Take out the elbow grease with bread machine challah

Why not let your kitchen gadgets do the work — while you get the glory

By Leora Kimmel Greene 22 January 2015, 11:27 am

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Using a bread machine to make challah saves time and elbow grease. (Shannon Sarna/JTA)

THE NOSHER/JTA — When my husband and I first married and started to host Shabbat dinners, making my own challah felt like a rite of passage. But I have a little trick that keeps it from being quite the ordeal it must have been for the Jewish women who came before me: I let my beloved bread maker do the hard work.

My bread maker kneads the dough while I am at work. I come home, braid the challah, add any of amazing fillings detailed on The Nosher food blog (my favorite is the balsamic apple and date), and pop it in the oven. Here’s everything you need to know:

BREAD MACHINE CHALLAH

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs (2 for the dough and 1 for brushing before baking)
1 teaspoon honey
2½ cups bread flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon yeast

Preparation:
Place all the ingredients into machine in order listed and set machine on “dough” setting.

Let sit in machine 60-90 minutes after the machine has completed its cycle.

Delicious challah with sesame (photo credit: Aviv Hod/Wikimedia Commons)

Remove dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise for another 30 minutes.

Braid dough into desired shape.

Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Brush liberally over challah. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or the topping of your choice.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes. After the challah has baked for 15 minutes, do a second brush with the reserved egg mix — this gives the challah a beautiful, shiny gloss.