Half Hour Honey Olive Oil Challah

Everything you love about traditional Jewish challah: fluffy white slices, a cake like texture, and a wonderfully easy dough: all in half an hour.

If it wasn’t me saying this, I probably wouldn’t believe it, because normal challah dough is usually a labor of love. A looooooong labor.

First we get a work out: kneading a huge round of dough for 10 minutes at the least.

The we let it sit and double in size, most often for an hour or more, at which point the kitchen has become full of all the other ingredients for a bunch of other dishes, and we’ve all but forgotten about our baby in a bowl. Quickly the counter is cleaned and space is made before the challah over-expands and engulfs everything in its path.

Serve this with some of our favorites:

Spicy Moroccan Fish

Savory fish “Ktzitzot”

Candied Jalapeños

We start to weigh out balls and begin to braid, trying to daven(pray) while also warding off little hands from touching every little piece of dough. Then we run around the kitchen(or is this just me?) looking for places to put all the baking trays filled with beautiful braids while they rest and rise again.

Egg-brush is next and then bake and…. should I even go on?

While “taking challah” is a huge mitzvah, and the whole process is filled with love and wonder and prayers- the bottom line is that it takes hours.

Because of that, many Friends of mine just don’t do it. They don’t have time to spend all morning on one mission, even though they would oh so love to have homemade braids sitting at the shabbat table. Sometimes life gets in the way and we need a more practical alternative.

An easy-mom alternative.

A Half Hour Challah.

OMG guess what you’ve come to the right post! Now is when we can get excited. This recipe has been a long time in the making…..

A couple years ago I found a recipe for 30 minute dinner rolls. They were fabulous and an absolute delight to whip up and enjoy with French Onion Soup and just about anything else I could pair them with. I figured, if these rolls come together so quick, why can’t we try it with challah?

Hence was born this lovely bread. Eggy, soft, and pillow-fluffy.

just look at it!!!!!!!!

Because of the high amount of yeast, the bread doesn’t need to rise a lot. Scratch the entire first rise and most of the second. Our challah will be braided immediately after kneading, and then sit for a mere 10 minutes before getting an egg wash and being placed in the oven.

It is noted that the longer a dough sits and ferments, the more flavorful it will be. To combat having a bland slice, we are adding other flavors-honey and olive oil. This will give the bread a rich, sweet bite, so no substitutions!!!

For the lovely golden top, we are brushing the challah braids with a egg-wash[ which is a beaten egg mixed with a splash of water] before being baked.

While the bread bakes, we will heat up honey and a little water to create a “sugar syrup”.

Then hot out of the oven, our loaves will be brushed again. This honey wash is special for Rosh Hashanah, and yes it is sticky! It will harden once cooled, and give the crust a wonderful crunch that pairs perfectly with the soft center.

Now that we have the low down, let’s see the process and get baking!!!

Let yeast sit for 5 minutes until nice and bubbly. Add in some flour.

Knead for a minute or two, until the all the flour is incorporated the dough is nice and smooth.

Braid..

You can get a non stick Silpat baking mat just like mine right here. I use it for everything!

brush with egg wash and bake.

Brush with honey syrup….EAT!