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Sweet Mixed Whole Wheat Egg Challah

Ingredients

This larger amount makes enough dough to get the mitzvah of hafrashas challah, ie, separating challah with a blessing. It makes 6 larger challahs, 8-9 medium sized ones.
10 cups / 1.5 kilo very finely ground whole wheat flour (or one of the whole wheat flours that are 75%-85%) 12 cups white flour, sifted 5-6 cups warm water 3 eggs 1 T. salt 2 & 1/4 cups light brown sugar 1 cup canola oil 100 grams fresh yeast cube or 3 & ½ Tablespoons dry yeast Additional eggs for glazing Seeds of choice A bit more oil for shaping and rolling For those of you who want a very small recipe, here are smaller amounts: Just remember, that when doing this small version, you cannot get the mitzvah of ‘hafrashas challah’ as the amounts of flour are too small… 10 cups / 1.5 kilo very finely ground whole wheat flour (or one of the whole wheat flours that are 75%-85%) 2 and 1/2 cups finely ground whole wheat flour 5 cups white flour 2 cups warm water 1/2 cup additional warm water if needed 1/3 cup oil 1 egg 1 teaspoon of salt 3/4 cup light brown sugar 1 Tablespoon dry yeast Additional eggs for glazing later on Seeds of choice A bit more oil for shaping and rolling.

Method

Place the fresh yeast in the bottom of a large mixing bowl; crumble slightly with your hands. If you are using the dry, just put it in the bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the sugar on top of it. Add part of the warm water to cover it, then cover the bowl and let the yeast proof for 5 -8 minutes. (If you used dry yeast, you do not need to wait for it to proof; just continue.)

Add half of the flour, the oil, sugar and eggs.

Start to mix while adding in some more of the water. Add in the salt and continue to knead. It should resemble a thick batter at this point.

Turn off the mixer and cover the bowl again. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer back on and slowly add the remaining flour while mixing and adding in water at the same time until a smooth, slightly sticky dough is formed. This can be done by hand as well as by mixer. Keep mixing until the dough is uniformly mixed. Add small amounts of water and oil as needed in order to complete the texture of the dough.

When done, transfer the dough to a very large, oiled bowl to rise. Turn the dough over once or twice so it becomes coated a bit with oil. Then cover the dough by sliding the entire bowl with the dough into a large plastic garbage bag.

Remove challah with a blessing, if you made the larger amount.

Leave the dough to rise now for an hour. Punch the dough down and leave it to rise another hour, if you have the time for it. This extra punching down and then re-rising activates the gluten in the dough and will make a marked difference in the final product.

If the shaping will be done only much later on in the day or the next morning, grease your hands with oil, punch down the dough all over and place it in a large garbage bag. Remove all air and seal it on top with a strong knot. Place it in the fridge until ready for shaping.

When you want to shape it, take it out of the fridge for at least an hour prior so that it warms up to room temperature first.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 – 360 °F/ 185°C.

Line your trays with baking parchment paper, and shape dough into rounded shapes as desired. After the challahs have been shaped, allow them to rise for 40 minutes, covered lightly with plastic wrap so they won’t dry out.

Brush them with an egg glaze and slide them into the preheated oven.

At this point, the total rising time should be 45 minutes. Many times people write or say to let “breads” rise for an hour. However, with these pretty shapes, I find that just this amount of time works best. If you over-rise your challahs, they become too airy and then often fall, or spread out too much or lose their pretty shape and flatten when baking. To retain their beautiful shape, it’s best to bake them after they have risen between 40-45 minutes.

The custom is to shape the challahs in a rounded shape at this time of year, to symbolize that the Jewish Year never ends; it comes full circle and then we start again. And it also reminds us that we pray to Hashem for our lives to continue… just like a circle continues.

Delicious Egg Challah

I made up this recipe years ago when I was first experimenting with challah recipes, and kept tweaking it until I was happy with both its taste and its texture. For those who are looking for a genuine, easy-to-work-with, home style egg challah, this is the recipe of choice…

Yield: 4 large loaves or about 20-25 small individual sized rolls Remember, that if you have a small family or don’t want to use so much challah at once, you can either opt to halve this recipe, or follow the freezing tips and advice on page 42 of the book, Step Seven out of ‘Seven Steps to Amazing Challahs’.

Ingredients

2 ounces/ 50 gram cube of fresh yeast 3-4 cups very warm water, divided ¾ cup canola oil ¾ cup sugar, divided 1 & ½ T. salt 5 eggs 16 cups freshly sifted flour (2.3 kilos of flour) 1 more egg for glazing later on seeds for sprinkling the tops of the challah with, optional

Method

Sift your flour and set it aside. In a small bowl, add 2 cups of warm water, the yeast, and ¼ cup of the sugar. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it to activate for about 8 minutes.

In the mixing bowl add: the oil the salt rest of the sugar rest of the water the 5 eggs 8 cups of flour Start to mix it so it becomes a thick mixture.

Check your yeast to make sure it activated properly. If so, pour it into your mixture and continue to knead. It should now turn into a sticky dough.

Keep adding in the rest of the flour in increments until it is all kneaded in. If the dough is too firm, add bits more oil and water until it is smooth, pliable and non-sticky.

Turn the dough out onto an oiled surface and knead for a few minutes by hand to ensure that all the pieces from the bottom of the mixing bowl are equally incorporated.

Separate challah at this point, with a blessing.

Place your dough in a large plastic bag to rise in the fridge overnight or several hours. If you plan to shape and bake it immediately, leave it to rise on your counter for an hour or until double in bulk. Follow braiding and rising techniques in chapters 2-4 of the book.

Preheat your oven about 20 minutes prior to when the challahs will be ready to bake. Brush the risen challahs with the last egg, and add on toppings of your choice. Bake as directed, at 360° / 190° until golden brown on top and bottom.