I’m trying to figure out how to work challah baking into my new-ish life as a mom who works full time outside of the home. Tonight I decided to try making the dough and forming the loaves in the evening, then putting them into the refrigerator for a slow overnight rise. My plan was to take them out of the refrigerator when I get home from work and bring them as close as I can to room temp before putting them in the oven to bake. Had I known my daughter was going to start throwing up 5 minutes before bedtime, and I’d be staying home from work, I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble. I guess it’s kind of like how it always rains if you remember to take an umbrella. Except with puke.
I mixed the dough in my bread machine, which I bought at good will almost exclusively for this purpose. But I haven’t found a bread machine recipe that I like that much. Maybe I just don’t like bread kneaded in a bread machine. But I’m not giving up. Yet. Anyone have one to offer?
the woman who runs our cooking classes swears by bread machine kneading. her trick is to weigh everything – she doesn’t measure but instead uses a kitchen scale to get it all right. her challah is amazing. i’ll try to find the recipe for you…
amy, too funny! i just started using this recipe and it has the whole family’s seal of approval. especially brody who claps as it comes out of the oven! i did follow the recipe as is (despite what the notes said). there’s *nothing* like challah fresh out of the oven!
http://www.recipezaar.com/The-Best-Bread-Machine-Challah-142387
I had posted this a while ago on my site. Here’s the link to the original:
http://www.torahdinner.com/etone/?p=102
And here it is reprinted as well:
Bread Machine Challah
2 cups flour
1 egg
4 Tbspn sugar
1 tspn salt
2 Tbspn oil
3 tspn yeast
1. combine egg and enough water to make ¾ cup
2. Pour egg/water mixture into bottom of mixer
3. Pour flour into center of mixer (on top of egg/water mix)
4. Pour sugar to one side of flour, salt to a different side, and oil on top of the salt
5. Make a well in the center of the flour pile and place yeast in well
Recipe can be doubled depending on size of bread machine. Put machine either on dough cycle or bake cycle.
For dough cycle:
* Remove from machine when dough is done.
* Braid and let rise 40 min in a warm place (I use a warm oven, preheated to 170 about an hour before and then turned off. When rising the dough, I leave the door open.)
* (optional) coat with egg-wash before baking
* Bake in a convection oven at 300 for 40 min, or a regular oven at 325 for 40 min
ooo sorry she’s sick. i’m not a baker, so i have no recipe to share! i buy frozen dough (Rhodes frozen Sweet Bread Dough) and braid it.
I make Challah with a Bread Machine too! My recipe is similar to the above. So yummy, easy, and effortless. Everyone is always so impressed. And very economical too!
i have nothing to add except that i snorted in amusement and sympathy at “except with puke.”
I also bought a bread machine years ago for the same purpose a million years ago. I still use it weekly to make the dough, and am about to go down and do that right after this post. When I was teaching, I would make the dough Thursday night and then put that in an oiled bowl in the frig. overnight and take it out as soon as I got home from work on Fri. When warm enough, then braided and let rise. I adapted this recipe for the machine from my friend Sharon Packer’s (who got me into teaching and I worked with at Heritage) challah recipe:
Put in the machine in the following order:
1c room temp H20
1/4 c canola oil
2 lg. eggs
4 c best quality bread flour
~1/6c whole wheat flour or more if you have really big eggs
scant 1/2 c sugar
1/2t+ salt
2t bread machine yeast
Mix on dough setting.
Makes 1 large or 2 smaller loaves – one of which you can freeze for next week!
I cannot tell you how incredibly yummy this is. You just have to try it. Let me know how it comes out.
I’ve been using your recipe for a couple of months. I just want to say THANK YOU. I love this Challah.
PS – I hope the puking stops.
I am on my third bread machine.
I have tweaked this recipe til it’s just right for me:
Bread Machine Challah (white)
yields 2 nice-sized loaves
1 cup warm water (110F)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted crisco (works better than oil or margarine)
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
——
4 cups All Purpose flour (for some reason I like it better than bread flour in this recipe)
2 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
3 Tbs gluten
[tip: melt the crisco in the 1/4 c measure, then use the same one to measure the honey and the honey slides right out]
1. Put all the wet ings, then all the dry, into the bucket, run a Dough cycle
2. Braid and rise 1 hr
3. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes
I love this challah. We rarely have leftovers.
You guys are awesome~ I think I’m going to have to do a bake off, and review a different recipe each week.
Wow. That’s really clever. I’ve kind of given up on baking challah since I started working on Fridays (basically after grad school), but this is a good idea, even without the bread machine. Of course, there’s the issue of finding room in the fridge on Thursday night for 2 whole loaves…
Sorry about the puking. Glad to hear she’s better. It’s going around here, too (eugene).
i’m totally impressed by the bread bakers (& the bread dough braider).
I have a bread machine recipe that is very easy and very yummy. From start to finish, it’s about 3 hours, so as long as I get it going by 3pm, it’s ready in time for Shabbat dinner.
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, cut up
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or bread machine yeast
beaten egg white or milk, for brushing top of challah before baking
1 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
1. Add first 9 ingredients (water through yeast) to a 1 1/2 or 2-lb bread machine according to manufacturer’s directions (mine says to add all liquid & then dry). Select the dough cycle (should be 1 1/2 hours). When cycle is complete, remove dough with lightly floured hands. Punch down. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into an 18-inch long rope. To shape, line up the ropes, 1 inch apart, on a large greased or parchment-lined baking sheet*. Starting in the middle, loosely braid from center to end and then center to other end. Press ends together; tuck under slightly.
3. Cover & let rise in a warm place for 35-45 minutes or until nearly double. Brush top with beaten egg white or milk, sprinkle with poppy seeds (optional), and bake in a 375 degree (preheated) oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
4. Remove from baking sheet; cool on a wire rack.
**I bake it on a pampered chef stone and it comes out fabulous!
Here is our recipe that we make every week. It’s half whole-wheat, half white flour.
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2.5 teaspoons yeast
Put water, 2 eggs, oil, and salt in bread machine pan.
Add flour, sugar, and yeast. Mix using machine’s dough cycle. When cycle finishes, take out dough and put it on a lightly floured surface.
Divide dough into three balls. Divide each ball into 3 smaller pieces. Roll each small piece into a snake. Place 3 snakes at a time onto a greased baking sheet. Braid them into a loaf and pinch the ends under. Cover loaves and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Brush loaves with egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of water. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
Makes 3 loaves.
I’ve never used a bread machine. I don’t even OWN a bread machine.
Anyone have a favourite bread machine they would recommend???
Plus… I find the kneading therapeutic. Will something be lost??
Will something be lost…? I dare say almost *everything* will be lost. I bought a bread machine at goodwill for $7, and that’s the only reason I think it was worth the money. I have a few recipes that I like, and it is useful when you are on a tight, inflexible schedule, but it’s nothing at all like hand made bread.
Good to know. I’ll stick to kneading. Cheaper than therapy.
does anyone have a recipe that uses the machine from start to finish — no baking in oven and no braiding?