Challah Alternatives

amother

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 7:51 am

BT here so not as familiar with other more novel ideas/customs... If I'm being super honest, I'm not crazy about challah. We never finish it, I often don't enjoy eating it and using the oven when it is 99° makes it even more unpleasant. OOT, so storebought can't get me around the oven and batch baking in advance still leaves me with not much liking it and therefore wasting the excess. Any tips, tricks or alternatives you use? Thanks!

hodeez

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 7:53 am

Instead of making big challot you can make rolls, so there's less waste. If you really don't like challahs use any other whole bread ( meaning not sliced), or even matzah.

mha3484

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 8:20 am

I get different crusty breads from the bakery in the grocery store. I dont like sweet and eggy which is what most challah is.

ra_mom

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 8:32 am

Make anything you like. Just use whole loaves/rolls.
Onion rolls
Garlic bread
Fresh baked bread
Sourdough bread
Laffa
Pita
Baguettes
French loaves
Find a savory water challah recipe that you like and top with everything but the bagel spice.

Rappel

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 8:33 am

I make a French-bread recipe, then braid it for challah, and I make it tiny. People like eating crusty rolls no matter what their shape, and any extras go into the freezer as lechem shalem for the next time I need them.

ETA - Ooh, toppings! Garlic and anything is DELICIOUS as a topping. Since Sephardim can't sweeten the dough, the top is where I add the fun.

scruffy

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 8:37 am

Rappel wrote:

Are you allowed to put flavor into the dough or would that also be counted as pat haba b'kisnin?

Just curious about the psak as sometimes we have Sephardim over.

zaq

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 9:27 am

I make knot rolls. You can use any kind of bread, doesn't have to be a traditional "Challah" recipe. Just CYLOR if you're going to add ingredients like fruit or juice because these may change the halachic character of the dough from hamotzi to mezonos. Raisins and cinnamon are acceptable but personally, I feel that adding things like chocolate chips and a ton of sugar take a loaf out of the category of bread and into the category of cake no matter what the dough's halachic status is. In fact my mother had a recipe for a yeast-risen cake that had less sugar than many challah recipes.

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 9:45 am

I tend not to like most challah recipes. I've found a couple of good bread recipes that I like. Just because someone published a recipe book and called something challah does not make it kodesh. Any whole loaf, roll, matza or pita is fine for lechem mishnah.

When I was little I remember asking if you could get brown (wholemeal) challah. My father looked puzzled at the concept, and then replied that you probably couldn't, because challah was meant to be the best bread you could find. Which is all very well, but tastes have moved on and I prefer a fresh tasty wholemeal bread to sweet soft challah recipes. So that's what I use - my version of the best there is.

Rappel

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 11:57 am

scruffy wrote:

Are you allowed to put flavor into the dough or would that also be counted as pat haba b'kisnin?

Just curious about the psak as sometimes we have Sephardim over.

What a nice, thoughtful question!

Spices - no
Chocolate chips - definitely not
Cheese/veggies - no
Eggs - no

I can add a bit of oil, but not enough to taste. I can, similarly, add a bit of sugar to activate the yeast, but it can't be detectable in the flavour.

Btw - AFAIK, because sweet challah is hamotzi for your husband, a Sephardi who is relying on his Bracha is also motzi, even if he would personally have said mezonot.

scruffy

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 12:53 pm

Rappel wrote:

Thank you Rappel! Good to know.

amother

Saddlebrown

Wed, Jun 02 2021, 2:35 pm

Rappel wrote:

Can you share a recipe please.