Expert challah tips and tricks. Join Challah Bytes today!

Tag Archives: challah

Why did you write “A Taste of Challah?”

I’ve been asked this questions many times, especially when I do a live presentation about challah – what prompted me to want to write an entire book on challah. The answer is kind of simple:
I didn’t know how to make challah and so I went looking for a book on the topic, preferably with pictures or demonstrations on how to braid. But I came up empty-handed. There seemed to be nothing out there on the topic, or at least, nothing that was helpful to me. I found one old thin book but it was totally not what I needed. And I still really, really wanted to make better challahs than I knew how to at that time. It became a sort of overriding dream of mine, to learn how to shape and make beautiful challahs, to really learn the mitzvah of challah thoroughly and to find out as many shapes as possible. And then one day I said to myself, Well, if you really want a book on challah, why don’t you just make one yourself? And so, with lots of help from Hashem and other people, I did…

Why are so many scared away from baking challah? What advice do you have for them?

I think a lot of people just assume that making your own challahs is a project, a burden, something that will take too long and be too hard to do. Many, many women are also not aware of the tremendous reward they get for this mitzvah, as it is one of the three main mitzvohs given specifically to women! Every single mitzvah is very important but the mitzvah of challah is especially so since it was designated for women. Men can do the mitzvah (as in the case of bakeries) too, but it was really set aside for women to do. And the opportunities for praying while doing it are immense.

Challah is not so hard; and in fact, it can be quite enjoyable. I wrote the book splitting it up into steps with lots of tips there to help even the busiest, least kitchen-oriented person. You can break the process up into parts if it’s easier for you that way, you can make a large amount at once on a day that you plan to be home for a few hours and then freeze the challahs – there are lots of ideas on how to still do this mitzvah even if you are short on time or don’t usually bake. It is something that really can become very meaningful to everyone.

By the way, the mitzvah of challah is NOT the shaping and the baking – that is the part of beautifying the mitzvah. The actual mitzvah is when you make a dough using quantities of flour large enough to need the biblical ‘separating of challah’ the piece we separate off with a blessing and then either burn or double wrap it and throw it away. When we had the Bais Hamikdash, that piece went to the Kohen. Today we don’t have that possibility but if enough women everywhere would do the mitzvah properly and pray the first tefillah we all say after taking challah with a bracha, it will bring that possibility much closer, much faster!

Challah seems to touch the soul of so many…why do you think that is?

Because its essence is holy; since it is a mitzvah from our Torah, it is NOT just another baking session.

Do you bake challah each week?

I most certainly try… Most importantly of all, besides praying while you create the challahs, praying when you do the mitzvah and praying that it comes out good (Yes! I do that too!) is to just enjoy the process. It may take a bit longer than a cake, but it is so worth it…

Is Challah baking today different from 100 years ago? How?

Can’t say that I’m exactly old enough to know the differences myself…but I’m sure it involved different steps since they did not have electric ovens, refrigerators, freezers, and the plethora of ready made flour and materials that we have today. My grandmother, may she live and be well, tells me about her mother making challah and how she would get up before sunrise on Fridays in order to have it done on time.

What advice do you have for experienced bakers who want to improve their challahs?

The key to good challahs is a very good dough. It should be soft enough to handle easily, but not too wet or too thin, and firm enough to shape with well. You should knead it for at least 5 minutes when you make the dough, 5 minutes from the time the mixture turns into dough. Turn on a timer to measure the time. Then let the dough rest, covered in plastic for 15 minutes, and knead once more for 2-3 minutes. Take challah, cover the dough and let it rise for 1 hour – 1.5 hours and start to shape!

What are your top 3 tips for someone who wants to start baking challah?

1. Read the book from the beginning to the end first so you see what is involved.

2. If you’ve never baked challah before, don’t do it the first time on a pressurized Friday. Do it on a day that you have more time. Don’t expect perfection immediately. Remember: the mitzvah is the separating the dough, IF you have enough quantity of flour (about 5 lbs. of flour in the dough – which is why the main recipe of the book is based on 17 cups of flour, i.e., 5 lbs.).

3. If your challahs are not pretty to start off with, don’t despair – neither were mine! There is hope! It will get better! And besides, you can always write to me on my “help-my-challahs aren’t coming out-hotline” at info@atasteofchallah.com … Better yet – come to one of my live shows or see the challah video I did for those who like to see things up close.

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.

Egg Glazing Tip

A nice tip that I can mention here, is that if you’d like your egg glaze to look 100% clean without that “drip” look so many of us have, you blend the eggs in your hand blender first, then smear them on. The egg glaze should go on evenly that way without drips. Of course, keep in mind that we are all human and most often, these things are not completely perfect – if you got to at least 80% perfection, you’re doing great!