Rosh Hashanah Recipe: Sweet Challah Bread

Over the past year or so, I have gotten more involved in the local Moishe House community in the DC area. There are actually four different houses here, and they all host fun events throughout the year. Because Rosh Hashanah is coming up, there have been lots of events going on, and last week the Moishe House in Columbia Heights hosted a get-together to make challah bread. I had never made challah before, but it is delicious, so I thought I would try it.

Challah frequently is not flavored, but for the Jewish new year, sweet challah is quite common. We had the choice to make honey and raisin challah (rather traditional), chocolate chip challah, or apple and brown sugar. I chose the last option: I has never heard of that kind before!

The house did a great job organizing the event: each of us had a "Seder plate" of ingredients, so everything was already measured out and ready to go. Super easy! And we took the raw dough home with us so we could bake it anytime, which was really convenient, since it takes about an hour to bake. Here's the recipe:

1 packet of fast acting yeast

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon of sugar

Let this mixture sit covered for 5 minutes. (We covered each bowl with a paper towel.)

Then add to the bowl:

1/4 cup oil

1/2 sugar

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Mix all together and knead the dough for 10 minutes. (The fun part! I recommend putting flour on your hands so that the dough doesn't stick to your fingers as you knead it.)

Let sit for an hour and a half. (We enjoyed baked brie and sat talking as a group while we waited.)

Flatten out and put a layer of brown sugar and chopped, peeled apples. Roll into one long snake and turn into a spiral, break into three pieces and make three snakes to braid, or make six balls and put them in the round tray to make a "pull-apart challah." (I chose the first one; I thought it would be the easiest for my first time making challah!) 

Optional: mix up one egg and brush it over the raw dough to create an egg wash. Ideally you would have enough time to let one wash dry and do a second wash before baking the dough. (I only did one egg wash, but that was fine; the bread just doesn't look as shiny.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 450°, then bring the temperature down to 350° and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it, because every oven is different. (I put aluminum foil over the dough after the first 15 minutes to keep the crust from burning.)

In the end I thought the bread turned out great! I was afraid that the dough would still be raw in the middle from stories I had heard from other people, but it was cooked all the way through and delicious! I will definitely make this recipe again, for Rosh Hashanah and otherwise.