Easy Challah Recipes to Make with Your Kids

It's traditional to eat challah bread with Shabbat dinner. Did you know that making challah is actually pretty easy and a very kid-friendly activity? Here are a bunch of quick and easy, kid-pleasing, challah recipes you can make this week.

Aqua-Fabulous Challah

Do you need to do your baking without eggs? Have a guest with dairy allergies? This original recipe from PJ Library Engagement Officer, Lori Stiefel, is a snap to prepare, approved by kids of all ages, and is a vegan, allergen-friendly alternative to a traditional challah recipe. Aquafaba, or the water that canned chickpeas are soaked in, is a nutrient-dense, easy way to replace eggs in almost any recipe. Check out the full recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1½ cup warm water
• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ cup oil
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 4.5 liquid oz or 9 tbsp aquafaba
• 9 cups bread flour
• Spray oil and toppings (sesame seeds, zaatar, kosher salt, whatever you'd like)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, ½ cup warm water, sugar, oil, salt and aquafaba, and whisk for 1-2 minutes until lightly frothy.
• Switch to the dough hook then slowly add in most of the flour, reserving ½ cup.
• Slowly add in 1 cup warm water and the rest of the flour. Reserve ½ cup for later.
• Knead dough for 4-5 minutes until it's not sticky.
• Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean towel. Let is rise for 90 minutes in a warm place or until doubled.
• Divide the dough into three parts. *Tip: use a kitchen scale to make sure these are even. Each third will become a challah.
• Divide your first dough section into three parts. Stretch and roll the dough into three long pieces.
• Braid your challah! (Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect.)
• Repeat this step for your other two loaves.
• Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then brush with a bit of spray coconut oil or regular oil and sprinkle on your toppings.
• Bake for 40 minutes.
• Let your bread cool for 30 minutes. If you're not eating your challah right away, put it in an air-tight plastic bag or cover it with foil.

Simple Challah

If you've never made challah before, it's good to try a basic recipe first. Here are three to get you started:

Basic Challah from Kveller.com
Delicious Challah Without Eggs from Creative Jewish Mom.
No-knead Challah from Food.com

If you'd like a dough that you can set, leave, and come back to, try the "challah in a bag" in the video above, from Joyofkosher.com. Older kids can help at almost every step of the way here: measuring, kneading, rolling, braiding.

Rainbow Challah

Start off with your favorite challah dough, add a little dye, and voila, rainbow challah! Younger children can help you pick out the colors to dye your challah and can help with mixing in the dye. Enlist the "big kids" for rolling out the dough and braiding the six strands together.

Pumpkin Challah

There are tons of wonderful challah recipes that make use of pumpkin. This one from Tori Avey is easy to make and makes a wonderful addition to your Shabbat table or during the High Holidays in autumn. You can also use squash, like kombucha squash, in this recipe—a great, tasty, way to sneak some veggies in to a meal. If you're making a sweet challah, you can also sub carob for chocolate chips for a healthy, but still sweet, alternative.

More

7 Ways to Use Up Leftover Challah, Plus 8 Ways to Make it From Scratch via Babble
The Challah Recipe That Changed My Life via Kveller.com
Challah You Bake Yourself Is Worth It via The New York Times
Sweet Challah with Streusel Topping via Joy of Kosher

January 3, 2017