Coconut Custard Challah

Now that the weather has been warming up, I am dreaming about beach vacations and pina coladas! This coconut custard filled challah topped with toasty coconut flakes reminds me of warm sunny days by the beach. 

What you will need:

Challah dough {recipe here}

Filling

Coconut custard {recipe here is enough for 2 challahs}

Topping

Coconut flakes

1 egg

Directions: 

Prepare challah dough according to directions. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Divide dough into 4 equal parts and then roll each part into a log, long enough to fit a loaf pan.

Gently flatten each log so that it is about 2 inches wide. Spread with the coconut custard. 

Place the challah in a greased loaf pan and let the challah rise 30 minutes. 

 

Once the challah has risen, brush with an egg wash, and sprinkle with coconut flakes. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the challah is cooked through.

Slice open and look at those pockets of coconut yumminess!

Enjoy!

Bonus- if you happen to have leftover challah, this one is amazing as French toast!

Pina Colada Challah

With the weather just getting colder here in Connecticut this winter, I wanted a challah that reminds me of warm summers! This challah has dried pineapple throughout, very similar to adding raisins to challah, but with a bit of a tang. The coconut in the dough itself has a mild flavor, and the coconut on top is nice and crunchy!  

What you will need:

2 tbsp yeast

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup warm water

1/3 cup pineapple juice

Splash of rum

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup dried pineapple, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup dried cherries 

4-4 1/2 cups flour

Directions: 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, sugar, water, rum, and pineapple juice; stir to combine. Add the 2 eggs and mix the eggs with a beater attachment. Then add the oil and mix together again. 

With the mixer on the lowest speed, add flour cup by cup until the dough starts forming a ball and pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl. 

At this point, swap out the beater attachment for a dough hook and add the salt, coconut flakes, dried cherries, and dried pineapple. Keep adding flour cup by cup until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch. In total this should be roughly 4 cups of flour. 

Knead the dough together by hand to make sure everything is incorporated together. 

Place the dough back in the bowl and cover the top of the dough with a thin layer of oil and cover with a wet towel. 

Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, this should be about an hour, or in the fridge up to 24 hours. 

Punch the dough down and let it rise for another hour. 

At this point, you are ready to form the challahs. I like to do simple 4 strand braids. 

Once all of your challahs are formed, let them rise for an additional half hour, or up to an hour in colder weather. 

Top each challah with egg wash (one egg with a little bit of water) and some flaked coconut. 

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

Matcha Challah

I love playing with new challah creations. All it takes is a few tweaks to my staple challah recipe. 

For this weeks challah, and the first shabbas of the new year 2021, I wanted something festive with sprinkles and maybe a little healthy and green. That’s where matcha comes in. Matcha green tea lattes are so delicious! The matcha gives the challah a green hue and you can taste the earthy green tea. Plus, matcha has many health benefits, like antioxidants, but that’s not why I chose it for this week. 

What you will need:

2 tbsp yeast

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup warm water

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp matcha powder

4-4 1/2 cups flour

Rainbow sprinkles

Directions: 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, sugar, and water, stir to combine. Add the 2 eggs and mix the eggs with a beater attachment. Then add the oil and mix together again. 

With the mixer on the lowest speed, add flour cup by cup until the dough starts forming a ball and pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl. At this point, swap out the beater attachment for a dough hook and add the salt and matcha powder. Keep adding flour cup by cup until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch. In total this should be roughly 4 cups of flour. 

Knead the dough together by hand to make sure everything is incorporated together. 

Place the dough back in the bowl and cover the top of the dough with a thin layer of oil and cover with a wet towel. 

Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, this should be about an hour, or in the fridge up to 24 hours. 

Punch the dough down and let it rise for another hour. 

At this point, you are ready to form the challahs. I like to do simple 4 strand braids. 

Once all of your challahs are formed, let them rise for an additional half hour, or up to an hour in colder weather. 

Top each challah with egg wash (one egg with a little bit of water) and some rainbow sprinkles. 

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Challah

I love everything pumpkin! I also love playing with new challah creations. All it takes is a few tweaks to my staple challah recipe.

I have been on a challah kick and a pumpkin kick lately. Who said pumpkin is reserved just for Fall? Not me! I love pumpkin all year, whether it’s a savory dish like pumpkin soup or pie or sweet like pumpkin ice cream, cake, cookies...I could go on and on.

You can definitely used can pumpkin purée, just make sure it’s one where it’s just pumpkin on the ingredients, not a pie filling that has other ingredients added in. I use pie pumpkins that I roast and purée my own, check out my how to here. 

What you will need:

2 tbsp yeast

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup warm water

1 cup pumpkin purée {make your own here}

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

4-4 1/2 cups flour

Directions: 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, sugar, water, and pumpkin purée, stir to combine. Add the 2 eggs and mix the eggs with a beater attachment. Then add the oil and mix together again. 

With the mixer on the lowest speed, add flour cup by cup until the dough starts forming a ball and pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl. At this point, swap out the beater attachment for a dough hook and add the salt and pumpkin pie spice. Keep adding flour cup by cup until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch. In total this should be roughly 4 cups of flour. 

Knead the dough together by hand to make sure everything is incorporated together. 

Place the dough back in the bowl and cover the top of the dough with a thin layer of oil and cover with a wet towel. 

 Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, this should be about an hour, or in the fridge up to 24 hours. 

Punch the dough down and let it rise for another hour. 

At this point, you are ready to form the challahs. I like to do simple 4 strand braids. 

Once all of your challahs are formed, let them rise for an additional half hour, or up to an hour in colder weather. 

Top each challah with egg wash (one egg with a little bit of water) and some pumpkin seeds and cinnamon sugar if you want it sweet. 

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Topped Challah

Now that summer is almost over, it has me thinking about all the fall flavors I love! I absolutely love apples, pumpkin, and warm spices. This challah recipe is great for Rosh Hashana or any fall Shabbos. It can be made as a round challah like I made, or a regular braided challah in a loaf pan. The streusel topping is sweet and crunchy, with apple chips crumbled into it. 

What you will need:
Challah dough {recipe here}
Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup oil or margarine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Handful of apple chips {recipe for homemade chips here}

Directions:
After the challah dough is made and rested, braid a round or log challah, or even into a muffin tin for challah bites!

To prepare the topping- combine the flour, sugar, oil, cinnamon, and crumbled apple chips in a small bowl with a fork until coarse crumbs form. 

Sprinkle the apple cinnamon topping over the challahs.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. 

French Onion Challah

After last week's challah mashup, I was already thinking about next Shabbas and what new creation I can bake.

My husband had asked about making caramelized onions for a dinner, and it had me thinking about a new stuffed challah. We love French Onion Soup, and just got a bag of nutritional yeast from Trader Joe's by accident {added yeast to the list and he thought they were all the same.} 

While this version is made parve, I am thinking about Shavuot next week now. Swap out the nutritional yeast for parmesan cheese and added mozzarella cheese on top of the onions for an even more decadent French onion soup stuffed challah!

What you will need:
The Best Challah Bread recipe

Filling: {modified from my French Onion Soup recipe}
3 onions {I used 2 yellow and 1 red}
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 envelope onion soup mix
1 tsp. salt
4 tbs. paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
optional: wine to deglaze
Nutritional yeast or parmesan
Mozzarella if making dairy


Topping:
1 beaten egg
Nutritional yeast or parmesan
Thyme

Directions:
Make dough according to directions here in my challah recipe.

While the challah rises, start making the filling for it.
In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium heat. While the oil is heating, slice up 3 onions and add the onions to the skillet. Let the onions sweat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. I add the sugar halfway through.

Once the onions have a nice brown sheen to them add the onion soup mix, salt, paprika, and garlic powder. Add the optional wine now to give the filling a deeper and richer flavor {or add umami seasoning.} Stir the mixture until it’s all incorporated and is a thick paste consistency.

Let the filling cool before starting the next step.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts and then roll each part into a  log, long enough to fit a loaf pan. 

Gently flatten each log so that it is about 2 inches wide. Spoon the cooled onion mixture along the center of each log and sprinkle nutritional yeast {or parmesan and mozzarella} along the top.

Pinch the edges to seal, and then braid the logs. Place the challah in a greased loaf pan and let the challah rise 30 minutes. Then brush with egg wash and sprinkle with nutritional yeast {or parmesan.} 

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the challah is cooked through.

Enjoy!

Scallion Challah

I have been on a challah mashup in the past few weeks. This week is an Asian spin, as I had a few too many scallions leftover that otherwise had the garbage can in their near future. The challah is reminiscent of scallion pancakes we would get for Chinese takeout.

What you will need:
The Best Challah Bread recipe

Filling
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 stalks scallions, minced
Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper
1 egg beaten

Topping
A few pinches of toasted sesame seeds and black sesame seeds

Directions:
Make dough according to directions here in my challah recipe

Preheat the oven to 375°F
Divide dough into 4 equal parts and then roll each part into a  log, long enough to fit a loaf pan. 

Gently flatten each log so that it is about 2 inches wide. Brush each with toasted sesame oil and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, pepper flakes, and scallions. 

Pinch the edges to seal, and then braid the logs. Place the challah in a greased loaf pan and let the challah rise 30 minutes. Then brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the challah is cooked through.

Try not to eat the challah before Shabbas!
Enjoy!