Shana Tova from our Bayit to Yours | A New Round Challah Shape

Well hello there, little blog. Hellooooo out there in Feedly land. Anyone still following? I'm still baking, but my focus is elsewhere. Mainly it's on this little one.

...who's not really so little anymore. We've been cooking and baking up a storm. Earlier this week, I made a batch of challah using my trusty half-batch recipe and tried out a new round shape. This shape is from Maggie Glezer's A Blessing of Bread, one of my favorite challah cookbooks. Here's how it came together for me.

First, I rolled out my dough (about half of my batch), wide and round like a pizza. Once it was pretty round (not as round as the picture in the book, but oh well), I cut it using my pasta cuter.

Since I wanted to fill it, I melted a bit of margarine and brushed it over the top of each side. Then I added a 3-to-1 sugar-cinnamon/spice mixture. I ran out of cinnamon, so it was part pumpkin pie spice and part cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 gala apple, peeled and cut into small chunks, and roll up from the small side.

The next part was the fun part. Take those loooooong noodles and, one at a time, fold them up on themselves and twist them a la those old camp friendship bracelets. Magic, right?

Arrange them together circling each other, and ta-da! Another fun challah shape for a sweet new year (More shapes here, here, here, and here).

So, little blog, I miss you, and I'm glad you're still here, and I'm glad any of you readers are still out there. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year, filled with lots of joy.