today i'm so excited because i will share with you another part of my shabbat prep
how i am able to prepare challah for shabbat every week as a full-time working mom with small kiddos
i will share all my tips tricks and hacks to have a perfect challah every time easily and
smoothly every week and if you like this kind of content all about how as a busy woman you
can still make easy and delicious kosher recipes have fun preparing for shabbat and the holidays
as well as being part of an amazing supportive community helping each other to have a more
productive and more meaningful life please consider subscribing as i would love to have
you be part of our amazing FRUM IT UP family let me put on a pretty tichel and let's jump into it
my first step to get the most delicious challah is to have the right ingredients
so i will bring you shop with me for the secret ingredients for the perfect challah i always use
my own challah recipe that is easy delicious foolproof and works by hand in a bread machine
left to rise overnight and with a mixer and of course i will leave my recipe in the description
box below for my five pounds of flour recipe and also my four cups of flour shabbat challah recipe
the first ingredient is of course the flour there are so many flours whole wheat spelt but avoid at
all costs a self-raising flour as it will never give you a good challah also avoid regular flour
the gluten content is too low and it will yield a very dense cakey challah what i use is bread flour
or high gluten flour as it will yield the most beautiful and airy challah this is a good one
but my favorite is this one which has about 18% gluten content i also heard great things about
king Arthur's flour let me know in the comments below what do you use as your go-to flour?
i like to buy fresh good quality large eggs they will help the challah to be airy i always buy the
30 eggs per package as it becomes way cheaper than the dozen here it's almost 50% off : how
about you in your part of the woods is there a big difference between 30 eggs and a dozen?
i would love to know! the other key ingredients is the yeast the best results especially if i do
the overnight challah or the all day challah is what is called traditional yeast i did not have
great results with the instant yeast in general and more specifically when i do the all day
challah or overnight challah often the challah would crack open or not rise properly at all :(
the next ingredient is oil i like to take a neutral oil my favorite is sunflower
oil as shown by my little helper but canola oil is perfect too
olive oil and corn oil will make a heavier and flatter challah as a side note always verify
that your oil is kosher this oil was kosher for years and now it's not kosher anymore
i already have at home the rest of the ingredients salt sugar and water so i will put away all the
ingredients that i bought today and i will use them on Wednesday as it is my challah day in my
weekly shabbat prep routine on Wednesday morning before i go to work i will add in a bowl my sugar
warm water and also my yeast i always keep my yeast in the freezer to help the yeast stay active
another thing that i always do is to weigh my ingredients to have the best results i will leave
the link to my scale in the description box below i add the yeast to the water and sugar mixture and
i mix everything i cover it and set it aside for five to eight minutes until it bubbles
in the mixer i will put the flour and when i pour in the flour i pray for G.od to sustain us
physically and spiritually i add the sugar and i pray again for G.od to bring sweetness in our life
and finally when i add the salt i pray for G.od to bring us
only reasons to have tears of joy then i mix everything
as you know by now before using any eggs i will check them to make sure that there
is no blood spot in the egg yolk as it would render the egg non-kosher
i will repeat the process for the six eggs that i will use for my five pounds of flour recipe
as i add the eggs one by one little by little in the recipe i pray to G.od to give my husband my
children my family myself and YOU as well a good life as the egg represents the circle of life
at this point the dough should look like wet sand
i add the oil and when i add the oil i pray that everything goes smoothly in our life then
of course i mix everything thoroughly at this point i make sure the yeast is proofed and if
my yeast does not look like this big cake of yeast i know my challah will not rise
and i would not hesitate to toss the non-cakey yeast and use another batch of yeast altogether
i add the yeast mixture and pray to G.od to help us rise up to be our best self and rise above
all the challenges i will then mix everything together until it is fully incorporated i then
add warm water as water is compared to Torah and life i pray we should always have a peaceful life
filled with Torah i don't know about you but i truly believe that the intentions we have when we
are baking and cooking or transmitting in our food my grandmother always said cooking is love you can
taste what do you think i mix the dough until it is fully combined and at this point the dough is
like a shaggy dough it has a bit of consistency when i press it between my fingers and still a bit
tacky and i am sure at this point that the dough is perfect for me to be able to knead it for about
eight minutes on low speed after that kneading period i will look at the dough and as you can see
it is such a different dough it is much stretchier and nice and after fighting for a few minutes
to remove the dough from the bowl as you can see it is quite tacky i will put it on a clean surface
and i will form what is called a BOULE the goal of the boule is to decrease the surface
that is in contact with the air and at the same time to increase the tension
on the surface of the challah both will give you the highest rise and the fluffiest challah
once that the boule is done i'm going to transfer it in a clean chemical free recycling bag and
before closing it i will add some oil here i'm using some avocado oil but any oil will do and
the goal is to keep your challah nice and moist i will close the recycling bag making sure that
there is no air left as the more air will be in contact with the yeast and the dough the less
rise you will have i will simply knot it and i will leave it aside until i'm ready to use it
after work but of course i will leave it not at room temperature but in my refrigerator
when i come home from work i will let the dough warm up for about 20 to 30 minutes in the oven
on the bread proof setting once it is warmed up i will deflate the dough
is deflating the dough as satisfying for you as it is for me let me know in the comments below
from there i fold the dough onto itself i will also preheat my oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit
and then i do the blessing of Hafrashat challah with separation of the challah
i then separate the piece of challah and i say
the piece of challah I removed cannot be eaten and i will keep it in the freezer
until all the pieces of challah will be burned with all the CHAMETZ (leavened products) before
passover/ Pesach i start separating the challah in equal parts to make sure the
challah will bake evenly and the braiding will be as regular and beautiful as possible i like using
braids that are 120 grams each and i take the piece of dough and roll it unto itself
i put it in the recycling bag because one of the best trick to make sure the strands
stay beautiful and will not break during the baking is to keep them from drying out
therefore i keep them covered all the time the same holds true for the bowl it is always covered
i continue to separate the challah in 120 grams portion placing the newer one in
front so i know to use the one from the back first as they were proofed for a longer time
today i will share with you how i do a five strand twisted challah a classic six strands challah and
a round challah i take my ball of dough and flatten it with the rolling pin to remove
all the bubbles this way it will avoid for the strand to break open while baking i roll
the strand onto itself to form a cigar it will create a seam that i will pinch on the top and
on both ends of the cigar i will put it aside and continue with the other balls doing the same thing
if i don't have a rolling pin i will flatten the dough with my fingers to remove the bubbles
and tuck and roll it tightly onto itself i will pinch the seams and roll it again
once that all the strands are rolled i will re-roll them one last time before i place them
side by side to make them as equal as possible in length and in girth then i'm ready to start
braiding my challah the first one is a new one and i call it the twist and fun i take the
second strand and pass it over the third one then i take the fifth strand and i will put it next to
the first strand then i take the first strand and put it over the second strand and then i restart
i take the second strand put it over the third the fifth next to the first and then the first
one over the second one i repeat the process until i have braided all the way through the bottom
the bottom is always a bit tricky for any challah and the way that i do it is that when it is too
challenging i will simply roll the ends together to make a nice mush and tuck it under the challah
and i will do exactly the same thing for the top part which is to roll it together and then tuck it
i love this intricate design and i would love to know how do you find it is it a YEA :) or NAY :(
i put the challah on a cookie sheet covered with a parchment paper and i will cover it once again
with our recycling bag i will do another one like that and then i will start the third one
which is going to be a classic six strands challah this challah might seem daunting but
it is always the same two moves second strand to the top first strand to the middle then i change
side second to the top then first in the middle once again second to the top first in the middle
and i would encourage you to see next the video that my daughters did to braid any challah with
any number of strands with the song that is absolutely unforgettable i move my challah up
and it looks like a little squid and i continue braiding until the end and as i told you before
when the end becomes too tight too complicated i simply roll it unto itself and tuck it underneath
with my five pounds of flour challah recipe i will be able to make two six strands challah
i will cover them with my recycling bag and put them aside to rise at room temperature the last
challah is the cutest one and the simplest one i will take five strands of challah and i will braid
one side like a regular three strands challah and then i will go to the other side and braid
it again i will continue until the bottom and then i will tuck the braid onto itself and it will form
the most delicious round challah like the other challah i will place it on a parchment paper cover
it and let it rise it is time to make the egg wash and of course we have to check the eggs to
make sure that there's no blood spot and the best way that i found to make the creamiest egg wash is
to put the egg in a mason jar then add about two tablespoons of water inside the jar and an eighth
of a teaspoon of salt i close the jar and then let it rip i shake it for about 10 to 15 seconds
after that time i will be left with the most delicious and creamy egg wash and i will apply
it with my favorite silicone basting brush from zyllis and i will leave the link in
the description box below but look at these bristles one of the secret to apply the egg
wash that i found with a lot of trials and error is to really take my time and apply the egg wash
in every nook and cranny this will ensure that the challah will have this nice even golden
color everywhere in some challah especially the most braided one i will add some sesame seeds
i add a lot of sesame seeds to be honest and i would love to know do you add sesame seeds
on your challah do you leave it plain let me know in the comments below i then put the challah in
the oven for 30 minutes once they are fully baked or the internal temperature has reached between
degrees fahrenheit i will place them on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes i have to admit that
during that time it happened to me more than once to just stand there and admire these beauties
and thank G.od that i'm able to do this beautiful mitzvah of Hafrashat challa and to make challah as
well every week did it ever happen to you to just stand and stare at something you have just created
let me know in the comments below once that the chalet are fully cooled down i will put them
in freezer ziploc bags and i will remove all the air inside the ziploc bag to avoid freezer burn
once that i have individually wrapped every single challah making sure that i took out all the air
i will put them in the freezer and leave them there until we're ready to enjoy them on shabbat
and they will taste as delicious and be as fresh as if they were just baked thank you
so much for being here it means the world to me know that in my book you are simply irreplaceable
since you are here until the end write in the comments I LOVE CHALLAH so i know i was
not alone if nobody told you today know that YOU ARE LOVED and YOU ARE ENOUGH just the way you are
until next time stay safe stay blessed and don't forget to frum it up :)