After many less than satisfactory attempts (to put it mildly) at baking
loaves of low fat challah (egg bread) that resembled those I grew up eating,
I was about to give up. I found a recipe in the jewish-foods mailing list
archive that *almost* worked for me. I do believe I have finally tweaked and
prodded it enough that I can honestly say that this is one incredible
recipe. (Kudos to the original poster.) My changes may simply have more to
do with the weather, etc., than anything else; but whatever the reason, I
have been asked (ordered?) to keep this bread in ready supply. I have to
hide them if I want to keep them for later. :)
Carla
Original recipe at: http://www.eskimo.com/~jefffree/recipes
OIL FREE CHALLAH (ABM DOUGH CYCLE)
1 1/2 cups water
2 eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons sugar
5 cups white flour (or white bread flour - omit gluten)
1 1/2 Tablespoons wheat gluten
3 teaspoons yeast
5 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
Add ingredients to ABM in order specified by model. Choose "DOUGH" cycle.
Can add 3/4 cup of raisins during second kneading. If you want to cook the
bread in the machine, just use the regular white/wheat cycle.
After machine completes, take out the dough and break it into three parts.
Cover lightly with plastic wrap (may spray lightly with PAM to keep wrap
from sticking if you want) and let dough rise for one hour. Roll out and
braid dough (lightly wet ends to help them stick and fold under loaf
slightly for rounded appearance). Place loaf on cookie sheet sprayed lightly
with PAM, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour. Brush with
one egg, beaten (I use Egg Beaters. A couple of teaspoons is all it takes.)
Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
NOTES: (from original poster) Recommend using very warm water to offset the
cold temperature of the egg and applesauce (which is usually in the fridge).
The amounts of sugar and honey are equal; however, any amount of both or
each totaling 6 Tbsp works fine. I've used this recipe to make over a dozen
mini-challahs and frozen them for later use. Just make the pieces smaller.
For Rosh Hashanah, make the loaf round. (meryl@onramp.net)
NOTES: (from me) I changed all the amounts from the original recipe to
achieve satisfactory results. This ended up producing 3 nice loaves of
challah (all three baked sideways on the same cookie sheet), one of which
lasts until the next day when I have to bake three more. You don't *have* to
braid the loaves, but it only takes a few minutes. This gives it a wonderful
texture, making it like pull-apart rolls. You can make any size loaf you
want ... or rolls or hoagie-sized buns, etc. I think the classic way is to
make one large loaf using four braids and then place a smaller loaf on top
of the large one. (cbmcam@cyberramp.net)