Most of us have plenty of cooking and baking to do for Rosh Hashanah, so an easy-to-do Challah recipe is much appreciated.Mix the dough with a spoon, form it into a loose ball with your hands, let it rise and then braid it. Relatively high in eggs, sugar and oil (healthy olive oil!), this recipe produces a sweet, cake-like challah especially appropriate for the chagim. If you prefer honey to sugar, cut back on the amount of water in the recipe.
1 package (2 ½ teaspoons) instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup warm water
2 eggs
½ cup warm water
⅓ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
⅓ cup mild-flavored extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
Handful of raisins (optional)
Mix the yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl to soften the yeast. After a few minutes, add the eggs, remaining ½ cup of water, sugar, salt and olive oil. Mix well, and start adding the flour, one cup at a time. When all of the flour is mixed in, add the raisins and mix with your hands to form a loose ball of dough.
Let the dough rise for about 2 hours, or until double in size.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and shape into equal parts to braid or twist. Make one large challah, two smaller ones or lots of rolls. This dough tends to spread rather than rise in the oven, so I like to bake it in a pan with sides. That way there's less spreading space and there's no where else for the dough to go than up!
Bake at 325 F (165 C) for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your challot.
Wishing all of you a happy, healthy and quiet New Year.
