# What does Challah taste like?  Is it sweet?



## thymetobake (Apr 28, 2010)

I'm wanting to make rolls.  I must say that I am a very lazy baker!!!  I like the Artisan in 5 books.  I recently purchased the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook and I'm thinking of using the whole wheat Challah recipe to make dinner rolls.  I've never tasted Challah before.  Is it supposed to be sweet?  I don't mind a slight sweetness to dinner rolls, but I prefer not to have a desert bread roll.

Here's the recipe in a nutshell:

5 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
3 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup neutral flavored oil or butter
1/2 cup honey
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
egg wash
poppy seeds

So, I'm planning to leave out the vanilla and poppy seeds.  I'm thinking of decreasing the honey by half.  

What do you think?  Is Challah normally sweet?  I want to use this recipe because I believe it will be light and airy.  Of course, I'm not against just winging it, but I'd like some input if you have any.

Thanks,
ttb


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## Robo410 (Apr 28, 2010)

challah is a dense slightly "sweet" eggy bread.  It is very nice bread. It makes the best french toast!


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## DaveSoMD (Apr 29, 2010)

Robo410 is on the money.  I love challah, it is a lot like Polish Babka bread.  I wouldn't change the recipe the first time but make it and see how you like it.  It does not read like a very sweet recipe at all.


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## GB (Apr 29, 2010)

Challah is sweet, but not sugary sweet. It is still a bread and not like a cake. I am skeptical of a whole wheat challah though. Something about that just does not sit well with me. For me, that would not be challah.


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## danpeikes (Apr 29, 2010)

As a man who has eaten a lot of challah, it tends to be sweeter.  My wife actually uses honey in hers as well.  You can cut the sweetness by backing out on the honey a little.  I would also recommend leaving out the vanilla as it will taste more cake like, unless you like it.  The mix or white with whole wheat is the way to go as just whole wheat will be to dense.


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## ChefJune (Apr 29, 2010)

thymetobake said:


> I'm wanting to make rolls. I must say that I am a very lazy baker!!! I like the Artisan in 5 books. I recently purchased the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook and I'm thinking of using the whole wheat Challah recipe to make dinner rolls. I've never tasted Challah before. Is it supposed to be sweet? I don't mind a slight sweetness to dinner rolls, but I prefer not to have a desert bread roll.
> 
> Here's the recipe in a nutshell:
> 
> ...


 
This recipe is _SO_ far from a traditional Challah recipe as to be unrecognizable as what they are calling it!

Poppy seeds are traditional as a topping for challah, vanilla doesn't belong anywhere near it!

Here is a traditional Challah recipe, should you choose to really make that bread.  You can sub whole wheat flour for half the all-purpose flour if you like.

*Challah*
_*(Jewish Egg Bread)*_
 
Challah is the traditional Jewish Sabbath and Holiday bread.  It is rich with eggs, and sometimes at Rosh Hashanah -- fruit.  This is a pareve Challah.  If you wish to make a richer bread (or for a dairy meal) you may substitute whole milk for the 3/4 cup water in the recipe.  Special Bonus:  If any of the Challah remains to get stale, soaking it in an egg mixture allow you to make the best French Toast in the universe!
 
makes 2 braided challah (or one large swirled)
 
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
6 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten 
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Approximately 3/4 cup water 
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons water (for brushing the loaf)
Poppy seeds (for sprinkling, optional)
 
1.         Dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup lukewarm water.  Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar.
2.         In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, salt and sugar.  Make a hollow in the center and put yeast mixture in the hole.  Mix to a thin paste adding a little flour from the sides.  Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes.
3.         Add eggs, oil and water to the hole.  Combine mixture in hollow with flour around it using a spoon at first, then your hands, and adding additional flour to the bottom and sides as needed.  Knead well, about 10 minutes, until dough is smooth.
4.         The dough should lose its stickiness and completely clean the bowl.  Sprinkle a little flour under dough in bowl.  Cover and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Punch down and form into loaves (or one large one).
5.         Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.   To form into loaves:  1) make one large swirled round by rolling into one long coil, and coiling it upward, with the end sticking out the top;  (This is the traditional shape for the New Year.)  2) cut off pieces, knead into balls and put side by side in oiled bread pans; 3) Divide in two.  Then divide each loaf into five pieces and roll into long coils.  Starting from the middle, braid the coils to each end, and put braid(s) into well-oiled bread pan(s) or onto a large baking sheet well sprinkled with cornmeal.  Cover and let rise until almost double in size (about 1 hour).  
6.                  Just before baking, brush tops with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown, and loaf taps hollow.  Cool on wire racks.
 
_Teacher’s Tips:_           1.         For Rosh Hashanah, you may wish to make a “beehive” loaf.  Use all the dough and make a long thick coil that you will roll like a snake and let it climb two or three layers.
2.         Soy milk makes a very rich-tasting pareve Challah.


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## thymetobake (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks everybody.

I'm not really concerned about it tasting like a real Challah.  I'm just wanting to make some lazy rolls.  The Artisan in 5 and Healthy in 5 books are all no knead recipes.  Most call for keeping the dough in the fridge for a few days before baking to develop a sour dough flavor.

Anyway, I was just worried the dough would be too sweet for dinner rolls.  That's what I was getting at.

I wouldn't know a real Challah if it walked up and said hello...  Thank you for posting your traditional Challah recipe, Chef June.  It's nice to see the comparison.


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

Cut down on honey, get rid off vanila. And you got it. Light and airy I don't know, othing whole wheat is light and airy. You'll be fine.


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## GB (Apr 29, 2010)

thymetobake said:


> Anyway, I was just worried the dough would be too sweet for dinner rolls.  That's what I was getting at.


I can not speak to the recipe you posted, but a traditional challah is not too sweet for that purpose. It is often served with dinner.


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

Actually I disagree with GB, it depends on your taste. Traditional Challah is too sweet for my taste.


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## GB (Apr 29, 2010)

That is interesting Charlie, as I am usually not a sweets fan. I much prefer savory. The sweetness, for me, in challah is sweet, but not sugary sweet or sickeningly sweet.


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## velochic (Apr 29, 2010)

Robo410 said:


> challah is a dense slightly "sweet" eggy bread.  It is very nice bread. It makes the best french toast!



This is how I would describe it, too.  It's certainly not "too" sweet.  And not even as sweet as my grandmother's homemade yeast rolls.  In fact, I love it best smothered in homemade honey butter (local honey and freshly churned butter).  Yum!!


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

Taste is a very personal thing. I buy razin chlah in our local store and have insead of cake with a cup of tea. Regular Chalah is not as sweet, but still I much rather have good old french or italian bread from that same bakery.


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## ChefJune (Apr 29, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Actually I disagree with GB, it depends on your taste. Traditional Challah is too sweet for my taste.


 
"My" traditional Challah is not too sweet for dinner, or dinner rolls, and I think it is a fantastic bread for sandwiches.

Now you're making me hungry for it. I think I shall put some to rise tonight.


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

Like I said, it is my taste buds.


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## GB (Apr 29, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Like I said, it is my taste buds.


Not just that, but each bread recipe is unique as well, so it is very possible that the challah Charlie has had was much sweeter than the challah someone else has had. I have had some that were not sweet at all and others that were quite sweet and everything in between. When I think of the challah I would want though, there is a sweetness to it.


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

tRADITIONAL cHALAH WILL HAVE SWEETNES TO IT. bUT YOU ARE CORECT IN THE BIG PICTURE.


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

oops, sorry abuut that


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## kadesma (Apr 29, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Actually I disagree with GB, it depends on your taste. Traditional Challah is too sweet for my taste.


I works wonderfully for bread pudding, We love it.
kades


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## CharlieD (Apr 29, 2010)

Oh my gosh, I don't know what to do with my pc, it just doesn't type. It is bad enough I cannot speak or type, but now it is so much worse.


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## thymetobake (Apr 29, 2010)

That's ok, Charlie.  I'm pretty sure we all know what you meant and that you weren't yelling, lol, and abuut is about, etc.  Is your keyboard sticking?  Maybe you should just buy a new one.  My old one stuck because too many things had been spilled on it.  Sometimes the system is just slow and that does all kinds of wacko things to words as they are typed.


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## thymetobake (Apr 29, 2010)

Oh, I forgot to say that I made up the dough today.  I'll bake tomorrow and let y'all know how it turns out.  I used half and half milk and water, butter, 1/4 cup honey.  No vanilla, no poppy seeds.


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## thymetobake (Apr 30, 2010)

*Results*

In case anyone is interested....

They turned out delicious, if I do say so myself.    The flavor is really outstanding for a wheat roll.  I'm really a white bread fan but I always eat whole grain healthy stuff!!  The amount of honey was just right.  Although, they could have used a touch more for dinner rolls.  However, I'll be using these for snacks with cheese or mini sandwiches as well, so 1/4 cup honey was the way to go for that.

The texture was "light and airy".  Not like a croissant, but it is a very light, tender and soft roll.  Not dense like a wheat bread is usually.    I think the eggs and vital wheat gluten helped in that department.

Thanks again everybody!  I wish I could include the aroma in this post!  I'm stuffed and still wanting to eat more rolls.


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## GB (May 1, 2010)

Congrats on your success. They sound great.


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## MostlyWater (May 1, 2010)

Some challah is very sweet.  I  have even seen it topped with sprinkles or confectioner's sugar, almost like a frosting.


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## CharlieD (May 1, 2010)

Good for you and thank you for posting result, personally I really apreciate when people do that. Thanks.


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## DaveSoMD (May 2, 2010)

We are always interested in the results... thanks for sharing and congratulations a successful challah!


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