Challah (Braided Egg Bread)

[donna]

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is from Sundown, Sept. 24, 2014 to Nightfall Sept. 26, 2014. The Hebrew date is 1 Tishrei 5775.

A bread made for this celebration for the Jewish people is Challah, a braided egg bread.

Challah Recipe

8 t0 9 cups flour
3/4 to 1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
1 (2 oz) package yeast
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup oil
5 eggs

Mix together 2 1/2 cups flour with the sugar (honey), salt and yeast.

There is no need to dissolve the yeast first.

Add the water and oil.

Mix in 4 eggs.

Beat in another 1 1/2 cups flour very well.

Add 4 to 5 cups of flour until a very soft dough is formed.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.

If using the dough hook, knead for about 7 minutes.

Let rise for 1 to 2 hours until doubled in size.

Alternately, let rise in the refrigerator overnight and then let warm to room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours.

Decide how many challahs you want, how many strands you want to braid in each.

Make a dough ball for each strand, roll them into ropes and braid.

Let rise covered for 1/2 to 1 hour.

Beat the remaining egg and brush on the challah.

Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Apply egg wash once more and bake for another 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The dough is enough for 4 medium sized challahs.

 

[nitrofd]

Challah bread cut thick makes the best french toast.

 

[diane]

Challah bread cut thick makes the best french toast.

It also makes a great bread pudding!

 

[Northern Light]

Does the bread have to be made into the braid, excepting ceremonial occasions? I am SO lazy!

 

[donna]

I guess you could not braid it but then be just egg bread.

 

[Northern Light]

I guess you could not braid it but then be just egg bread.

Well that's okay, especially if you plan to use it for french toast. More eggy delicious bread per slice. YUMMMY! Especially with my new sorghum syrup that I brought back from West Virginia!

 

[chellers]

Does the bread have to be made into the braid, excepting ceremonial occasions? I am SO lazy!

From one review:

"I usually bake my challahs unbraided in a fluted cake pan with a hole in the middle."

http://baking.food.com/recipe/mirjs-ultra-rich-sweet-challah-30748

 

[nitrofd]

If you have one a Pullman pan makes it best for French toast, but that is a professional bakers item.you can make it about 2 1/2 lbs. In one.you can use a loaf pan also but it will be smaller but could be taller.

 

[nitrofd]

I guess you could not braid it but then be just egg bread.

Challah is baked both ways in a Jewish bakery, the braided one's are mostly for the holidays or the sabbath.

 

[Northern Light]

If you have one a Pullman pan makes it best for French toast, but that is a professional bakers item.you can make it about 2 1/2 lbs. In one.you can use a loaf pan also but it will be smaller but could be taller.

Oh drat, I had a pullman pan in my hand in a cookware store in Pennsylvania and talked myself out of it. Should have known better!

 

[donna]

Bringing this recipe back up for the Jewish Holiday. This is a delicious bread to make.

 

[Pat Young]

I am making challah bread French toast now. Picked up my loaf though, did not bake it.

 

[donna]

Pat sounds like a delicious breakfast. Can we come?

 

[Pat Young]

I note that in New York, the Rosh hasahnah challah is sweet and round. Here is the explanation for the sweetness from Chabad:

Round challahs are most traditionally used for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. At the beginning of our new year, to usher in a sweet and delectable judgment, many people have the custom to serve sweetened foods, and challah is no exception to this rule. For this reason, Rosh Hashanah challahs are often sweeter than those served the rest of the year. Some add more sugar than they normally do to the dough, others add raisins to the dough, still others do both.

Here is why it is round:

• Rosh Hashana round challah: It has become the widespread custom in many communities to bake round challahs in honor of Rosh Hashanah. The round shape symbolizes the yearly cycle and the "wheel of time," the ascents and descents that a person experiences during his life. It also symbolizes perfection and infinity, expressing our hope for a perfect year, free of troubles and tribulations, a year of unlimited blessings.
  
  • The traditionaly round challah of Rosh Hashanah is sometimes adorned with a "crown" made of a small braided ring of dough, commemorating the prayers of Rosh Hashanah proclaiming G-d King over the universe.
  
  http://www.secretofchallah.com/50708/Challah-braiding-traditions-for-Rosh-Hashana

 

[Pat Young]

Here is what the holiday bread looks like:



By the way, that bread is huge. The one loaf is enought for 10 servings of French Toast.

 

[Pat Young]

People in my neighborhood sometimes call this bread "hats" or "crowns" because it reminds them of the hats that some Hassids wear.

 

[Northern Light]

Here is what the holiday bread looks like:

View attachment 79666

I can almost taste that! I haven't had any decent challah since I left Toronto!

 

[Pat Young]

Pat sounds like a delicious breakfast. Can we come?

Yes, but get here quick. I ate half a big loaf in just two days.

Folks who make this Jewish French Toast like the superior ability of the bread to soak up the egg and milk. Also, the unique crust of this bread is excellent when it comes off the skillet.

When Southerners are in town, this is the breakfast dish I most often serve them.

 

[donna]

It sure beats the rice crispies I had this morning.

 

[nitrofd]

It is really funny how many of the celebrity chefs prefer to use challah bread today.it has many uses but fresh challah with alot of butter is hard to beat.
P.S.after you put all that sweet butter on it , pour a little Honey over it.i guess that's why they call Israel the land of milk and honey.