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.

Sprinkle Challah for Purim

I can't take credit for thinking this up.  I saw it on Leigh Ann's old blog (she now blogs here - make sure to check her out!) and tried it out last year.  It was a complete failure!  I ended up with a pink, slightly sickly sweet challah.  I pretended it tasted good.  But it really didn't.

So, in honor of Purim, we're bringing back sprinkle/multi-color/funfetti challah.  This year, we're using jimmies (did you know that we don't actually know why sprinkles are called jimmies?).

I started out with my normal old challah recipe. I floured the dough lightly to prevent the colors from running too much. Then, I just dumped on the sprinkles.


Then I just braided as normal.


Before baking, I decided there weren't nearly enough sprinkles, so I added a few more after egg-wash and baked as normal.


While we on vacation last week, the Hazz and I stopped at a paint-your-own-pottery place. I made a Shalom door plate, and the Hazz made a word bubble plate with, "V'ahavta larekha kamokha. (Love your neighbor as yourself.)" While it will probably one day end up on the wall, it made a great display plate!


Here it is in all it's glory!  Yum!


What are YOU doing to celebrate Purim (and extend perhaps extend the holiday like we are)?

A Frelichen Purim! 

PSST: You might want to check out Hamantaschen Challah and M&M Challah, our other Purim-inspired creations!

Happy Purim! - Hamantaschen Challah!

Well, I didn't quite get this recipe up on time... but I hope you all enjoy it anyway.  Hamantaschen Challah are inspired by those tasty, delicious treats for Purim - Hamantaschen!!!!  Tradition tells us that a Hamantasch is shaped like the hat of Haman (boooo!), the bad guy in the Book of Esther.

My Hamantaschen Challah were inspired by A Taste of Challah by Tamar Ansh, a funny little cookbook that includes these ridiculous, massively huge recipes for challah that are big enough to fulfill the mitzvah of taking challah.  Tamar makes little Hamantaschen sized rolls but filled with garlic and onion mixture.  I just wasn't crazy about that idea, even though I am a fan of savory breads.  But something about Purim just screams sweetness to me!

METHOD

Use any recipe of challah you like (woo hoo!). I used the halved version of my challah recipe, using 2 eggs instead of just 1.  Chop one apple (I used Gala) in small pieces, about 1/4 inch squares.  Mix with a sprinkle of sugar, sprinkle of nutmeg, and about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Just imagine apple pie filling.

Pull off small balls of challah.  Flatten with your fingers.  Fill with a heaping teaspoon of the filling and pinch shut like a regular hamantaschen.

Now, here's the important part. FLIP THE HAMANTASCHEN and place on a parchment-papered cookie sheet.  Allow rise for about a half hour.  Top with an egg wash.  Bake at 350 for about a half hour.

I love these rolls so much.  They're so darling.  You think you have a little triangle-shaped roll and then you turn it over, and it's a hamantaschen!

The Tie Dye Challah Adventure

The Tie Dye Challah in all it's glory.

Tie-dye challah, a Purim-related delicacy (or it should be), was inspired by Leigh Ann at The Frugal Ima's Funfetti Challah.  I am proud to say that I (initially FAILED).

Remember, when you were at summer camp, and you were learning how to tie dye shirts... If you mix all the colors together too much, then you get a sort of brown.  Well, Leigh Ann suggests Jimmies, but I didn't have them.  I'll just be resourceful, I told myself. So, I thought it would be brilliant if I mixed the rainbow non-pareils in with the flour.  You know, nice all over color look.  Well, all the color CAME OFF the non-pareils.  Fortunately, when I made this challah the reds and pinks sort of dominated, so at least we got PINK, quite princess-y dough.

In order to rectify the situation, I quickly whipped up a second batch of plain dough and kneaded in the non-pareils just before braiding.  This all would have been easier if I had had "Jimmies" in the house, like she suggests.  But I didn't. So, here is the result of both methods! I used my small batch recipe.

The Pink Dough	The Tie Dye Dough
Luckily, it tastes delicious! Now, to the store for Jimmies!
A Frelichen Purim!