Challah for Rosh Hashanah with Apple and Honey

Challah for Rosh Hashanah with Apple and Honey is a delightful and symbolic twist on the traditional Jewish braided bread. Challah is a bread that is typically enjoyed on Sabbath and holidays. One of the most iconic variations of Challah is the round shape, which symbolizes the cycle of life and the continuity of time.

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• Texture: A soft, springy, and fluffy texture. I usually use all-purpose flour, but your Challah will be a little chewier if you use bread flour.
• Flavor: Once you take that first bite, you’ll enjoy a homemade dough swirled with gooey apple-filling pockets.
• Ease: Crafting homemade dough and shaping it demands greater precision and exertion than making say, a Chocolate Tahini Cake. But the dough is pretty straightforward and simple to shape if you follow all the steps. 
• Time: To properly prepare this dough, it needs to undergo two rising periods.

Pro-Tips

Properly measure the ingredients: Accurate measurements are crucial for baking. 

Water: Because each flour is different, stored differently, and has different absorption capacities, the amount of liquid will almost always change. Even if you always use the same flour, it may be that the flour will absorb more liquid on different days. So, start with half a cup of water and add as needed gradually. The dough should be very soft but not sticky. Dough lacking in liquid will be stiffer and less comfortable to work with.

Mixing the dough: Scrap the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

The first rise: About an hour and a half or until the dough doubles. But that figure can also change radically, especially if it’s particularly cold weather, which will then require a few hours for the dough to increase in size. In summer, it can be much shorter.

FAQs

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Challah for Rosh Hashanah with Apple and Honey

Author Rachel

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting Time 3 hours hours

Yield 1 loaf

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Description

This Round Apple Challah recipe is a delightful combination of sweet apple filling and fluffy bread.

Kosher, Pareve

Equipment

• A standing mixer with a dough hook
• Rolling pin
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Pastry brush

Ingredients

For the Challah:

• ▢ 3 1/2 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour sifted
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (10 grams) active dry yeast
• ▢ 1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil and a little more for greasing
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons (20 grams) granulated sugar
• ▢ About 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) lukewarm water
• ▢ 1/2 Teaspoon salt

The filling

• ▢ 2 Granny Smith apples cored and thinly diced
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons coconut oil or margarine (butter is fine too, but dairy)
• ▢ 1/4 cup (60 grams) light brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/8 Teaspoon salt
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons (30 grams) instant vanilla pudding *Important* The Challah will turn out mushy without it.

For brushing:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) water

Instructions

The Challah:

• In the bowl of a standing mixer, put flour, sugar, and yeast (or in a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand) and mix/stir for one minute.
• Let the mixer work while slowly adding the oil.
• Gradually add water (**read my tip about water below) and mix to form the dough.
• Add the salt and knead for 10-15 minutes (It helps the gluten form and the dough to be elastic with better structure).
• Grease the dough with a little bit of oil, cover with a kitchen towel, and let the dough rise until doubled (place the bowl somewhere warm).

The filling:

• Add coconut oil/margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a large skillet. Cook for 2 minutes until the sugar is melted.
• Add the apples to the sugar syrup and cook over medium heat. Cook apples until they are softened, and the syrup has thickened (about 8-10 minutes).
• Remove from the heat to a bowl, stir in the vanilla pudding. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Once the dough is doubled in size- it's time to shape it!

Shaping the dough:

• Roll the dough into a long and flat (!!) rope. If the dough is sticky add a *little bit* of flour.
• Sprinkle the apple filling along one side.
  
• Fold the dough over to enclose the apples and pinch the edges to seal.
• Spiral it around itself until you reach the end. Tuck the end under the bread.
  
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the Challah on it.
• Place the pan somewhere warm, cover with a towel, and let it rise until puffed, about an hour.
• Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
• When ready to bake, whisk the honey with a tablespoon of water and brush it all over the Challah.
• Slide the Challah on its baking sheet into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The Challah is done when it is a rich golden brown and registers 190°F/90°C in the very middle with an instant-read thermometer.
• Let the Challah cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Notes

Properly measure the ingredients: Accurate measurements are crucial for baking. 

Water: Because each flour is different, stored differently, and has different absorption capacities, the amount of liquid will almost always change. Even if you always use the same flour, it may be that the flour will absorb more liquid on different days. So, start with half a cup of water and add as needed gradually. The dough should be very soft but not sticky. Dough lacking in liquid will be stiffer and less comfortable to work with.

Mixing the dough: Scrap the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

The first rise: About an hour and a half or until the dough doubles. But that figure can also change radically, especially if it’s particularly cold weather, which will then require a few hours for the dough to increase in size. In summer, it can be much shorter.

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