Apple Honey Challah
I. Am. In. Love. With this bread. This is my childhood, distilled. After elementary school, my babysitter would pick me up and we would walk out of our way to go to Moishe's bakery on 2nd Ave around 11th street. As per my mother's request, we would pick up a loaf of challah to take home. Upon realizing that the only things that made it home were crumbs, she upped her request to two loaves. Sadly, even my voracious seven year old stomach could only devour one loaf during the walk home.
Moishe's challah is special. It has a light flavor, and the most wonderful texture I've ever found. It's slightly wetter than most challahs and when you bite into it it's just a little less fluffy and a little more chewy than most challahs. I have been searching for a bread like this all my life, and have never found it. Until now.
Thank you thank you Smitten Kitchen! You have fulfilled a dream deferred. I have changed very little from her recipe, but I did add some spices to the apples :) For some beautiful photos and a nice tutorial on weaving a round loaf, check out her lovely posting.
Moishe's challah is special. It has a light flavor, and the most wonderful texture I've ever found. It's slightly wetter than most challahs and when you bite into it it's just a little less fluffy and a little more chewy than most challahs. I have been searching for a bread like this all my life, and have never found it. Until now.
Thank you thank you Smitten Kitchen! You have fulfilled a dream deferred. I have changed very little from her recipe, but I did add some spices to the apples :) For some beautiful photos and a nice tutorial on weaving a round loaf, check out her lovely posting.
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2 1/4 tsps (1 package) active dry yeast
2/3 cup lukewarm water 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon honey 1/3 cup neutral oil (I used corn oil) 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk 1 1/2 tsp salt 4 1/4 cups flour (I used all purpose, Smitten Kitchen says you can also use bread flour) 2 medium baking apples* ~1/2 tsp sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water (for the wash) |
Whisk together 2/3 cup lukewarm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon honey in a small bowl. Let sit a few minutes until it foams up. (This ensures that your yeast are alive and kickin'.) Meanwhile, measure out the oil into a measuring cup. Then, measure the honey into the same measuring cup. (That way, the honey will come right out of the measuring cup.)
Whisk together the yeast, oil, honey and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Change over to the dough hook, and add the salt and flour. Let the dough hook knead the bread for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and slightly sticky. You may have to add more flour to get it to be less sticky. But be warned, throughout this process this is a pretty sticky dough. It'll get all over your hands. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times, adding a bit of flour as needed. It will be sticky, but if it's unmanageable add some flour. Smitten Kitchen has mentioned that this recipe is relatively forgiving towards flour, but you certainly don't want a dry thick stiff dough. Pry the dough off the counter (bench scraper is useful for this), gently pat into a ball (still sticky!) and turn into a well-oiled bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. (Scrub hands with scrubby sponge to get off all the dough.) Right before the end of the first rise, peel the apples and chop into small chunks, maybe 1/4" or smaller. Toss in a small bowl with sugar and spices. Turn the dough out back onto you well-floured work surface. Gently deflate by pressing on it and smoosh it out into a flat circlish shape. You can dust the outside of the ball with flour to help prevent sticking, but don't knead it into the dough. Spread 2/3 of the apples over 1/2 of the dough. Fold the dough over, press the edges to seal, and flatten down again. It will be lumpy. Spread the remaining apples on 1/2 of the dough and fold over. Sometimes a runaway chunk will poke through and make a break for it - just poke it back into the dough ball. Form the dough into a rough ball again. Place it on the counter (on a bit of flour) and invert the bowl over it. Let rise another 30 minutes. After this second rise, quarter your dough ball. Roll each quarter out into a rough rope about 12 inches long. Doesn't have to be perfect, and corral any errant apple chunks. On a piece of parchment paper or silpat on a cookie sheet, lay out two ropes north to south next to each other. Take the third rope and lay is across the first two, over one and under the other. Repeat with the fourth rope, weaving it under and over the opposite ropes to the third rope. Now you have a giant plus sign. Locate the ends of ropes that come out from underneath the main body. Take those ends and lift them over the rope ends next to them and tuck the ends under. Then tuck the ends of the remaining ropes under as well. For a better description and even better photos, see Smitten Kitchen's original post. Brush this bread round with the egg wash. Invert the bowl over it and let rise another hour. Mine kinda went from round to square during this rise and also grew monstrously large - at one point we thought it might come alive and try to climb out the kitchen window**. Forty-five minutes into the rise, preheat your oven to 375°. I used a convection oven, so for a standard oven increase the baking time by a few minutes. Brush the bread with egg wash once more, sprinkle on some sugar. Pop the round into the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle of the loaf registers 195°. My loaves browned very quickly, and I ended up covering them with tinfoil about halfway through baking to prevent the crusts from burning. Let the bread cool for at least an hour before cutting (to let the crumb set). Enjoy! |
* NEVER use Fuji apples for baking. They are very watery and will turn into apple soup. I've used Galas and Granny Smiths in this bread so far. Granny Smiths are nicely tart, the Galas were sweeter. If you want this bread more sweet, use the Galas and add spices and sugar. If you prefer more savory, use the Granny Smiths alone, or omit the apples altogether. Or throw in some herbs - go wild! experiment!
** That may have had something to do with the very hot light it was under during all three rises... whoops! So yours may be a slightly more normal bread rise.
** That may have had something to do with the very hot light it was under during all three rises... whoops! So yours may be a slightly more normal bread rise.