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Applesauce Cranberry Ices

So refreshing at the end of a seuda…

Ingredients

1 ½ – 2 cups applesauce
2 cans cranberry sauce (the one without the whole berries)
1 cup Sprite soda
1 cup orange juice
Optional (I did not use it): 1-2 Tablespoons fruit flavored liqueur

Method

Mix this up by hand in a bowl, or beat it with a hand beater for a minute or two to make it smooth. Pour it into a flat large plastic square container and freeze overnight. (Right, this took you about 4.5 minutes so far? Now comes the next 5 minutes or so!) The next day, remove it from the freezer. Cut into it; if you can, then cut it into four or five pieces and put it into your mixer bowl. Beat it slowly with the flat metal hook (ie, NOT the egg beaters!) until it resembles sherbet consistency. Refreeze. Remove from the freezer about 5 minutes before serving. Scoop into dessert bowls and serve.

Cranberry Chicken

This one is a family favorite. My mother got it years ago, shortly before I got married, from I-don’t-know-where and she liked it so much that she taught it to the caterer of my wedding and had him make it for the meal!
Since then I save it especially for this time of year. It’s simple but very special. This recipe makes enough for two whole chickens.

Ingredients

2 chickens, cut into eighths, skinned
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 large onion, sliced thin

Sauce

1 can cranberry sauce
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 cup real French dressing (recipe to follow)
1 can of the cranberry cans of water

French Dressing

In a hand blender or immersion blender jar, blend together until smooth the following:
1 small onion
½ cup canola oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
2-3 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Spray two 9×13 baking pans or one large pan with baking spray.

Place the flour with the spices in a plastic bag. Put each piece of chicken into the bag and shake to coat it evenly. Lay the coated chicken pieces in the pan.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a large bowl. Mash them together with a potato masher or a fork to break up the lumps of cranberry sauce somewhat. You can use a bought jar of French dressing but since I didn’t have any, I made the dressing myself in a hand blender jar. (There are also no preservatives in your dressing this way.) Pour the sauce over the chicken and top it with the onion slices.

Bake the chicken uncovered for 75 minutes on bake, not convection, not broil. Check the chicken when it’s been in the oven about half the time. If it looks like it may dry out to you, baste it and then cover it for the rest of the baking time.

Another great Rosh Hashana (or any time, for that matter) quickie idea for a side dish to do with this chicken is to add a bag of frozen baby carrots to the pan before laying the chicken pieces down. When it’s done cooking, you will have a delicious chicken plus a carrot side dish to serve it with.

Pomegranate Glazed Apple Strudel Squares

You don’t need the mixer for this recipe, it is easily hand done.and this smells amazing while baking!

Ingredients

4 cups flour
1 ½ cups trans fat free or reduced margarine
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
7 medium sized any kind apples
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pomegranate Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar (don’t use regular white sugar it will not work!)
2 ½ Tablespoon oil
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
4-5 Tablespoons hot pomegranate juice or syrup (you can use a pomegranate drink such as “Spring” brand to save some money)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and trans fat free margarine. Cut it together until it is crumbly. Add the sugar and mix a bit again. Check the eggs and beat them slightly with a fork in the glass they’re in. Add to the flour mix and combine all until you have a chunky, dry looking crumble mixture. Take off almost ¾ of this mixture and pat it down firmly into a large pan, about 11×14 in or a 16×10 inches. (It’s about one and a half times the size of an ordinary 9×13 pan.)

For the apples, whichever kind you choose will give this recipe a different flavor each time you do it. Myself, I just use up whatever old apples I have sitting in the fridge, so mine was made with a combo of all three colors of apples. It came out delicious.

Peel the apples and slice them/ pare them by hand into a large bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over them. Combine the ½ cup sugar and the cinnamon together over the apples and toss the whole mixture so it is coated evenly. Place this apple mixture all over the top of the crumbs in your pan. After it’s even, crumble over it the rest of the crumbs mixture. You may want to crumble the remaining crumbs a bit more by hand before sprinkling all over so you will be left with less lumpy pieces after it bakes on top of it.

Bake for 45 minutes until it is slightly golden all over and a drop darker by the edges. Remove from the oven and let it cool. After it’s cooled, cut it into squares and set aside.

Pomegranate Glaze

Place the pomegranate juice / syrup into a glass and heat it in the microwave for 40 seconds on high. Alternately, place the glass it’s in into a bowl of hot water to warm it up. It does need to be hot in order to turn into a good glaze. Put the powdered sugar in a plastic bowl, add in the oil and lemon juice. Add in the first 3 T. of hot pomegranate liquid. Start to mix it with a spoon. It should begin to thicken almost immediately. If it’s too thick, add more hot liquid by small, very small, increments until it is thick enough to drip but is not runny. If it’s too thin, add small amounts more of powdered sugar and keep mixing by hand until it is a nice thick, but not too firm consistency. Take your spoon and drizzle it all over in thin lines on top of your by-now-cooled-down apple strudel squares. There’s no food coloring in this picture, this is really how it comes out when using pomegranate liquid. Enjoy! This can be frozen in the pan until the day of use. Just remove it from the freezer about 3 hours before you need it, then present your squares on a nice platter or in cupcake holders, and serve.

Incredible Honey Cookies

Here’s a GREAT make-ahead Rosh Hashanah recipe that I made last year and taped up on my notice board then, specifically so that I wouldn’t forget to share it with all of you this year…

A very dear and special lady, Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels, gave me this recipe. She told me they are so good that even if your family doesn’t like honey cookies, these will not go uneaten, and boy, was she ever right. I made a huge batch of them last year and then had to hide them in the freezer so they wouldn’t be completely finished before I needed them. And this is from a baker (me!) who always shied away from honey cookies. I know this is a very big recipe — but, since it’s Erev Yom Tov now and many of our readers have large families to prepare for, I decided to leave the Rebbetzin’s amounts as they are. This makes over 100 cookies, but only if you don’t allow your fan club to snatch them off the trays as they are coming out of the oven…

Ingredients

1½ cups margarine (300 grams)
2 cups sugar (450 grams)
6 eggs
1 cup honey
7 cups flour (1 full kilo of flour)
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon juice
¼teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Method

Cream the margarine and the sugar. Add in the eggs. Mix again. Add in everything else. Mix until you have a nice soft dough and then turn off the mixer. It will be somewhat sticky — this is normal. Cover and place the cookie dough in the fridge to firm up for about 1–2 hours. If you forget to take it out until the next day, that’s okay too.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Line the baking trays with parchment paper. Form small balls of cookie dough, roll each ball in a bit of flour and place them on parchment paper lined cookie trays. Press down each cookie very slightly with the tips of your fingers. Don’t press too hard! Bake the cookies until they are light golden brown, about 10–12 minutes. DO NOT bake them more than 15 minutes or they will be rock hard! When they are slightly crinkled and golden brown, they are done. Remove from the oven immediately. Let them sit on the tray for a few more minutes before you remove them to a platter to cool completely. I suggest making these on a morning when kids and hubbies are not home so that you will have something to put into the freezer after you are done!

Flower Shaped Challah

Here’s a quick flower shape for your round challahs… a nice idea for Rosh Hashana as well as for Shavous.

Ingredients

Line a round pan with baking paper. An 8-10 inch round pan is a good idea and size.
Cut your dough into six – eight equal parts. Roll each one out to be identical round shapes, sort of like small balls.

Method

Place them inside your lined pan in the shape of a flower.
Cover the pan lightly with plastic and allow it to rise until it is double in size, about 45 minutes.

Mix one whole raw egg in a glass and use it to glaze your challah. Add on seeds of choice, or add in a bit of honey to your egg glaze, to remind us that Torah is sweet and that we are asking G-d for a sweet new year. Slide the challah into your preheated 375°F / 195°C oven and bake until it is dark golden brown on both the top and bottom. Remove it from its pan to a wire rack to cool.

Another benefit to this shape is that it can also be used as a ‘pull-apart challah’!

Freeze in a good quality freezer bag until the day of use and enjoy.

Pomegranate Flavored Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons oil
2-4 tablespoons juice

You don’t need to buy expensive real pomegranate juice. I just used one of those Spring boxes of pomegranate ‘juice’ drink. It works fine.

Mix these ingredients together with a spoon, starting with only 2 tablespoons of the juice, until they are smooth. If it is too dry, add in bits more juice. If it is too thin and therefore sinks into the cake too quickly, add in more powdered sugar to thicken it. Once it’s a nice consistency, drizzle it with the help of a spoon all over your cooled cake, and enjoy!

Apple Beet Cake
Great idea just in time for Rosh Hashana!

Here’s a sweet, new idea on how to creatively incorporate some of our ‘regular’ Rosh Hashana foods in newer ways, beets, apples and a healthy sweet cake!

This freezes great and with all the beets, apples and whole wheat it is a healthier alternative to regular cake, especially for Kiddush in the morning.
Yields: 30 muffins or 60 mini muffins or 2 – 9 or 10 inch bund cakes

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup orange juice
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 small green apples, peeled and shredded
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons additional sugar, or take some sugar off of the amount above
1 teaspoon lemon juice *
2 cups shredded cooked beets
*We don’t usually use tart lemon juice at this time of year; those who want to can leave it out. It is only incorporated into this recipe to keep the apples from turning colors and its taste is not discernible in the final product.

Method

Before beginning, make sure you have already cooked beets on hand, either by boiling them earlier that day and cooling them in the fridge or by baking them, covered at 375°F / 190°C for 45 minutes. They will shred much neater and easier when the cooked beets are cold. Shred them, then measure out 2 cups and keep them ready. If you have extra, either turn them into beet salad or eat them for dinner!
Put all 4 eggs into the mixer, you don’t need to separate them first. Using your wire wisk, beat the eggs for 3 minutes to aerate them somewhat. Then add in the oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda and baking powder in the exact order listed, while the mixer is beating on a low speed. When the batter is smooth, turn off the mixer.

Toss the shredded apples with the cinnamon and the extra bit of sugar and lemon juice. Add them into the batter, together with the shredded beets. Using a spatula, gently turn and mix it into the batter until it is all incorporated. The batter should turn a deep pinkish color.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180° C.

Line your muffin trays with muffin liners. If you are doing the bund cake shapes, spray two 9-10 inch bund pans with baking oil spray. Pour batter into the bund pans only until halfway filled, not higher. If you are doing mini muffins, put 2 tablespoons of batter into each cup. For regular muffins, put batter into the cups until it is a little bit more than half way filled with batter.

Slide the cake or muffins into your oven and bake until done.

Bundt cakes should take between 25-30 minutes. Test it to ensure it is done and remove immediately so it will not overbake.

Mini muffins take only about 8-10 minutes to be fully baked.

Regular sized muffins should take between 14-18 minutes.

If you would like a sort of pomegranate or cranberry juice glaze on the top of your bund cake, here’s a nice glaze to try out. However, ONLY add on the glaze after your cake has cooled down completely, or else it will sink and disappear into the cake!

Pomegranate flavored glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons oil
2-4 tablespoons juice

You don’t need to buy expensive real pomegranate juice. I just used one of those Spring boxes of pomegranate ‘juice’ drink. It works fine.

Mix these ingredients together with a spoon, starting with only 2 tablespoons of the juice, until they are smooth. If it is too dry, add in bits more juice. If it is too thin and therefore sinks into the cake too quickly, add in more powdered sugar to thicken it. Once it’s a nice consistency, drizzle it with the help of a spoon all over your cooled cake, and enjoy!

Mini Carrot Muffins

Yield: about 50 mini- muffins
Or, if you want the easier way out, make it as a 9×3 “kugel” and cut it into squares…

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup hot water
3 cups flour, whole wheat, white, or a combo **
1 & ½ tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 – 4 large carrots, peeled

** if you use only white flour, it will come out light and fluffy. I’ve made it many times using whole wheat, a version that is very finely ground, and it comes out excellent that way as well. Plus, any leftovers, IF you have any, come in handy as a great healthy snack on the way to school for any kids in your house…

Method

Grate the carrots through a food processor. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Place the ingredients in the mixer bowl in the order listed. Mix until you have a thick and smooth batter. Add in the grated carrots and mix again until just incorporated.

Line the muffin tray with paper liners or spray the tray well with baking spray. Fill the muffin cups until almost full. Bake for 8-12 minutes until they are golden brown or a cake tester or sharp knife inserted into a muffin’s center tests clean. If you took ‘the easy way out’, and made it into a flat “kugel” (a.k.a. religious word for cake!), then bake it for 30-35 minutes, until the ‘kugel’s’ center tests clean. Remove from tray promptly and allow to cool. These freeze great. I know – they even eat great straight from the freezer with only a few minutes of defrost time…!!

So good you will use this often

I prefer this apple crisp served cold but if you are the kind that likes it warm, leave it on top of another pot on the blech for 2 hours before serving it.

Healthy Apple Crisp

No margarine, no white flour and plenty of good things in this version!
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Use a glass pie dish of 9-10 inches in diameter.

6-8 medium sized apples, any color or a combo of colors
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup wheat germ
** note: if you don’t have wheat germ, use more oatmeal here instead
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup ground nuts, such as walnuts, almonds or pecans – or a combo
1/2 – 3/4 cup oil as needed

Method

Peel and slice thinly all the apples. Toss them with the lemon juice and arrange them all over the bottom of the pie dish. It will fill the dish nearly to the top. This is fine since the apples will shrink considerably as they bake.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and toss them together to incorporate. Drizzle in the 1/2 cup of oil. Toss with a fork. If the mix looks dry, add the rest of the oil. Toss with a fork until the entire mix is wet but not clumpy. If it is clumpy you added too much oil. Add a bit more flour and mix again.

Using your fingers, arrange the mix all over the top of the apples.

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C. Put a piece of foil down on your rack to catch any drips that may leak over the edges of your pie dish. Place the apple crisp on the foil and let it bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and crispy. Let it cool completely and then cover it until serving.

Variation: after you’ve arranged the apple slices in the dish, open up a can of cranberry sauce, mash it up with a fork, and arrange this all over the apples. Then follow with the crumb topping. Delicious!