Sunday, November 17, 2013

Oreo S'mores Challah

What a semester it's been! Between school, work, and applying to graduate school it's been hard to find time to not only bake challah, but also blog about it. But since I no longer live in my sorority house, I finally have the resources to bake challah whenever I want. This week's challah adventure had quite a few bumps. My roommate Lauren was supposed to drive me to the supermarket to get ingredients but her car wouldn't turn on. So instead I decided to walk to Kroghetto in my pajamas and have her pick me up later once she got a new car battery. Looking back I kind of regret not changing into real clothes because my short-shorts and t-shirt ensemble kind of looked like I was doing a walk of shame.

AAA jumping Lauren's car

Because this was my first time making challah at school I decided I should make a ton of challah to share with everyone! I made 2 for my sorority, small individual challahs for each of my roommates, 1 for my Phi Pham, and since we had our sorority date party that night I made one for my date. I know, I seem like the perfect future Jewish wife, but for some reason boys haven't caught on to this yet. Honestly, I think my real problem is that I am looking in the wrong place, I need a 24-26 year old man, not an immature college boy. So public service announcement: if you know any cute, successful, driven, funny Jewish men please send them my way.

Date party shenanigans!

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Nutella
Oreos
Marshmallows
Chocolate Chunks
Peanut Butter Chips

Mix wateryeasthoney and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

If you look closely you can see a heart in the yeast! Perfect for date party!!

In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.


Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands and spread a layer of Nutella. Then add oreos, marshmallows, and chocolate chunks. I also added peanut butter chips but you can really add whatever else you want inside. I'm sure white chocolate chips would have been good too. Pinch each strand closed.



After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.
Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

If you are making a 3 strand challah bake for about 15 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. Check out our Braids and Shapes page for information on cooking times for other shapes. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.


Oh Em Gee, this challah was awesome and it looks great too!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Challah-ween!

Happy Challah-ween!! Its taken a while but the wannabe J.A.P. Ostin has finally learned how to make challah, and even Nessy was a fan of the chocolatey creation. I have also gained some practice at becoming a challah baking housewife and I hope that these skill will one day help me find myself a nice Jewish boy who will want to wife me up! But for now the 3 of us will just enjoy the single life.


Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Nutella
Heath
Chocolate Chips
White Chocolate Chunks
Pink food coloring

Mix wateryeasthoney and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.


In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.



After it had spent about an hour and 30 minutes rising take the dough out and see if you want to add any more dye. Add in the dye by dropping dye on the dough and kneading it until it is a uniform color.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands and spread a layer of Nutella and Peanut butter and place some chocolate chips, Heath, and white chocolate chips on top. Pinch each strand closed.


We made a challies or single knot challahs.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah
is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.





Saturday, June 22, 2013

Sunburst Challah

When we decided to make our summer solstice challah we knew that we needed to make a new shape. We settled on a simple crowd pleasing sunburst shape that can easily be created.

Step 1: Roll out dough into 3 strands like any other regular challah


Step 2 (optional): Fill the stands with what ever you please then close them by pinching them shut

Step 3: place one strand down on your cookie sheet and curl the ends into a spiral. Then place the next strand on top of it but at another angle and spiral in the ends. Add your last strand on top at another angle and spiral the ends in.
  • start with a small spiral curl and you can always curl it more once you have added the other strands in

Step 4: Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes then baste it with an egg wash

Step 5: Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until the internal temperature is around 170 you may want to place aluminum foil on top of the challah after about 10 minutes or so. That way you can keep the top from getting to be too brown.


Nutella White Chocolate Sunburst Challah

Ladies and gentlemen after long anticipating the time has finally come for the eater to become the baker!! Now that my sister has started her internship and working over 40 hours a week (in addition to her 2 hour daily commute) the challah baking has become my job. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous! Lindsey is a natural born challah baker, and I wasn't quite sure I could wear the apron as well as she does. Oh and if your wondering if I was able to pull it off the answer is YES! (Lindsey who is my biggest fan and critic enjoyed every bit of it) :D

Since we made the challah on June 21 (aka the summer solstice) I decided to try to make it have a summer solstice theme. Unsure of what I wanted to do I turned to my good and trusty friend GOOGLE!! I came across a picture of bread baked in the shape of a sunburst and immediately knew that that is what I wanted to make. It was a very simple and fun design that can easily be made by even an amateur challah baker!



Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
3-4 cups flour1 tsp salt
Nutella
White Chocolate Chunks
Yellow and Red food coloring

Mix wateryeasthoney and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.


In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.
  • Since I was going to color the dough later I gradually added some die to the eggs and oil mixture (about 10 drops of the yellow) so that it would already have a yellow tint before it rises.
Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.

  • After it had spent about an hour and 15 minutes rising I took the dough and separated it into 3 sections and placed them into 3 separate slightly oiled bowls covered in plastic wrap. 
  •  I placed 2 of the bowls in a warm placed while I added in the food dye till the color was just right (add the dye to the dough and knead it so that it is a uniform color)
  • Once one is colored place it back into a warm place and color the next one

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands and spread a layer of Nutella on each strand and then place white chocolate chunks on top of the Nutella. Pinch each strand closed.


We made a Sunburst Challah, but you can do any shape.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.


Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah
is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.


 

My wonderful ooeey gooey masterpiece!! YUMMY YUMMY IN OUR TUMMY!!

Pinky Double Winky Challah

Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!
Happy Challah Birthday to me!

I have my sister to thank for giving me one of the most memorable birthday surprises! This year she out did herself and made a scavenger hunt for all my presents. I woke up in the morning to find my first clue on my door! Of course I ran all over the house trying to find present after present. The only problem was that I forgot to put my contacts in before I started. Not even hardcore squinting could compensate for my lack of vision so I had to stop and find my glasses before I could finish the hunt. Thanks to my sister for making my birthday that much more memorable and special.

One of my favorite clues
Like all the other challah's we have made there is a story behind the name of this one. Since my sister and I have come home from college we have been working on my wink. Apparently my wink isn't up to her or her friend Meesh's standards. I somehow always have either too much head tilt, too little head tilt or something else. One time when we were practicing my wink I told her about how my friends at school and I joke about double winking in our skating routine and how we call it a double winky ;) (for those of you that are confused it means winking twice in a row). Lastly, we dyed our challah pink because as most people know our favorite color is without a doubt Pink (specifically Tickle Me Pink for Lindsey)! For goodness sakes even the blog is pink!

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Nutella
Caramel
Heath Toffee Chips
Chocolate Chunks
White Chocolate Chunks
Red and Blue food coloring

Mix wateryeasthoney and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.


In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.
  • Since I was going to color the dough later I gradually added some die to the eggs and oil mixture (about 12 drops of the red and 4 blue) so that it would already have a pink tint before it rises. (You can always add more blue or red later so you get the perfect pink you a looking for)
Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.



After it had spent about an hour and 30 minutes rising take the dough out and see if you want to add any more dye. Add in the dye by dropping dye on the dough and kneading it until it is a uniform color. When add more dye make sure to keep a ratio of about 3 red to 1 blue.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands and spread a layer of Nutella on 2 strand and Caramel on the other. Then place white chocolate chunks, chocolate chunks, and Heath on top of the Caramel and Nutella. Pinch each strand closed.


We made a three strand challah, but you can do any shape.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah
is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.


  What a pinkalicous challah!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Challah

One of the best parts about birthright was meeting new people and making new friends. My trip was mostly Ohio State and OU students so going into the trip there were a decent number of people I knew but there were plenty of opportunities to create memories with new friends. During winter break I made a Nutella challah for a few of the boys from my trip and the rest of their house. They enjoyed it so much that I had to make another challah for them when I was home over spring break. This time I made a peanut butter chocolate chunk challah, as requested by Josh. I had to use Skippy peanut butter because he is a princess and that is what he requested. I didn’t end up giving them the challah until days after it was made so I heated it up in the oven, which was oh em gee so amazing! The bread freshened up and the peanut butter and chocolate chips melted and became all gooey. Needless to say the challah was eaten within minutes. I have a feeling these boys are going to need to come to my group fitness classes if they want to continue eating my challah.

Challah isn’t the only thing I have baked for these boys. A few months ago my roommate Maddie had the brilliant idea of kidnapping Josh and taking him to the supermarket. We told him we would bake whatever he wanted, and by bake she meant I would bake and clean up while she watched. We were doubtful that the boys would have a cake pan, so we had to buy one. We ended up buying a bunt pan because what is funnier than a bunt cake? Nothing. We made cinnamon rolls to tide us over while the funfetti bunt cake baked. After the cake was done we frosted it, wrote “happy birthday Jared” and lit some candles. We then proceeded to sing happy birthday. Jared, who is also Maddie’s cousin, was very confused because it wasn’t remotely close to his birthday, but Maddie thought it was hilarious. I think the best part of the cake was the beer bottle in the center. We wanted to put a plant in the center like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding but we couldn’t find the right size plant, I know, total first world problem. While we were cooking the cake we spotted a pile of empty beer bottles lying around their ridiculously dirty kitchen and placed it in the center of the bunt. Of course we got anxious to eat the cake and frosted it before it was completely cooled so the frosting ended up dripping and the cake writing isn’t exactly legible, but we all enjoyed it and was fun to make! When I tried to explain this story to my cycle class the following day they looked at me like I was completely crazy, but what's new.

The yummy bunt cake.... munch!

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Peanut Butter
Chocolate Chunks

Mix wateryeasthoney and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.



In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.


Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands and spread a layer of peanut butter on each strand and then place chocolate chunks on top of the peanut butter. Pinch each strand closed.


We made a round challah, but you can do any shape.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.


Looks perfect! And the boys loved it, nom nom!




2nd M&M Challah

Over spring break I spent a few days in New York with my brother Jeffrey (ie Muffin, Muff). And how could I visit my widdle muffin without bringing some challah. Now whenever I ask muff what kind of challah he wants, the usual response is “I don’t know something good” or “LML” so knowing how much he loves M&Ms I always add those in for him. I’m not quite sure what Jeffrey’s obsession is with responding LML to all of my texts but he is gonna need to quit it soon if he wants to keep his girlfriend Sara who is also in aephi. Honestly I think he is just pissed that he doesn’t know what it means.

The reason I went down to New York was to go to the friends of the IDF dinner in NYC. Now I have to say the best part of the night was hanging out with the steaming Israeli soldiers. I’m not exactly sure why Israeli soldiers are so attracted to me, I mean except for the fact that I’m awesome, but for some reason they cant resist me. Its like birthright all over ;) I found the cutest soldier, but this lonely old man wouldn’t leave him alone. Lets see, who does this soldier want to talk to: a cute college girl or an old man? Anyway, I got a picture with the soldier, you know just for funzies. I also talked to this cute American boy by the bar, but it turns out he was 17. He just got into college, big things.

Jeffrey and I all dressed up at the dinner
Also check out the first M&M challah!

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
White Chocolate Peanut Butter
Nutella
M&Ms

Mix water, yeast, honey and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.


In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.



Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Divid the dough into the number of strands and add M&Ms to the dough before rolling out the strands. Spread a layer of either nutella or peanut butter on each strand and then place M&Ms on top of the filling. Pinch each strand closed.


We made a 3 strand challah, but you can do any shape.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).


Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.

I was pressed for time and forgot to take a picture of the challah after baking it, but this is what the previous M&M challah looked like just to get an idea.



Yum, Yum! Even better with nutella and peanut butter!