TWD BWJ Rewind: Challah

December 31, 2013 at 11:06 am | Posted in BWJ, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 12 Comments
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challah bread

Happy New Year!  Have you made any resolutions for 2014?  Normally I wouldn’t, but I have a couple of “situations” that I should get under control STAT.  Resolving to use up my current kitchen cupboard and my bathroom beauty products before buying more is something that has to happen.  I do not need four eye creams or six bottles of hot sauce open at once.  I don’t have the storage space for that, and the clutter on my counters is driving me bananas!

What does Lauren Groveman’s Challah have to do with this?  It’s going to help jam population control (five jars open in the fridge, with four more in the cupboard…sheesh).  The group made this bread in early December, but I didn’t have my act together that week.  I’m glad I got it together, though, because it’s delish.  I just made one loaf, which was a half-recipe, and it’s a huge beauty!  A three-strand braid is so simple to do and it really looks great, but maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to try my hand at five or six.  Maybe.  Even though I’m notoriously stingy with egg wash (I never want to use  up a whole egg for it, and unless I have a bit of extra egg left over from something else, I usually pilfer a tiny bit from the eggs in the recipe),  it still came out with a gorgeous crust.   And the insides are perfectly soft and slightly sweet.  I’m looking forward to challah French toast in a couple of days…topped with jam sauce, of course.

For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.  Note that this challah recipe uses melted butter, if that’s a concern for you (although I suspect it could be replaced with oil).  Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll to see if anyone else did a rewind this week, and see the links page from challah week at the beginning of December!

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  1. Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs's avatar

    Lol…love this post. It almost made me feel as though you were going through MY makeup and MY fridge. I’m famous for having more than one jar/bottle open at a time!! I can’t even tell you how many jams are open in my fridge right now…and this bread seems like the perfect solution for that issue. 🙂 Great idea!!
    Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!!

    Comment by Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs— December 31, 2013 #

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  2. saucygander's avatar

    You made a gorgeous challah! And I laughed reading your post, I just went through and de-cluttered my pantry and cooking gadgets drawers before the new year, and have made a similar resolution to use up what I have before buying more… I really do not need 6 different types of flour!!

    Comment by saucygander— December 31, 2013 #

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  3. Meg Fischer's avatar

    Hold, please, I’m salivating.

    Comment by Meg— January 1, 2014 #

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  4. Liz Berg's avatar

    Oh, man, I need to declutter, too! Big time! Your challah looks perfect! Happy New Year!

    Comment by Liz Berg— January 1, 2014 #

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  5. Cathleen's avatar

    I was just going through my pantry, thinking the same. What a lovely loaf you made.

    Comment by Cathleen— January 2, 2014 #

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  6. Cathleen's avatar

    I was looking through my pantry, thinking the same thing! Glad to know I’m not alone. Your challah looks lovely!

    Comment by Cathleen— January 3, 2014 #

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  7. SandraM's avatar

    Beautiful challah!! This was a good recipe. And good bread. Good idea about de-cluttering. I swear I wouldn’t need a big fridge, if I stopped opening so many different bottles of things!!

    Comment by SandraM— January 3, 2014 #

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  8. Sweet and Savoury Pursuits's avatar

    Your challah looks amazing.

    Comment by sweetandsavourypursuits— January 4, 2014 #

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  9. Teresa Blackburn's avatar

    Beautiful bread…great photo and love your “resolutions”. I just cleaned out my bathroom cabinet and tossed out not 2, not 5, not 7, but 10 tubes of lipstick that I am never, ever going to use and I have no idea how they all got there! No more until I use up what I have…right? right! Happy New Year.

    Comment by Teresa Blackburn— January 4, 2014 #

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  10. sara's avatar

    Gorgeous! I love challah! I need some serious decluttering. 🙂

    Comment by sara— January 4, 2014 #

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  11. Stephanie @ Velez Delights's avatar

    Happy New Year! Loving this post 🙂

    Comment by Stephanie @ Velez Delights— January 4, 2014 #

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  12. Jodie's avatar

    Wow what a beautiful challah. I love the lacquered finish of these breads, so pleasing on the eye. I’ve got a recipe for it on my blog too and plan on making mini ones after watching Anna Olson make some on TV recently 🙂

    Comment by Jo Blogs— January 5, 2014 #

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