Mirj's Ultra-Rich Sweet Challah

Name: Mirj's Ultra-Rich Sweet Challah
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: 3 loaves
Ingredients: 1 kg flour (2.2 pounds); 1 packet dried yeast; 1 cup brown sugar; 4 eggs; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 100 g margarine or 100 g oil (1/2 cup); 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; soymilk (up to 1 cup)

Submitted by Mirj2338

"I've been working on perfecting my challah recipe over the last few years, and I think this is it. The secret ingredients are vanilla extract and soy milk (you can use regular milk if it's not an issue for you). I get raves every week with this challah, it's rich and cake-like. Great with sweet butter, not too shabby with some chopped liver, and it makes the most amazing French toast in the world. I usually bake my challahs unbraided in a fluted cake pan with a hole in the middle. It makes a pretty challah, and it's easy to cut individual slices from it as well. There is nothing like a table full of guests ooohing and aaaahing over your challah, and this will do it for you! Prep time includes rise time. If you nuke the kneaded dough in the microwave on high for 10 seconds it will cut your rise time by half!"

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Ready In:: 3hrs 40mins
Ingredients:: 8
Yields:: 3 loaves

ingredients

1 kg flour (2.2 pounds)
1 packet dried yeast
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
100 g margarine or 100 g oil (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
soymilk (up to 1 cup)

directions

In the bowl of your mixer, or in large bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, eggs, salt and vanilla.
Mix it around a bit.
Melt the margarine, or heat the oil a bit in the microwave.
Add it to the stuff in the bowl and start mixing.
Toss in the yeast, keep mixing.
If you are using an electric mixer, go slowly.
If you are kneading by hand, you should get a good workout.
Heat the soy milk until it's warm.
It should not be boiling hot!
Slowly, with the mixer running, add the soy milk a little bit at a time, until the dough has reached the consistency of bread dough.
It shouldn't be cakey and it shouldn't be too sticky.
Knead the dough in the mixer for about 7-8 minutes, or by hand for about 15 minutes.
Place the bowl in a warm spot and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk.
Hint: if you put the bowl of dough in the microwave and nuke it on high for 10 seconds it will speed up the rising process.
You can also let it rise overnight in the fridge, just keep it in a knotted plastic bag so it doesn't"escape".
When the dough has risen and doubled, punch it down.
It's a very satisfying step!
Knead the dough by hand for another minute or so to work out the air bubbles.
Cut into three even pieces.
Each piece is enough for one small loaf of challah.
Cut each piece into three or four, roll into ropes and braid.
The best braids are made by starting in the middle and working your way to the end, then turn it around and braid the other end.
Pinch off the ends.
After you have shaped your loaf (you can also swirl it, or braid and swirl it, or just shape it into a natural loaf shape), place it either in a greased loaf pan, cake pan, or just on a greased cookie sheet.
If you bake your loaf on a sheet it will spread a bit as it rises again.
If you put your braided loaf into a loaf tin, it will just rise upwards.
I have also made round challahs by putting them into bundt pans, or fluted round cake pans.
Let the shaped loaves rise for another half an hour.
You can brush a little beaten egg on the tops for a glaze, I prefer my challahs"naked".
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (about 350 F).
Bake the loaves for about 30-40 minutes.
Time will vary based on the shape of your loaves and the pans they are in.
If the tops start to brown too soon, just place a sheet of silver foil over them, resting lightly on the tops.
The challah is done when you turn out the loaf, give it a knock-knock on the bottom and it sounds hollow.
Let it cool.
If this recipe makes too much for you, you can either freeze the dough, or the baked challahs.
Best eaten with sweet butter, also makes the most amazing French toast.

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Reviews

What a delicious and unique tasting challah! I really enjoyed the sweet taste of this version of challah. I mixed up the dough entirely by hand and I sure did get a workout! Everything worked out very nicely and I found the directions very easy to follow. Thanks for a very tasty recipe!

HeatherFeather
Oh, Mirjam, your challah is the BEST! The color and texture is perfect, and the taste is DIVINE! I used the KitchenAide mixer, and shaped the dough in 2 mini loaves and 1 large braid. Good stuff, Dolly! Laudee

Laudee
What delicious Challah! The dough didn't rise properly- but I am convinced that it's something wrong with me. I seem to be biochemically unable to make dough rise the way it should.. Anyway, the flavour of this challah was sweet and wonderful. DH loved it. I will try making it again, and hopefully it will rise next time- but if not, it's the sweetest pancake in town! Thanks Mirjam..

Miraklegirl
ug...I didn't like this at all and no one in the family ate it. I liked the technique of working with the dough in this way and was surprized with how little "liquid" was needed. But I dont know. Maybe it was all those eggs sitting out in the Israeli sun. But it just didn't taste good, sweet, or fresh. This one really struck out with me.

Food Snob in Israel
Mirj - I haven't yet tried the recipe, but I'm trying to find a good challah recipe that is quite heavy and doughy. The one's I make are good, but lacking in that chewiness that's so special for a challah - can you help?

Ruti1611

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Mirj2338

Givat Ze'ev, 0

Come and visit me on my blog:  <a href=http://www.miriyummy.wordpress.com>www.miriyummy.wordpress.com</a>   October 2011: It's been 10 years since I came into Zaar one day at the recommendation of someone on another website. If you ask my husband (or my coworkers), I haven't logged out since! <a href=http://www.TickerFactory.com/> <img src=http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;15;0/st/20011021/e/I Joined Zaar%21/dt/6/k/f656/event.png border=0 alt= /></a> So what's happened in the ten years since I became addicted to Zaar? Well, I've been happily married, happily divorced, and happily married once again. (Wanna see wedding pictures? Click <a href=http://community.webshots.com/user/mirjamdorn>here</a>.) <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=chuppah2.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/chuppah2.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> Originally from the Bronx, I've been living in Israel since 1983. I'm married to a brilliant man with the most yummy British accent (this is the part where he rolls his eyes and says, Yeah, yeah, yeah). Let's call him Sushiman, even though he hates that name. <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/52282>Chia</a> gave him that nickname when I was trying to create a dinner to show off my culinary talents. I posted here on Zaar with questions about the menu and since sushi was the main focus of the meal, he became Sushiman. That dinner was just the first of what I hope will become a lifetime of meals together. This is a picture of us taken in September 2005 in Kew Gardens in London. It my favorite picture of the two of us. <a href=http://photobucket.com/ target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/Kew.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting /></a> This comes in as a close second, taken March 2009: <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=Wedding6.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/Wedding6.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> I have 4 of the most gorgeous daughters in the known universe (tfu, tfu, tfu, that's me spitting three times to ward off the Evil Eye). Sushiman has 4 kids of his own, so together that makes us a family of ten, together with my dog and my step-dog (sadly, since I first wrote this my step-dog, Honey, crossed the Rainbow Bridge). We're the Brady Bunch on speed. Not all eight live with us, but everyone is in and out all of the time, so we're thinking about replacing our front door with one of those revolving thingies. If you need help figuring out the whole complicated mess, you can check out <a title=Miriyummy -- A Guide to the Perplexed href=http://miriyummy.wordpress.com/about/ target=_blank>Miriyummy, A Guide to the Perplexed</a>. Here are my four beauties -- from left to right: Adiya, Sara, Nomi and Tehila <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=111.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/111.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> On March 18, 2009, my oldest, Sara, got married to Ariel. The wedding was a clash of cultures and traditions, and we had a blast! <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=171.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/171.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> Over 500 people attended our little party... <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=237.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/237.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> ... and Ariel was welcomed into our family in style! <a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=225.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/225.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> If you want to see the photo album from Sara and Ariel's wedding, just go <a href=http://family.webshots.com/album/571020179JBDlvf?vhost=family&vhost=family&action=refreshPhotos&albumID=571020179&security=JBDlvf>here</a>. 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