Happy Purim from The Challah Blog!

On the Shabbat before Purim, we always get into the spirit a little early and make fun challot.  Here are some of our ideas from past years.

Hamantaschen Challot are an easy and fun way to surprise your guests. Baked upside down, they look like slightly triangular-shaped rolls. But flipped over -- a great surprise!

Okay, so we sometimes make Sprinkle Challah even when it's not Purim, because it's a lot of fun, and kids love it.

By now, you've probably realized how much I love mix-in challot. M&M Challah is just fun, colorful, and easy!

Shabbat Shalom and Purim Same'ah from our bayit to yours!  What's YOUR Purim costume this year?  We're having a Star Wars theme at our synagogue.

Lemon and Lavender Scented Challah

Garden Season continues!  The basil, thyme, and sage are going crazy.  The tomatoes are starting, and the peppers are gaining color.  When we first planted our garden, I added a little lavender plant.  One year later, the plant has increased in size probably ten-fold and I've never used it for anything.  Time for that to change.

Most lavender recipes out there are for fresh or dried lavender flowers.  I had a great time exploring all sorts of different recipes and information links here, here, and here.  I ultimately decided that I wanted to use various Lemon Lavender muffins as an inspiration.  I've used lemon once before, although the result wasn't very successful.  Last time, I used so much lemon juice that the dough was extra soft, and the lemon scent was overpowering.  This time, I decided to pair the lavender leaves with the zest of a lemon.  Additionally, I added quite a bit of sugar to this recipe and used warmed milk instead of water to proof the yeast.  I think the yeast may have under-proofed a bit, because my resulting challah was dense, almost like a tea biscuit... which was really my goal.  This is the kind of challah that I want to slather with lemon curd and serve with Earl Gray tea.

1/2 c milk (I used skim)
1 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1/4 c plus 1/4 tsp sugar
1 egg (split, I beat it then used "most" in the dough)
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of half of 1 lemon
Leaves of 1 sprig of fresh lavender

I based this recipe off of my REALLY Small Batch Challah, as I did earlier this month with Strawberry Basil Challah.  One small-size loaf.

Finely chop the lavender.  Place lavender and milk in a small sauce pan on the stove and warm.  Add the yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar.  Let rest for about 10 minutes.  Add the egg, rest of the sugar, and lemon zest.   Add the flour and salt.

Knead with a dough hook on 2 or by hand until the dough holds together as a ball.  {You can see how small this batch is here.}

Cover and place in a covered, oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. As I said, the dough didn't seem to really rise... but I just went with it.  Braid as normal.

The Hazz also made me a little "A," perfect for a pre-Shabbat sampling...

Let rest for about a half hour. Egg wash with the reserved egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

I love this challah. It's surprising. It smells like tea time. It just feels fancy. I'm calling it a success. Can't wait for more challah from the garden throughout this summer.

Shavua Tov, from our bayit to yours!!!

Stuffed Pizza Challah

While we were making our Savory Braided Challah for Shavuot, I left some dough aside because we can't make Pizza Challah without enjoying a real treat... Stuffed Pizza Challah.

Roll out your dough from Pizza Challah into a long, thin rectangle.

Place fresh mozzarella slices on the strands. You can also use shredded, but we enjoy sliced for pizzas at home, so that's usually what's in the house.

Roll the dough, keeping out air bubbles.

I even added a bit of cornmeal to the bottom of the baking pan.

Make sure to tuck in the ends and try to make sure you really seal the roll, otherwise you'll end up with this... {which is necessarily a bad thing, actually}

Don't forget to egg wash and sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan! Bake as normal. You may need to foil this bad boy as the inside can be a bit doughy while the outside gets a bit dark.

We're looking forward to diving into this challah during Yom Tov with a lasagna dinner.

Hag Shavuot Same'ah from our bayit to yours!

Savory Braided Challah for Shavuot

I'm on a kick, haverim.  I'm loving this dairy-filled, cheesy, oozing challah adventure of pre-Shavuot cooking. And, yes, that sentence was ridiculous.  But so is this challah.

Basically,  took two of our favorite challot and braided them... together.  Parmesan Roasted Garlic Challah + Pizza Challah = Major Shavuot Love. So, I set to work.

For the Parmesan Roasted Garlic Challah, I needed some roasted garlic. To roast the garlic, I put an entire bulb into my teeny-tiny LeCreuset, spritzed with a little olive oil spray, and baked at 425 for about 50 minutes (until I could pierce it with a sharp knife).

In the meantime, I headed out to my garden for a bit of fresh basil for Pizza Challah. Can I just say... I'm over the MOON that it's gardening season.

For the loaves, I chose even-numbered braids {You can find my challah braiding methods here}.

The braids ultimately looked much more impressive when they were pre-bake than after the bake. The pre-bake really shows the orange color of Pizza Challah.

You could still see the color change on the ends of each challah.

And definitely inside!

I'm really happy with these challot. They're a marriage of two really delicious challah recipes. And, they're a bit ridiculous, which reminds me a lot of another marriage that is coming up on almost two years.

Hag Shavuot Same'ah from our bayit to yours!

Shavuot Recipe Book: Dairy Challot

It's almost time for Shavuot! Do YOU have a favorite dairy-delicious challah? Something extra special for your holiday table? We're working on a few more recipes in time for next Saturday night! Who's excited?!?

Pizza Challah	Parmesan Roasted Garlic Challah
Jalapeño Challah	Nutella Challah
Sprouted Wheat with Milk and Honey	Dairy Challah {new!}

Shavuot Recipe Book: Dairy Challah

There are many stories that explain the tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot, but none are truly conclusive.  Some simply connect it to the idea from Exodus that the Israelites would leave Egypt and go to the land "flowing with milk and honey."  Here's another interesting tidbit if you like gematria...

A sage discovered that the initials of the four Hebrew words in Numbers 28:26, which describe the sacrificial meal offering on Shavuot, spell mei halav (from milk), suggesting that dairy food is the acceptable dinner for the festival. At Sinai, the Israelites were considered to be as innocent as newborns, whose food is milk. {Source}

Cool, right?  There's more on that link that talks about halav (milk) having the same gematria value as the number of days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai... a stretch?  Perhaps, but I do love puzzles!

(Yup!  That's a puzzle.  We're become a little... obsessed with puzzles.)

I've made challah with milk before... Sprouted Wheat with Milk and Honey Challah included milk because I read (somewhere) that milk helps relax the wheat.  I wasn't honestly convinced that it made much of a difference, but it was a fun experiment anyway!

This recipe will yield one large or two medium-size loaves.

2 1/4 instant yeast (1 packet)
3 c bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 c milk, slightly warmed (I used skim)
1 heaping tbsp basswood or other dark honey
2 eggs plus 1 more for egg wash

This challah was the first one that I actually used instant yeast like one is supposed to use instant yeast... I just mixed it in with the flour. Normally, I've been afraid of that and proof it just like active dry yeast, although you don't have to do that.

Mix together the yeast, flour, and salt.  Can you spot the yeast here?

Yeah, me neither.

On the stove in a small pan, warm the milk and honey, stirring constantly. Add the milk/honey mixture and the eggs to the flour/yeast mixture.

Blend with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand or on the stand mixture until a ball forms.

While you're mixing, you can use this time to catch up on your favorite shows... Downton Abbey, anyone?

Let rest in an oiled bowl for about an hour and a half or until doubled in bulk.  Braid as normal and allow to rest an additional 20-30 minutes.  Egg wash and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Now, here's the part where I get honest.  I have no beautiful pictures of this challah to share.  I got a little... cavalier... with my challah shape.  I read a lovely little story in Maggie Glezer's A Blessing of Bread on Ladder Challah.  Glezer writes:

The ladder-shaped challah, which is served on Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, symbolizes spiritual ascension and Mount Sinai because the Hebrew words for "ladder" and "Sinai" have identical numerical value (as shown in the mystical study of Torah called gematria).  {A Blessing of Bread, 79.}

So, I set to work.  I started with a flattened disk and added the rungs.

It looked pretty great! I was very proud.

And oh dear. What a disastrous result.

With the popularity of Pinterest, there have also appeared a lot of Pinterest Fail Blogs that will show a picture of the goal and the picture of one's own result with the phrase, "Nailed it." I think I nailed it.  Oy.

Luckily, I also made some rolls that DID turn out quite lovely.  This challah has a sweetness to it that's a bit unexpected.  It also has a darker color, which I suspect is from the basswood honey.  It's a bit tough to work with... I think it's the lack of oil.  But, overall, I wouldn't change a thing.  It was a really nice dairy challah!

We'll be tweaking our Shavuot recipes over the next few weeks!  Have a recipe to share?  A request for something special?  Send to it me at themrs {at} thechallahblog {dot} com or leave a comment here!

Review: Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Challah

Friends, Pinterest is a dangerous, dangerous thing. I can spend hours just looking at delicious, darling, hipster, beautiful, amazing recipes, fashion, and home ideas. But I looooove Pinterest.


I pinned this recipe quite some time ago and have been anxious to try it. It's a Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Challah from the LA Times. However, since I was trying it, and I didn't have a ton of ricotta, I halved the recipe. Then, well into the process, I realized I didn't have any basil. Enter improvisation.

Here are my modifications on the original. While this recipe gives a challah dough recipe, I really think that you can use whatever you want. I just used my own recipe (with fresh yeast because I love it so much).

about 3 large handfuls of fresh spinach {the original recipe uses frozen which is easier, but I have a hard time finding it kosher}
1 tbsp fresh chopped oregano
1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme {I still have these herbs from my garden}
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 heaping tbsp cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan
1 cups ricotta cheese
2 heaping tbsp cornmeal or flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

So, here's the deal. There should also be about 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped to truly be the original recipe's ricotta/pesto blend. I sprinkled a little dried basil but a REALLY little bit and that flavor didn't come through.

For the spinach, I just put all the leaves in a microwave safe bowl with a bit of water and let them go on high for about 1 minute, checking periodically after 45 seconds. After they were cool enough to handle, I squeeze the water out and chopped.

The linked recipe doesn't show you how to do the filled braid, but I've seen tutorials elsewhere. Here's how I did it. Make sure to tuck in those ends!






You could also do a filled challah, which is one of our favorite methods.


The Verdict: It's okay. I made this is as a Tuesday experiment, and we decided that on Thursday it tasted it's best. The flavors had kind of mellowed out. But, really, it's just okay. The ricotta is salty so the whole thing is a bit aggressive. I think I prefer mozzarella or parmesan in my challah if I'm doing a savory, cheese-y loaf.

That said, it was a fun experiment, and I do like the "braiding" technique.