Already on the night after Passover, just about all the kosher pizza shops in New York open to allow people their first taste of freshly baked chametz. But even those who have not yet consumed chametz probably are looking forward to soft, fresh challah after all the matzah they had to crunch on for the Passover meals.
Some people have a custom of shlissel challah --baking a key into challah for the Shabbat after Passover. If you want to try to make your own challah this week -- with or without key (some people bake the challah into the shape of a key) Below is a guide and an easy recipe to try.
The mitzvah of hafrashas challah originally entailed taking off a piece from one’s batch of dough for the cohen. Today, we burn the piece we remove. While many have become interested in the mitzvah of challah, not everyone is properly informed about what is entailed by Jewish law. Mitzvahs have to performed in the manner prescribed by halacha.The key points to be aware of for hafrashas challah include the minimum amount of flour required both to perform the mitzvah and to say the bracha, as well as the status of the removed challah. You do hafrashas challah on bread or cake dough made from regular flour, whole wheat flour, as well as flour made from any of the other grains – barley, spelt, oats, and rye – so long as it is made from at least 42 ounces; to say the bracha you need at least 5 pounds of flour.
As soon as the kneading process is complete, the dough is ready for hafrashas challah . Put together all the dough that you intend to have count for hafrashas challah. If you made some batches that are each under 42 ounces and want to combine them in order to have enough dough with which to perform the mitzvah, they should all be placed together in one bowl). Take off a kezayis piece of dough, about 1 oz. or 28 grams. If the dough is made from at least 5 pounds of flour, then you should recite the bracha [blessing] that concludes “Asher Kidshanu b’mitzvosav v’tzivanu l’hafrish challah (min ha-isah)” [Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to separate challah (from the dough)]. If the dough consists of at least 46 ounces of flour but is short of the 5 pounds, then you would do the hafrashas challah without pronouncing the bracha. According to some, you should make the declaration “Harei zeh challah” [This is the challah] on the piece you’ve removed.
If you are not burning the piece you took off immediately, you can freeze it to burn it together with the pieces you take off from future batches of dough. Be sure you have it clearly labeled so that it won’t be confused with dough that may be eaten. To proceed to burn it in the oven, wrap it completely in foil and broil it on its own. As it is forbidden to eat, you want to isolate it from other foods. Certainly, you cannot cook other foods along with it in the oven. Once it is sufficiently burnt, remove it from the oven and then dispose of it in a respectful way. In other words, it should not be tossed straight into the trash but wrapped in something.
Challah with a touch of honey
The following is a favorite challah recipe of mine. It eliminates the extra step of dissolving the yeast that some recipes calls for and also doesn’t require an excessive amount of time for kneading. You do have to some kneading, but the dough hook attachment takes the work out of that step. The entire batch fits into a standard Kitchen-Aid bowl. The honey enhances the texture, though you could substitute sugar for the sweetness. As dough rises more rapidly at higher temperatures, you cut down the rising time on a warm day. Also if you place the challahs in the oven without preheating, the challahs will have more time to rise in the warmth of the oven before they start to actually bake. If you need to slow the rising process, say if you want to make the challah dough in the morning and only bake it in late afternoon, place the dough in the refrigerator, so that it won’t rise too much.
Note that the amount of flour here is not sufficient for saying the bracha, though it would require that the hafrasha be done. If you want to say the bracha, you can simply make a double batch to have the amount required. If that produces more dough than you can use in one week, you can freeze what you don’t need to use another time. Or you can use the extra dough to make cinnamon buns. See the recipe that follows the challah.
10-12 c. all purpose or high gluten flour
5/16 oz. dry yeast (that’s one packet of Hodgson Mills or the equivalent)
2 ½ c. warm water
¾ c. honey. or ¼ c. honey plus ½ c. sugar
½ c. oil
1 tbsp. salt
2 extra large eggs
egg for coating (optional)
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, honey (and sugar), and water, followed by the rest of the ingredient. Attach the dough hook to the mixer to mix and then knead for 7-10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky, though it should be somewhat sticky to the touch. Once the kneading is complete, you can take off challah without a bracha and follow the directions for burning above. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out while it rises. Allow it to rise for 2 hours, then punch it down and allow it to rise again.
Form challahs and place them on baking sheets to rise before baking. I use silicon mats on the baking sheets to eliminate sticking and burnt bottoms. You have the option of brushing the challah with egg for a shiny crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If your oven has 2 racks, place on the bottom rack for optimal results. This would yield 3 to 4 challahs.
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