Just challah if u hear me

September 12, 2015 6:48 AM

I want to make a round challah tomorrow with a kid who has a pretty short attention span.

I am not an experienced bread baker.
AND I don't have a stand mixer or a bread machine, and my food processor doesn't have a dough attachment
Can you recommend a good simple challah recipe that doesn't include using a machine for mixing the dough in the recipe? There are so many recipes online for "simple challah", and a lot of them have some weird ingredients (like "live gluten") that I thought I would ask for tried and true suggestions. Thanks.

posted by flourpot to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

I am a big fan of the challah recipe from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (this page says it's from the New edition, and has many differences from the original version in ingredients and procedure, seen here). It looks like the revised version is less work. I've made the original with and without a mixer, although my notes say I did knead for 20 min by hand, which might be pushing your helper's attention span.
posted by nonane at 7:29 AM on September 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

I use Smitten Kitchen's, which includes instructions for adding raisins and making the loaf round. She actually (somewhat rightly) advises *not* using the kitchen aid for mixing/kneading the dough, because there's a lot of it (mine made it through, but was worryingly hot at the end).

Shana tova!
posted by damayanti at 7:42 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

A Genius No-Knead Challah (That Tastes Just as Good on Day 3).
(No machine required.)
posted by ShooBoo at 7:47 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've never made Challah so don't have a recipe for you, but came to tell you don't need a machine even when a recipe says you do.

There is a type of kneading called the French Method/French Kneading that is perfect for (wetter) rich doughs that contain a lot of eggs, fats, sugar like this one. And, something that might not be mentioned in some of the videos demonstrating the technique is you don't add more flour (don't be afraid of "too wet") because the dough is sticking to the counter top. It's supposed to do that. Just keep smacking the dough and it'll start to firm up in no time.
posted by redindiaink at 7:58 AM on September 12, 2015 [3 favorites]

I use this Williams-Sonoma recipe.

When weighing ingredients, I use exactly 600 grams of flour, otherwise just follow the recipe. Also, I sometimes substitute half the sugar for honey, so 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey. I kneaded for 15-20 minutes with the French method which might be more fun than other methods. And I used 2 9" round pans instead of braiding. Use a shorter cook time, 20-25 minutes or 190F in the center, when using the round pans.

In general, you can pretty much make any recipe by hand even if says to use a stand mixer or bread machine or food processor.

Anyway, here's what my last attempt looked like.

Good luck. When I was a kid, I made bread once at school, and I enjoyed it a lot. It took me 20 years to finally make bread on my own (and I enjoy it a lot now too), but it was that first time as a kid that planted the seed.
posted by aloysius on the mixing boards at 8:00 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't have a recipe for you but when I make bread with my kids, I always give them a hunk to kneed themselves. That piece gets baked apart from the rest and, because it's smaller, it's done faster, which works better for children.
posted by myselfasme at 8:12 AM on September 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is the challah of my childhood. It is the best challah.
Shana Tova!
posted by doublenelson at 10:48 PM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Follow-up:
We pretty much followed the Smitten Kitchen recipe but with tweaks taken from the others (ie, used both honey and sugar, tried some modified kneading techniques, etc). The result was delicious and the process so much fun that we decided to try the other recipes for a series of Shabbats.
What a helpful thread this was. Thanks to everyone! Shana Tova.
posted by flourpot at 7:46 PM on September 13, 2015 [1 favorite]