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How Did You Come to Know so Much About Challah?

A Taste of Challah is a cumulative work of many years of baking and experimenting with challah, yeast doughs, and bread, as well as practice with wide variety of techniques for braiding and shaping the dough. I most certainly did not start off knowing anything at all aside from that I wanted to make good challahs! In this book it is my aim to take this special art of making home made challahs, and demonstrate to you, the reader, to you, the irreplaceable homemaker, how simple yet satisfying and rewarding this can be. And how this one act of baking can raise the level of spirituality in your kitchen and in your family’s home well beyond what you ever thought possible.

The book also includes an easy to read guide at the end on exactly how this mitzvah is performed. No matter who reads it, no matter the level of religious observance or familiarity with Jewish matters, any Jewish woman can now perform this sacred task properly. And anyone can now make the most beautiful, as well as delicious and healthy challahs that will make any homemaker proud.

Why an Entire Book on Just Challah?

Bread is a staple food item that every person, in every culture, is familiar with. Challah is unique in that it is a bread item – yet it is also, or maybe even more so, a spiritual item.
Bread is a staple food item that every person, in every culture, is familiar with. Challah is unique in that it is a bread item – yet it is also, or maybe even more so, a spiritual item. As the book A Taste of Challah so aptly states in its front cover flap, bread nourishes the body, while Challah nourishes the soul. Baking challah properly is so imperative in religious Judaism that it is considered one of the three central commandments that are given uniquely for the Jewish woman. Although any man can do this mitzvah as well, there is a higher purpose and more special aspect to it when it is performed – properly – by the Jewish woman. It is the woman who is considered the mainstay of the home, of the heart and soul of the home; and thus the main bread of the home, challah, is given as a special merit to her alone.

Challah is given prime importance on our most sacred day of the week, the Shabbos day. It is present at every meal, and the meal takes on an higher level of dignity and beauty when the braided challah loaves were lovingly prepared by none other than the woman of the house herself. Furthermore, by performing the mitzvah of separating off the piece of dough called challah, the woman hereby elevates that plain dough into something spiritual; the more the woman prays for her family while preparing her challah loaves, the more she ‘speaks’ to G-d in prayer as she is working and lovingly kneading her dough, the more she is able to imbue this dough with something extraordinary, intangible to the naked eye, yet felt strongly by the spiritual eye we all posses.

Tips for challah

Texture, shaping, rising, cooling, and storing:

The key to successful challahs is not so much in the braiding as in the actual dough. Dough should be firm, yet not hard, pliable but not too wet, very slightly sticky and easy to work with.

Using a rolling pin during the shaping process greatly enhances the challahs and the way they will turn out.

Whole wheat absorbs more moisture than white flour. Spelt is a lighter, airier flour and more sensitive and the final product can dry out quickly. Bake for less time when using spelt and rise for much less time.

Cover dough during all stages with a large plastic bag so it will not dry out.

Always use yeast that is fresh, whether it is fresh or dry yeast.

Never let the dough sit outside of the fridge if it will take you more than 2-3 hours to shape it. Rather, cover it in a large bag and place it in the fridge.

Cool finished challahs on wire racks, not on the baking trays.

Freeze challahs in heavy duty freezer bags, not thin nylon.

Tip for Well Shaped Challahs

Try sprinkling a very small, fine layer of flour over the strands of dough, directly before shaping them. I did it only after I connected the six strands at the top and made sure to leaves the ends of each strand unfloured. It seemed to help, although my usual challahs hold their shape pretty well even without this tip. Try it and see if it helps you, as it has helped many other women.

Small Dough Egg Challahs
For those who wanted a small quantity dough recipe, here’s a really successful one…

My 11 year old daughter makes these all by herself! Since she is not 12 years old yet, ie, bat mitzvah age, in any case she cant do the mitzvah of hafrashas challah on her own, and she likes making ‘her own dough’…

For those who just want to make 2 larger challahs or 3 small challahs quickly, this is a nice exact recipe that yields a wonderful dough whose consistency is smooth, pliable and very easy to use. Just grease your hands with a small amount of oil, smear a small amount on your working surface as well, and you’re all set to shape.

Ingredients

1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 & 1/2 cups warm water
1 oz. of fresh yeast (OR 2 & 1/2 – 3 teaspoons dry yeast)
6 cups of sifted flour, plus a bit more if needed
2 medium sized eggs
1 & 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 – 1 cup golden sultanas/ raisins
1 egg for glazing later on
Seeds of choice for sprinkling on top of finished challahs

Method

In a large mixing bowl (you can do this by hand or in the mixer, whichever way suits you best), pour in the oil. This will lubricate the bottom of your bowl by putting it in first.

Add in the sugar, warm water, and yeast of choice. If you used fresh yeast, cover the bowl now with a towel or a plate and let the yeast activate first.

Add in the 6 cups of sifted flour, the eggs and the salt. Begin to knead the mixture. If you are using a mixer, use the kneading hook and allow it to knead until the mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl and is pliable and soft.

Tips!

If the dough is too soft or sticky, add in bits more of the extra flour and maybe a few drops more of oil. If the dough is too stiff, add in bits more of water and oil until it is smooth and pliable.
Turn off the mixer and take out the dough. Knead it by hand for another 2 minutes, adding in bits of oil or small bits of flour if it sticks to your hands or the surface you are kneading on. Once it is a pliable and smooth dough, stop kneading it. Place it in an oiled large bowl, turn it over once or twice so all the sides of the dough will be a bit oiled, and cover the bowl loosely with plastic to enable the dough to rise without drying out. Rising time is 45 minutes to an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch the dough down all over, knead it a bit more by turning it over once or twice, and cover it again to rise for another 30-40 minutes.

After this second rise, punch the dough down and you are ready to “roll”!

This dough makes enough for 3 smaller challahs or 2 larger ones.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/ 190°C.

Braid challahs with three or four strands. Line a baking tray with parchment baking paper and allow the challahs to rise on the tray, covered loosely with plastic. This keeps the challahs from drying out while they rise. Rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Beat the remaining egg in a glass with a fork. Brush this beaten egg on your risen challahs with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the seeds of choice on them (I like white sesame seeds) and slide the trays into the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes until they start to brown, then turn down the heat to 350°F / 180°C and finish baking (about 35-40 minutes) until the challahs are browned on top as well as on bottom. Remove from the trays and allow the challahs to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy immediately, or freeze in good quality freezer bags until the day of use. Just defrost them about 4 hours beforehand, and enjoy!

Quickie Whole-Wheat Challah

This is a great, easy Erev Shabbos/ Friday morning recipe that I developed only recently. If followed exactly, your challahs should come out light and fluffy, with a delicately golden and slightly crispy crust. It makes 6 medium-sized loaves or 4 larger ones.
(This size dough has the minimum amount of flour in it to create the “shiur”, ie, the amount of flour necessary to get the mitzvah for hafrashas challah. In order to be able to make the blessing and do the actual commandment of ‘separating challah’ one must have a dough with a certain minimum requirement of flour in it. )

Plus, this recipe only takes about 15 minutes to put together. They came out so perfectly that I didn’t have one crumb left over. For Rosh Hashanah, I simply braid them rounded instead of in long loaves, and add in the fruit of choice.

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar (For Rosh Hashanah, if you like your challas very sweet, add in an additional 1/3 cup sugar, even up to 1/2 cup for those with a real sweet tooth!)
2½ tablespoons dry yeast OR 75 grams fresh yeast
5 – 5 & 1/2 cups warm water
1 kilo very finely ground whole wheat flour (in Israel, it’s called meshubach)
1 kilo whole wheat regular flour
2 cups additional white flour, or finely ground whole wheat*
4 eggs
2 tablespoons salt
3/4 cup oil, divided

Method

(*This comes to 5 lbs.or 2.3 kilos of flour all together; ie, the minimum amount of flour necessary for the commandment of separating challah according to all Rabbinic opinions.)

Place 2 cups warm water, the sugar and the yeast in the mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add in the first 2 kilos of flour, the eggs, 2 more cups water, the salt, and most of the oil . Start to knead. While the mixer is kneading, add in the rest of the flour and the oil. If the dough is too firm, add bits more water to it until it is slightly sticky. To make it come away from the sides of the bowl, add in small bits of additional oil as it mixes.

If the dough is too wet and loose, it will make your challahs spread out when they rise, and it will be very difficult to shape them nicely when you are braiding. To avoid this, add in bits more flour until it is a workable consistency, even if you need to add a bit more than the recipe calls for when doing this. It will still work fine.

When the dough is soft but still firm and only slightly sticky, turn it out into an oiled, deep bowl or onto an oiled surface on the table. Turn it over once or twice so it is greased on all sides. Do the mitzvah of separating challah with a blessing and when you are finished and have disposed of the separated piece, cover the dough with plastic or place it in a large garbage bag to rise. After 30 minutes or so into the rising time, punch it down and let it rise for another hour or a bit more. It should more than double its bulk. This extra punching down and then re-rising activates the dough even better and will make a marked difference in the final product.

Line your trays with baking paper, and shape dough into rounded shapes as desired.

When the challahs are shaped, preheat the oven to 350 – 360 °F/ 190°C.

Let the challahs rise for 35 minutes, covered lightly with plastic wrap so they won’t dry out. Brush them with an egg glaze and slide them into the oven after they have risen a total time of 45 minutes. Over-rising them makes them too airy and they often fall, spread too much or lose shape when baking. Bake until golden brown top and bottom, about 40 minutes.

Tip!

For Rosh Hashanah, I like to add golden raisins to the inside of the strands after I have rolled them out, before rolling them up. OR, you can get creative and add in chopped dates…OR, even more fun, chopped up pieces of apples, and small drips of honey! The aroma this emits while baking is incredible.

Authentic Chassidic Challah

This recipe is from Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels

Biographical note:

Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels was raised in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of the well known Chassidic Grand Rebbe, R’Shlomo Halbershtam, zt”l (obm). R’ Shlomo was a scion of the Bobover Dynasty, and led a large community of Chassidim in pre-war Europe, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. He, his entire family, and his whole community were taken captive by the Nazis and shipped off to be killed. He miraculously survived together with only one of his children, R’Naphtali, and through an incredible series of events, eventually landed on American shores. Despite losing almost his entire family, including his first wife and all his other children, as well as most of his followers, he started afresh, remarried, and built a new family. Known as “Bobover Chassidim”, his community numbers in the thousands today and has followers from all over the US, Israel, England, Canada and Belgium. Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels is one of his daughters from his second marriage. After his demise, his son Naphtali who survived the Holocaust alongside him, served as Grand Rebbe for a short time. He died only five years after his appointment. Today, Rebbetzin Meisels’ brother, R’Bentzion Halbershtam, carries on the Bobover tradition as Grand Rebbe.
This recipe makes 6 large loaves, and can easily be halved for those wishing to make less at one time.

Ingredients

5 ½ lbs. / 2 kilo 700 grams / 20 cups flour
½ cup oil
5-6 cups warm water
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
2 T. salt
1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups sugar (depends on how sweet you like them)
4 flat T. dry yeast

Method

Sift the flour and set aside.

In a very large mixer bowl, add the oil, 5 cups of the warm water, the eggs, and the salt. Mix this up a bit. Add in 10 cups of the flour and mix again. It should be a thin sort of mixture. Add in the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top of this. Let it sit for 10 minutes, preferably covered.

After 10 minutes, it should have activated somewhat. Start to knead in the rest of the flour in increments until it is all incorporated. If the dough is too dry, add in the rest of the water in increments as well. If you have been using your mixer, turn the dough out onto a clean surface or table to finish kneading it.

Grease your hands as well as the outside of the dough to keep it pliable and non-sticky. When the dough is smooth and elastic, cover it well with plastic. If you made the whole recipe, separate challah with a blessing.

Let the dough rise for 1 – ½ hours until at least doubled in bulk, while keeping it covered in plastic.

Shape as desired, and follow the steps for rising and shaping as directed on ppgs. 38-41 of the book for shaping, rising and baking.

Puffed Matzo Bread Rolls

This is a great, easy alternative bread recipe that I got from my mother. It literally takes less than 10 minutes from start to bake, and for those who use matzo meal on Passover, you can make them on Passover as well! This also works well for those who cannot eat yeast…
Yield: 10-12 small rolls

Ingredients

2 cups matzo meal
1 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar
1 cup hot water
½ cup oil
4 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.
Combine the matzo meal, salt, and sugar; set aside.

In the mixing bowl, add the hot water and the oil. Add in the dry ingredients. Start to beat it together, adding the eggs one at a time. It should turn into a thick batter.

My mother (from whom I learned this recipe) says to let the batter stand for 15 minutes at this point, before forming the rolls. However, I did it straight from the bowl and it worked just fine.

Make your hands slightly wet and form 10-12 small, oblong or round rolls. Lay the out on a lined baking tray, with a small amount of space between them. These rolls shape very similarly to regular kneidalach.

Bake for 50 minutes, until they are slightly cracked and golden brown, top and bottom. Let them cool on a wire rack.
Make a “HaMotzi” and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Olive Oil Challah

Yields: 2 large challahs or 3 medium sized ones

Ingredients

2-2 ½ cups warm water, start with 2 cups
5 ½ cups light or 70% whole wheat flour
1 ¾ cups regular whole wheat flour
1/3 – 1/2 cup light brown sugar
½ T. salt, plus a bit more
¼ cup olive oil
1 T. dry yeast
¼ cup canola oil, maybe a bit more, for later use

Method

Put 1 cup of water in the mixer bowl. Add the light whole wheat flour, the sugar, salt, and the olive oil. Mix together. Add in the rest of the whole wheat flour, and sprinkle in the yeast. Knead in the mixer until it turns into a thick batter. Add 1 more cup of water. Mix again. If it’s too dry, add the rest of the water now. Turn off mixer and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Start to knead the dough again, turning the dough over and over. If the dough is very stiff, add drops more of water to it. To keep it elastic, add in small amounts more of canola oil as needed, until the dough takes shape and becomes smooth, elastic, and easy to handle. Turn it over once again so that all sides of it have a thin layer of oil on them. Leave to rise, covered, for an hour.

Great tip!

To keep it from losing its shape once it’s shaped, don’t let it over-rise!! Let it rise only 10 minutes, and then start to preheat the oven at 350°F / 180°C.
Shape as desired. When risen, brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with desired toppings. After the challahs have risen 40 minutes, slide them into your hot oven and bake them. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until browned on top and also on the bottom.

Tip!

Looks so great as a loaf challah, with black or green olive rings stuck into the dough all over.

Rich ‘n Tasty Mixed Wheat Egg Challahs

Makes 6 larger sized challahs or 30 small rolls

You may halve this recipe very easily if you prefer less for your family, or follow the storage techniques for extra challahs listed on page 42 of the book…

Ingredients

2 cups white flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup oil
5 eggs
1 ½ T. salt
1/3 cup honey
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 oz. / 50 grams fresh yeast
3 cups warm water

Method

Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of the warm water and a bit of the sugar. When it froths and bubbles, it is ready to use.

Mix these ingredients together until they form a batter. Let it rise for 1 hour. Punch it down and then add to it:

5 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups white flour
1 cup bran or wheat germ
1 cup warm water

Knead this into the first batter until you have a workable and smooth dough. If it is sticky, smear it with a bit more oil and then knead a bit more until it you reach the desired consistency.

Separate challah with a bracha.

Let this dough rise another hour, covered in plastic. Then shape and rise as directed in the book, Chapter Two, ppgs. 36-43.

Brush the risen challahs with a mixture of 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk + 1 T. sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F / 180°C until golden brown top and bottom, about 40 minutes.

Simply delicious!