Smaller challah recipe?

seeker

Thu, Nov 10 2011, 9:35 pm

I want to make challah this week. I do not have a machine to assist me and I don't have much freezer space for leftover dough. It's just me and DH this week. Anyone have a challah recipe that would be enough for maybe 4 medium challahs or only a little more than that? All the recipes I see seem huge, and I've heard that halving bread recipes isn't so simple and doesn't always work.

White is fine but I'd be extra interested in something that uses half and half (some white and some whole wheat. I don't have any "white whole wheat")

TIA! I'd love to make the dough before bed tonight!

spring13

Thu, Nov 10 2011, 10:40 pm

I just made a batch of my friend's mother's food-processor challah, which also makes 2 medium loaves. I do it with various mixtures of whole wheat and white flour, it's good no matter which way you shake it.

Mix 1 tbs yeast w/ 1/4 c warm water & 3 tbs brown sugar & let proof - a couple of minutes to make sure yeast is not dead

Whisk 3 lg eggs in another bowl

Put 3 c bread flour (or regular, or some whole wheat) into work bowl of fp

Process in 1 scant tsp salt & 1/2 stick unsalted margarine

W/processor running, slowly pour in thru feed tube yeast then eggs

Process around until it forms a ball

Let ball process around for 20 turns or so - yes, you can count these - you'll have to make this a couple of times to get the right number of turns

Dough s/b smooth & satiny - not sticky. If too dry add water a couple of drops at a time & process around until it looks good.

If its too wet, add flour 1 tbs at a time & do the
process thing

Let rise in warm floured place for 1 hr or until doubled

Form into braid or whatever you want on a greased baking sheet (or parchment paper). Let rise 1 hr.

Do the egg wash thing & sprinkle with some sort of seed or not

Bake at 350 for 18 minutes for rolls & around 25 minutes for a braid

Bread is done when golden brown & sounds hollow when you knock on it for a braid

If you want a sweeter bread, add more brown sugar. You can also add another tbs of margarine but then you also have to add more flour at the end to get the satiny texture.

bigsis144

Fri, Nov 11 2011, 12:44 am

100% whole wheat challah
makes 4 small loaf pans (each about 9 inches long?), but I usually make 3 loaf pans + 4 bilkelach
DH eats lots of challah and has the minhag of cutting into both the lechem mishneh breads, so we finish a loaf + a bilke at each meal. (It's just me, DH and toddler DS)
I make my challah completely by hand.

2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar + 1 tsp. for proofing yeast
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
2-3 eggs (use 2 for denser challah, 3 for fluffier)
6 c. whole wheat flour
extra flour for kneading/braiding (I use white flour for this)

1. Pour water, yeast and teaspoon of sugar into mixing bowl and wait 5 minutes until yeast is proofed and foamy.

2. Add sugar, oil, honey, salt and eggs and stir until combined.

3. Add flour and knead by hand. The dough will be VERY sticky. (The original recipe said you can add up to 2 cups of white flour to reach desired consistency, but I find that it gets less sticky after rising, and less flour makes for lighter challos.)

4. Pour a bit of oil over the top of the challah and cover with a clean plastic bag or kitchen towel. Place in a warm place to rise.

5. Dump dough out onto generously flour-covered plastic tablecloth (or another plastic bag). Braid challos, using lots of flour to de-sticky-fy the dough as you roll and shape it.

6. Egg tops of challos, add toppings (I like za'atar or cinnamon sugar or dried rosemary with garlic powder). Bake a 9-inch loaf for approx 25-30 minutes, or until hollow-sounding when tapped.

seeker

Fri, Nov 11 2011, 1:19 am

Thanks all so far, still interested if there are more to share! For now I've made a batch of "Breslov" (aka Seraph's) dough (I'd seen the thread before but didn't realize it was such a nice manageable size!) I used all white flour for starters. The dough feels great and I've put it in the fridge to shape and bake tomorrow, hope that turns out all right.

Maybe next week I'll try the whole wheat one, though fully whole wheat is likely to be too intense for some of us.

I want to try a few and find a family favorite!