What's the "Secret Ingredient" in your Challah??

MrsDash

Fri, Mar 02 2012, 1:24 pm

I used high gluten, and regular flour, and haven't really seen a difference. I play with the dough, and knead it a lot. Adding some vanilla sugar gives it a little extra yumminess. I bake the challahs in loaf pans, because it helps keep all the flavor in. I HIGHLY recommend the kosher palette recipe. It's the ONLY one I use! (I don't use fresh yeast, and it comes out just as nice, and fluffy.) I have yet to meet someone who doesn't absolutely LOVE the challah!

shnitzel

Fri, Mar 02 2012, 2:36 pm

Tease wrote:

shnitzel wrote:

medola wrote:

Tease wrote:

after you finish kneading the dough, continue kneading it for another 5-10 minutes
(ok, I never do it that long), the extra kneading makes it so fluffy and heavenly!

ps. got this secret from my Zaidy, who told me thats what his mother would do.

Thanks, Tease! I didn't know the extra kneading made it fluffy. Tho that does sound like more work!

You know how the dough rises and you have to punch it down after an hour? Well if it's filled with so much air that it needed to be punched down, if you don't punch it down so much, would it come out fluffier? (does that make sense?) What if you don't punch it down at all?

How do bakeries get their challah sooo fluffy that it almost feels like you're eating challah-cotton-candy? (ok not quite that fluffy!)

Also last time I made challah I placed the bowl with the dough over a big bowl of hot hot tap water. The warmth during the dough rising stage definitely made a difference!

They probably add gluten. Gluten is the protein in flour that gives it structure. The more you knead the more gluten is released. Bread flour also has a higher gluten content so that Challah will also be fluffier.

didnt know that kneading had any connection to gluten. and why is gluten such a scary word these days?
anyway, I never use bread flour, only all-purpose.
medola, I only punch it down when I'm about to shape it. even an extra 2-3 minutes of kneading can make it super fluffy-its really worth the extra effort!!

Gluten is what the protein in flour is called. There are some people who are intolerant to it so it makes them sick. Like lactose in milk. It is really important in bread making.

medola

Thu, Mar 08 2012, 9:29 am

I don't have any vanilla sugar, but I do have straight up vanilla extract. Can I mix a few drops into the egg wash and sugar? Or just mix it into the sugar??

Also, here's my beer bread recipe - sorry I didn't see the post asking for it!

Basic recipe:

3 cups flour (all white, or half whole wheat and half white)
3 Tbsp sugar (up to half brown sugar)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp total dried herbs (I usually use 1/2 tsp each dill, thyme,
and oregano)
12 oz. beer (I think a lager gives the best flavor)
- a drop of water to avoid issue of whether this is hamotzi (if using
only white flour),
OR
- about 1 Tbsp of water for each 1/2 cup whole wheat flour used (since
it absorbs more liquid)

pan of appx. 1 1/2 qt (an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan or a 9x5 inch
loaf pan is great)

margarine for greasing pan (if pan is not flexible, you may want to
grease and then line with parchment paper and grease that, so you can
pull out the loaf of bread with the paper)

1. mix together all ingredients except beer in a medium mixing bowl
(appx. 3 qt.)

2. pour about half the beer into the bowl and start mixing with your
clean hand or a big fork

3. when there are no pools of liquid left, dump in the rest of the
beer; mix just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated -
the batter will be lumpy and very sticky

4. transfer all batter more or less evenly into the greased loaf pan

5. place pan in the center of a COLD oven. turn oven on to 375
degrees F and bake appx. 1 hour

6. a couple of minutes after you take this out of the oven, remove
from the pan (and remove parchment paper if using) and cool either on
a cooling rack or standing on-end so that the bottom crust
gets...crusty

(( Some notes - there is no oil in the bread. seems odd but it tastes great! Also, it will be more of a batter-consistency, not like dough. This recipe makes 1 loaf I believe. Have a loaf tin ready!)