Making challa by hand

imamom7

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 8:20 pm

Last time I made challa by hand it came out with little flour pockets - what am I doing wrong? Any suggestions for recipes that work well by hand?

essie14

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 8:40 pm

I've been making this recipe by hand for over 5 years. It's delicious. If you want to take challah with a bracha, just double it.

1. In a small bowl, dissolve in ½ C warm water
3 T rapid rise yeast
2 ½ T sugar
Set aside until it doubles. (10 min or so)

2. In a large bowl, combine the following:

3 egg whites [save yolks for egg wash]
½ C (less) canola oil
¾ C Splenda/Sugar or 1/2 c Agave nectar
4 C flour [I usually use a 3:1 ratio of whole wheat to white or 2:2]
1 C lukewarm water

3. Add yeast mixture. Mix gently.

4. Add
4 C flour (mixture of WW and white)
1 C (little less) lukewarm water

5. Knead. Add more flour if necessary. Let rise 1.5 hrs. Punch down. (If you have time, let it rise again and punch down again)
6. Take challah without a bracha.
7. Shape or braid. Brush with egg wash [egg mixed with a bit of water] sprinkled with cinnamon. Bake at 375 for 40 min. (Check after 20 min - ovens may vary)