The first Jewish thing I learned how to do, before lighting shabbat candles, before learning Hebrew, before I’d figured out the Amidah, was how to bake and braid challah. I know that sounds strange, but baking bread from scratch offers me a much quicker path to G-d than anything else in my Jewish life.
I find the act of slowing down and baking, kneading, allowing to rise, kneading more, rising more, braiding, rising and baking to be a prayer The act of baking prepares me for shabbat because I am completely unplugged and focused. You can’t talk on your cell phone or check email while you knead bread, now can you?
I certainly can’t and don’t want to. I like how connected to G-d I feel when I bake challah. I like it and need it so much in my life, that to prepare for Rosh HaShanah I have stayed home from work to do nothing but bake challah and write. (Fine, I’m also cleaning for a RH nosh after services tomorrow.)
Without further ado, here is my challah recipe with “shiksa” instructions. Since I wasn’t Jewish when I started making it and had never seen challah before, I added italics to tell the truth about challah baking.
Baking and Braiding Challah for Shabbat (full recipe after the jump.)
Recipe and Official Directions from The How To Handbook for Jewish Living by Kerry M. Olinsky and Ronald H. Isaacs
Ingredients
2 packets of granulated yeast
2 cups warm/hot water
½ cup sugar
7 cups of white flour
2 teaspoons of salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
½ cup golden raisins (optional)
Poppy seeds (optional)
1. Dissolve 2 packages granulated yeast in 2 cups warm/hot water. Add ½ cup sugar. Set aside. The book says tepid water—tepid water won’t activate yeast. Also make sure that the yeast hasn’t expired and that you have extra on hand in case it doesn’t activate. Maybe even use a thermometer, but I use hot water that isn’t steaming.
2. Mix together 7 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. DO NOT USE WHEAT FLOUR WITH THIS RECIPE. I did once—big mistake. Find a wheat challah recipe, but don’t just use this one. You will end up with a dense brick of wheat bread that no one will eat. Add 1/3 cup oil, 2 lightly beaten eggs and the yeast mixture.
3. Knead on a floured board until smooth and silky. If you can afford it, I suggest buying the Roll’Pat from Crate and Barrel. It makes the kneading so much cleaner and easier. But don’t forget—you have to flour your hands AND the counter. Add ½ cup golden raisins.
4. Place in a well oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place until double in size. About two hours. Need a warm place? Turn on the oven for a minute and then turn it off. Pop the bowl in the oven covered with a towel for a couple hours.
5. Punch down and allow to rise again, about 1 hour.
6. Divide dough and braid into 2 loaves. Traditionally you make two loaves, but this recipe is massive. It makes three loaves easy. I make 2-3 loaves and keep one, give away the rest. Place on a greased cookie sheet and allow to rise for two hours.
7. To braid, divide the dough into three parts. Roll each into a long snake of even thickness. Then pinch together the ends and braid as you do hair. As an alternative, overlap braids in the other and braid toward the end. What? I suggest going online to find some visuals for this one. That was what I did, it is actually very easy to do.
8. Brush with egg wash (1 part egg, 1 part water, well whisked) and sprinkle with seeds. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Wow- an ode to challah. I know exactly how you feel- I make several challot a week, every week.
It’s admirable that you do this all by hand. I used to, but I just don’t have the time- and I really think that challah made with the mixer or the food processor comes out better. It has a nice, feathery texture and doesn’t feel either heavy or marshmallow-y. I felt guilty at first. But I got over it.
If you want to use whole wheat flour (it gives it nice texture and flavor), just use a cup or so, at most. You’ll have to keep an eye on the stickiness of the dough- the whole wheat flour tends to absorb less water.