Teaching Donna to make a Whole-Wheat Challah

Grace, how did you show up? She likes Mr. Tiger who protects my house.

But who's gonna protect me and Donna from wolfing down all the loaves of bread we made today?

I got to her condo around 3, and just got home at 8:30. In between we watched the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird on TCM, which'll be followed by Gone with the Wind. Can you believe it?

Scarlett, I've gotta miss you b/c I needed to come home to take my antirejection meds. I did bring my diabetes paraphernalia there so I could eat.

Some of the ingredients. King Arthur Whole-Wheat Flour from Kansas wheat is the best there is in the USA.

I also use about 2 cups of unbleached white flour to add a little lightness to the bread. I don't like dense whole-wheat breads, and, after all, this is a challah, light and fluffy.

When we were growing up in Cleveland, we'd buy our challahs at either Hough Bakery or New York Bakery and eat half a loaf on the way home. Is that right, Mommy?

Since Donna didn't have honey, we used 2 tablespoons of her agave syrup. I like my challahs to be a lil sweet.

The amount of liquid you use determines how many breads you will make.

I wanted four cups of liquid, which included warm water, 1/4 cup cooking oil, 4 eggs (warmed up in warm water), 2 egg whites, save the yolks for the 'egg wash' you'll put over the loaves.

You want everything to be warm to encourage the yeast to rise.

All you need is one tablespoon of yeast. Simply measure it in the palm of your hand. I don't use measuring cups or spoons. That way, you don't have to wash them.

I add a tablespoon of salt after I've added flour to the batter so it won't impede the rising of the yeast.

Donna had a nice stainless steel bowl we put the dough in.

After it doubled in size, we made a huge mound and got ready to divide it up. Donna and I would each work on our own half.

See those thin pieces of dough in the middle? These three will be kneaded into a braid.

We start the braid in the middle. When it's completed, we secure the ends by pinching them and 'gluing' them underneath with water.

The finished challah breads. We spread the 'egg wash' over each braid....

Egg wash is yolk mixed with a lil water.

Poppyseed on top is a must.

Now we pop it into the oven to rise half an hour. Then we bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

The risen dough is now baked.

Fini....and lookin' delicious!

This is actually raw dough, waiting to be crafted into one more whole-wheat challah braid, this one for Donna and me to chow down.

Go Donna go!

Donna is painting the egg wash with heavy cream. She read in her new bread book that heavy cream gives it a nice crust.

We're gonna bake this for half an hour. And then we're gonna add a special mix like you find on bagels. Donna chopped up raw onions and garlic. We don't want them to burn, which is why we're adding the garnish during the last 20 minutes.

It came out beautifully. I set the timer for 20 minutes to let the bread cool and make sure it was done inside. A 'tigey' bread is the worst!

I like mine with butter. Absolutely scrumptious!

Put in your order and I'll bake one just for you!

In 2008, I wrote a post about Breadmaking as a Holy Activity.