dough.

My challah crumbles when we cut it. I don’t know why. This is what I do. I never had any issues with it till now but I changed a few things. I started to use distilled water and self rising flour, maybe one of these is the problem. Not sure. But the challah is so sticky that I add a little more flour. I tried adding oil but it still is sticky so I can’t roll it very well. What should I do?

Tamar’s answer:

It’s hard for me to “diagnose” a challah problem without knowing the entire recipe you are following. However… in absence of knowing exactly what else was in your recipe, I’ll take an educated guess.

Rising agents

You should NOT use “self rising flour” for any challah recipe. The reason those flours “self rise” is because they are laced with tons of either baking soda, baking powder or both. Baking powders are one kind of a rising agent, and yeast is a totally different one.

Self-rising flour is meant for simple cakes where people don’t add baking powder to the recipe and instead use this flour. I bake tons and tons all the time and all I can say is that I have never once in my life ever used such flour. I’m nearly certain that is the problem.

If the flour has all that baking powder in it and then on top of that you have the yeast of the challah recipe, the challah is sure to dry out while it is baking. It can’t be a cake and also a bread at the same time .

Let’s bake it again

Try using ordinary flour that you sift first before starting to make it into a dough. Follow the instructions for any of the recipes in A Taste of Challah. I’m pretty sure your challahs will then come out as you are expecting them to – soft and delicious!

IF, for some reason , this does not solve your problem, please write me again and we’ll try once more to help you! Either way I’d love to know if my answers help you.

Happy baking!

One of the most frequent questions I receive is about freezing challah dough.

Can I freeze challah dough?
How do I freeze challah dough?

People all over the world freeze their challah dough.

However, I have found that the dough does not bake the same way once it has been frozen as dough, so I prefer not to freeze unbaked challahs.

Here is what I do instead.

1 I bake the whole batch.
2 Then freeze them baked.

Fresh challah, no mess

If my challahs are all baked and lined up in the freezer already, all I have to do on a week when I don’t have time to bake, is to remove the challahs from the freezer a few hours before Shabbos and poof – fresh challah, no mess.

Warming up the (formerly) frozen challah

If you want the defrosted challahs to be warm:

1 Wrap them in foil.
2 Warm up your oven shortly before Shabbos
3 Turn off the oven and then place the wrapped challahs in your warmed up oven shortly before Shabbos begins.
4 Remove them before Kiddush and place them on the table.

If you really want to freeze the unbaked dough

I know lots and lots of my readers enjoy having the smell of the freshly baked loaf in their homes and for this reason they do want to freeze unbaked challahs. And sometimes people only own small freezers and therefore do not have room to store risen and larger challahs – the frozen ones are smaller in size…

SO
If you do choose to freeze the unbaked challahs here’s what I’d do:

1 Make the dough
2 Do the hafrasha
3 Let the dough rise the first time for about an hour or so
4 Punch down and then shape.
Note: No need to let the shaped challahs rise if you are about to freeze them.

Freezing unbaked challahs

1 Line the baking tray with baking paper and place the shaped challahs upon them.
2 Freeze them uncovered.
3 When they are frozen solid, place them in good quality freezer bags and leave them in the freezer.

Prepping frozen dough for baking

The day you want to bake the frozen, shaped challah dough:

1 Take the frozen challah dough out of the bags.
2 Place them on the tray or in the pan you want to bake them in.
3 Let them sit there to defrost and then (hopefully) to rise.
4 When risen, brush with beaten eggs and bake as usual.

Happy baking!

Explaining Shlissel Challahs

This article first appeared in Hamodia’s Inyan Magazine, 2014

Question:
I know that the first Shabbos immediately following Pesach is what is known as Key Challah week, aka, shlissel challahs. What is this minhag all about? Doesn’t Hashem decree what we will make for the whole year on Rosh Hashana?

Question:
I tried making key challahs so many different ways but they come out looking anything but like a key. Any ideas you can share?

Answer to both qu’s:
The minhag to bake shlissel challah for the first Shabbos after Pesach is a long-standing one. To quote the Sefer HaTodah by R’Eliyahu Kitov: “The Shabbat after Pesach when we announce the coming of Iyar some…have the custom to make challah in the form of a key and to sprinkle it with sesame seeds. This is to remind us of the Mahn that fell in the desert and began falling in the month of Iyar; it also symbolizes that the ‘key’ to our parnossa is in Hashem’s hands. We pray that Hashem will open up his store of treasures and shower us with abundance.”

Sesame seeds are used to depict mahn as they are small and white as it says about the mahn, “they were like small seeds, white, and [tasted] as if they were dipped in honey.”

As for what is decreed on Rosh Hashana…a Yid always can use more bracha. We all want to pray that our parnossa comes through an easy and normal way, with no undue stress and hardship, so the extra tefillohs and brachos can only help.

I also interviewed Rebbetzin Sara Meisels (of Bobov) about this minhag and she had an additional background story to tell me about it:

There’s a beautiful story about the Maharal M’Prague that happened during the time that Klal Yisroel were persecuted relentlessly by non Jews with blood libels, r’l. After Lail Haseder, the Maharal was sitting and learning in his room at home; the key to the shul was with him, hung up in its place on the wall. The key suddenly fell to the ground. He picked it up and put it back on the hook. After it was hung up, it fell again. He picked it up once more. And then it fell a third time. This time he realized that Shomayaim was trying to tell him something, so he went to check the shul. When he got there, he saw that the paroches was moved out of place. He opened the Aron Kodesh and saw, hidden inside the Aron, what looked like a bottle of wine. After opening it he realized it was a bottle of blood; the non Jews were trying to set up a blood libel against them! Quickly, he pulled out the bottle, poured out the blood and rinsed it. He then poured wine inside instead.

The next morning the goyim burst into shul with the police, yelling and screaming. They went straight to the Aron Kodesh – obviously they knew where to go – and pulled out the bottle. The kehilla was very frightened but the Maharal was calm as he watched what happened next…the police opened it up and smelled it and it was only wine! They got very angry at the perpetrators and threw them in jail. Miraculously, the entire kehillah was saved. It was a huge hatzalah for the whole Jewish community.

Afterwards the Maharal wanted to do something to commemorate this special miracle. He knew that everyone bakes challah right after Pesach – especially in those years they had no other food besides the bread they made themselves – so he told his Rebbetzin to bake the challahs for that week, in the shape of a key. Afterwards, it became part of Klal Yisroel and their Kehilla for every generation. We also know that these ‘key challahs” symbolize the key to parnossa, as the Sefer Hatodah mentions.

So since nearly all of us want blessing for a good parnossa, we usually find a way to push ourselves to get those challahs done somehow, even after all the work of Pesach has just finished. I know of someone who would make extras and give it out to some of her neighbors to wish them a blessed year filled with parnossa tova…

There’s lots of interesting ways to make a key challah. I already have shown one in my Hebrew challah book and in a previous article I did for Hamodia over seven years ago; this time I’d like to try a new way. I saw this done by a lady named Sara E. who hired me to do a challah show for her whole family on Chanukah. In fact, you can even combine this with another minhag of having a challah that is made out of 12 pieces, a yud beis challah…

Take 12 smaller pieces of dough. Roll each one up into a small roll, whichever shape suits you. I liked the idea of them being small round flower-like shapes. You roll out the challah strand, and holding one end you make a small circle; the long end of the strand that you have left over, weave in and out of the hole of the circle three times, ending on the bottom of the roll. When these bake they will resemble a closed flower. Line up five of them in one row, with one or two rolls connected to the side of the second to bottom roll in this row.
This will become the bottom of the ‘key’.

The top part is very simple. Continuing where the top roll of the handle is, place the rest of the little rolls in a circle coming off of it. This is the top of your ‘key’. Now take a piece of baking paper that you squish into a ball shape OR a round small cookie cutter (and grease it with oil first so it wont get stuck inside the challah) OR use a piece of foil. Place this in the center of the circle so it will stay open.

Let it rise for 15-20 minutes and not longer. Too long and it will lose its shape. Preheat the oven; while it is heating, brush your challah with a beaten egg. If you make more than one challah, even better! Then sprinkle them with white sesame seeds and bake them at 375°F / 190°C. It should take about 20-25 minutes to brown to perfection on both the top of the challahs as well as the bottom.

When it is done, remove it carefully to a wire rack to cool, being careful that it should not break apart. Freeze it on a flat, lined cookie tray until hardened and them wrap it in plastic until the day of use. Or just shape it that Friday morning and then bring it directly to the table to await Hamotzi that night.

Just break off the rolls and serve. If you have more than 12 people at the table, I guess you will have to cut them up a bit more!
With warmest wishes for parnossa tova u’veshefa,
Tamar Ansh

Yeast to Flour Ratio

I have read all your info on yeast, but am still confused!! – I have just bought individual 11g sachets of Instant Dry Yeast (manufacturer Dagan) – how do I use it in my challas????- I look forward to your reply – many thanks,

An 11 gram packet is about 2 teaspoons plus a bit more of yeast. This is not so exact so, since I never buy such small packets, I would suggest measuring it with a teaspoon. See how much it comes out to be. If you only want to do a small amount of challah, then cut down the recipe I gave you to half and this way you will only need one and a half of such packets for about 8-9 cups of flour ratio.

Happy challah baking!

How to Prepare and Cook Fresh Pumpkin

For clarification, fresh pumpkin can be bought in Israel in any vegetable store. They are massive and are therefore sold in wrapped chunks, usually kept near the salads in the refrigerator section, and are called “DaLa’at”. They are bright orange in color and are loaded with vitamins and flavor.

In the States, pumpkin has a smaller and more rounded appearance and is usually sold as a late fall vegetable. It will cook up and bake the same way, but the coloring may be somewhat different.

Those who cannot get fresh pumpkin for the baked items I will be showing can substitute canned pumpkin, but please note that the fresh comes out and works so much nicer. Besides, it’s a bit healthier also…

To prepare fresh pumpkin

Take the pumpkin pieces that you bought, wash off the outside rind well with a sponge and soapy water, and fill a large pot with 3 inches of water.

Cover the pot and cook the pumpkin pieces until they are just turning soft, about 30 minutes.

Turn off the flame and leave the pot covered so the steam will cook it the rest of the way, about another 10 minutes.

Uncover the pot and let the pumpkin cool off until you can handle it easily without burning yourself.

Pluck out each piece, scoop out the pumpkin into a clean bowl and discard the rinds.

Mash with a fork or potato masher until just mashed but not completely pureed.

Drain again by hand, squeezing out the excess water – gently! You don’t want to kill it, and a little bit of liquid in it is fine.

Now it is ready for use. Measure the amount you need as you do each recipe.

Hello again! I was about to begin baking my challah using whole wheat flour and without eggs.
Your recipe says to put the ingredients into a mixer bowl and knead for ten minutes with a mixer. Do you mean a hand held mixer like I use for cakes? Or only the heavy duty bread machine type of mixer?
Or another way to ask my question: can I knead by hand for ten minutes?

I’ve been making challos and bread for many decades but every batch comes out different… so I wanted to try to have these be “perfect!”

Whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than white. And especially if you are taking out the eggs you will then need to add another 1/2 cup of water to the recipe and a bit more oil.

Of course I do NOT mean a small hand held mixer, it would break in a sec. Yes a big machine mixer. But for sure you can knead it by hand, in fact its even preferable because you can knead and pray at the same time…