IN TIME FOR SHABBOS: (Whole Wheat) Challah Back Girl

Homemade challah is one of my favorite things. While it bakes, it makes the house smell like shabbos, aka heaven! Unfortunately making challah by hand is a rather time consuming process.  Kneading the dough over and over again.  My mother makes challah every week with the help of her bread machine.  She has even experimented with making her version of pretzel challah, made famous by Got Kosher in Los Angeles.

I own a bread machine but don’t use it as often as my mother. I really should because it is the best machine ever created, after the Crockpot, of course.  We have been invited out for Friday night dinner so I decided to make challah to bring over to our hosts. The recipe that I had been using was getting a bit old so I decided to try something new! This recipe is only ~1/4 whole wheat. As a result the challah is not as dense.  I hope I have posted this recipe in time for you to make challah for shabbos!

xo JLW

Ingredients:

**put into the bread machine in order listed below

Warm Water, 1 cup

Honey, 1 tablespoon

Eggs, 2 at room temperature

Vegetable Oil, 1/2 cup

White Sugar, 1/2 cup

Sea Salt, 2-1/2 teaspoons

All Purpose Flour, 3-1/2 cups

Whole Wheat Flour, 1 cup

Instant Yeast, 1 packet

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients above into your bread machine. Select the dough cycle and press start.

2. After the dough cycle is complete, take the dough out of the machine and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for two (2) minutes and then let it rest for five (5) minutes.

3. Shape the dough. Braid it or make little round challahs. Place them onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

4.  Cover the challahs with a clean hand towel and let rise in a warm place for one (1) hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare egg wash which includes one (1) beaten egg and one (1) teaspoon sugar.

6. Once the challahs have had time to rise, lightly brush with the egg wash mixture. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

7. Once cooled, wrap in tinfoil and store until shabbos. These also freeze really nicely.