by Emet Report
This is a great, easy Erev Shabbos/Yom Tov recipe. It makes 6 smallish-medium sized loaves or 4 large ones. It has the minimum amount of flour in it to create the “shiur” of flour necessary to get the mitzvah for hafrashas challah and it only takes about 15 minutes to put together. They came out so delicious, that there is never even a crumb left over!
1 kilo/7 cups very finely ground whole-wheat flour
1 kilo/7 cups whole-wheat regular flour
2 cups additional white flour (Total flour used: 5 lbs./2.3 kilo)
4-5 cups warm water
4 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
2 T. salt
1 1/2 T. dough conditioner, optional
3/4 cup canola oil, divided
Place 2 cups of warm water, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add in 2 kilos flour, eggs, 2 more cups water, salt, conditioner, and most of the oil. Start to knead. Add in the rest of the flour and oil. If the dough is too firm, add small amounts of water until it is slightly sticky. To help the dough slide out of the bowl easier, add in small amounts of oil as you knead. When it is a nice, soft but still firm and only slightly sticky dough, turn it out and into a deep oiled bowl or onto an oiled surface. Turn the dough over once or twice to be sure its greased on all sides.
Cover the dough with plastic or place it in a large garbage bag overnight in the fridge. Or as an alternative, you can leave it to rise, covered in plastic, for one hour on the counter. After 45 minutes, punch it down and let it rise some more. After covering your trays with baking paper, shape the challahs and let them rise for not more than 45 minutes. Brush with egg and bake until golden brown on top and bottom, about 40 minutes on 375°F/ 190°C.
Now, onto the main meal and a new sweet chicken recipe