Honey Wheat Challah - Cinnamon Roll Edition

For this recipe, you'll need the Honey Wheat Challah recipe. It's really, really, really simple modification that worked out oh so well, especially accompanying our Morrocan Couscous and Tofu Shabbat dinner. (On a total side note, I recently became allergic to cumin and cayenne pepper, so we've had to try to find fun and exciting recipes that DON'T involve some of my favorite flavors... sad...)

Method:

With dough of your choice (we used wheat, but I'm planning on trying it on white), separate three sections.  Flatten into wide, somewhat oblong rectangles.  I used a combination of hands and rolling pin.  They were each about 5 inches by 9 inches and around 1/4 inch thick.

Sprinkle with mixture of 1/2 c sugar and 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  You could also add chopped almonds or a dash of nutmeg.  Avoid the edges on all sides.

Roll together like a cinnamon roll.  I didn't roll in the short edges, just pinched them shut.  But you could fold them in to prevent cinnamon oozing out... but that's some of my favorite part.

Repeat for other two rolls.

Braid as normal challah.  Sprinkle with any left over cinnamon sugar after egg wash.

Pre-egg wash.  Try to keep the seams of the braids DOWN (against the rest of the bread).

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  (I'm sorry all of my oven times are so imprecise... our oven runs cool so I actually have to bake everything at 365 and pretend is 350 because that's the real temperature).

Don't worry if the braids break open; it'll still be delicious!

Enjoy!  Great for French toast on Sunday morning :)

Honey Wheat Challah

This recipe is a modification of my Basic Challah Recipe #1.  It contains 2 additional tablespoons of honey because I find that whole wheat isn't my favorite thing and can end up kind of cardboardy.  The verdict on this recipe... I'm still not totally convinced.  The Hazz really likes it, and I did munch on it this Shabbat morning with some added Nutella on top (I'm convinced Nutella makes everything better).

1 1/4 c water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
5 tbsp honey
3 eggs + 1 egg for wash
1/2 c vegetable oil
3 c white flour
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c wheat germ
2 1/2 tsp salt

    

Don't skip out on the wheat gluten/wheat germ.

I think it makes a big difference and it contains lots of protein!

Follow the recipe for the Basic Challah Recipe #1. I added the extra 2 tablespoons of honey with the eggs, but I don't think it really matters all that much. Make sure to mix the flours and salt together dry otherwise you'll end of up with clumps. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  I found this rose SLOWER than white flour for some reason, but it could have been the house temperature.

    

The Hazz is a lot stronger than me for punching out the air.

The second Challah we made this week was Cinnamon Wheat.  (same dough).

Method can be found here!

Whole Wheat Rosemary Challah

One of my first adventures into whole wheat challah was a Monday afternoon trial challah.  Monday is The Hazz's day off, and I only work half days that day, so it was a great experiment and it turned out ohhh so tasty even with a very minimal number of eggs.  Here's what we did...

1 c water, warm
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp honey
3 c flour (I use 2 c white, 1 c wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 bulb garlic
Splash of Olive Oil
1 1/2 - 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped


Roast the garlic bulb splashed in olive oil, uncut, in the smallest oven safe container you have (we have a teeny tiny one from our wedding registry) for 35-45 minutes at 350.  Let cool.

Meanwhile, mix warm water, yeast, and honey until soft eruptions occur.  Once garlic is cool enough to handle, remove from skins.  Blend with egg and rosemary in a food processor or blender.

Add garlic mixture to yeast mixture.  And flour and salt and beat with stand mixer or by hand until ball is firm but not sticky.  Add sprinkles of water as necessary.  Let rise an hour or more, until doubled in size.  (You can do a second rise if you like).  Punch down and get out all those air bubbles.

    

Braid in your preferred way and let rise again 45 minutes or so.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  NOM NOM NOM!

   

Recipes I can't wait to make

Here's a list of some recipes I can't wait to try...

Honey Whole Wheat Challah... with the addition of whole wheat, and sweetened with honey.

Michell Jenny's Challah... with butter.

Apple Challah... inspired by the many delicious apples.

Everything Challah... inspired by the everything bagel.

Peanut Butter Bread... I really want to try this as challah.

Cinnamon Scented Challah... with cinnamon and topped with almonds.

Braided Challah with poppyseeds and lemon... and saffron! I'd like to try it with etrog juice post-Sukkot.

Potato Challah... this is a family-sized recipe but it can easily be halved.

Sweet Potato Challah... great for Thanksgiving.

One thing you won't see here ever is raisin challah. Because raisins are grooooosss!!!!

Basic Challah Recipe #1 - with honey

 

The Hazz and I have several base recipes for challah. The one we've found thus far to be MOST successful in our household (Midwestern Winters can make yeast and flour do funny things).

1 1/4 c water
1 tbsp active dry or instant yeast
3 tbsp honey
3 eggs + 1 egg for wash
1/2 c neutral oil (we use canola, but vegetable is fine)
6 c bread flour
2 tsp salt
sesame or poppy seeds or cinnamon sugar for topping (optional)

Place very warm (but not hot, I usually let me faucet run for a bit) water in mixing bowl.  Add yeast and honey, mixing lightly. 

Allow to sit for 10 minutes or so... I usually do less... until you see little eruptions.

 

Add eggs and vegetable oil and mix with wood spoon.  

If you have a stand mixer, add flour and salt and beat with dough hook.  Remember: salt kills yeast. Don't put the salt in with the yeast.  Wait until you've added some of the flour.

If the dough is not holding together as a ball, add a bit more oil or water.  If the dough is very sticky, add more flour.  The dough is ready when it sticks together as a ball and is not sticky to the touch when you poke your finger in (5-10 minutes of beating).  Turn the ball out onto a floured work surface and punch a few times until very smooth.

Place in oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap or a towel.

Allow to rise at least one hour, preferrably more, until dough has doubled in size.  I only do one rise as a ball, but you can do more.  I'm not convinced it does much to the texture but some people swear by it.

Punch down the ball in the bowl and remove.  Punch out all air bubbles.  Braid in your preferred method.  Allow to rise 20-30 minutes. Top with an egg wash (I use the yolk and white) and sesame or poppy seeds if you like.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  (You can read about my oven temperature methods here... basically I put it at 375 for 5 minutes.  Then I turn the heat down to 350 and bake for 10 more minutes.  Then I rotate the pans 180 degrees and bake between 10 and 15 more minutes.)  You can use a bread thermometer (180-200 degrees) or poke at the seams.  If they seem doughy, give it more time.  You can always add foil if the top seems like its browning too fast.  I often have to foil five- and six-stranded challot because they're so much fatter.

Enjoy!  (It's always hard for us to wait for Shabbat before we dive into our challah!)

Archive: Basic Challah Recipe #1 - with honey

The Hazz and I have several base recipes for challah. The one we've found thus far to be MOST successful in our household (Midwestern Winters can make yeast and flour do funny things).

1 1/4 c water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 tbsp honey
3 eggs + 1 egg for wash
1/2 c vegetable oil
6 c flour
2 1/2 tsp salt

Place very warm (but not hot, I usually let me faucet run for a bit) water in mixing bowl.  Add yeast and honey, mixing lightly.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes or so... I usually do less... until you see little eruptions.

Add eggs and vegetable oil and mix with wood spoon.  If you have a stand mixer, add half the flour and salt (premixed is best but not necessary, I can be sort of lazy) and beat with dough hook.  While you're doing this, if you're like me, you can clean up the dribbles of yeast, eggs, and vegetable oil you've made all over the kitchen.  Add the rest of the flour and salt and continue beating.  My stand mixer says I can only have the dough hook on settings mix, 1, or 2... and I believe it, because I accidentally put it on 4 and almost lost a finger.  While it's beating, clean up the flour mess you've made.

The dough is ready when it sticks together as a ball and is not sticky to the touch when you poke your finger in (5-10 minutes of beating).  Add more water and/or flour as necessary (I often need more water and then go too far and need more flour).  Turn the ball out onto a floured work surface and punch a few times.  Place in oiled bowl (I use Olive Oil Pam) and cover in plastic wrap or a towel.

Allow to rise at least one hour, preferrably more, until dough has doubled in size.  I only do one rise as a ball, but you can do more.  I'm not convinced it does much to the texture but some people swear by it.

Punch down the ball in the bowl and remove.  Punch out all air bubbles.  Braid in your preferred method.  Allow to rise 45 minutes. Top with an egg wash (I use the yolk and white) and sesame or poppy seeds if you like.

Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes.  You can use a bread thermometer (180-200 degrees) or poke at the seams.  If they seem doughy, give it more time.  You can always add foil if the top seems like its browning too fast.  I often have to foil five- and six-stranded challot because they're so much fatter.

Enjoy!  (It's always hard for us to wait for Shabbat before we dive into our challah!)

This challah has some honey drizzled on very lightly after the egg wash.