This is my favorite recipe for Challah. I love making Challah once every other week for Shabbat. It can also yield three smaller challahs so you can even eat one and freeze the other two. I make my bread half whole wheat and with a little sugar and lots of honey so its sweet and yummy. The bread may not look absolutely perfect but it tastes amazing. It is great by itself, as a sandwich bread or with a jam or my latest favorite, Biscoff Spread. This spread tastes like graham crackers in a spread and is just absolutely delicious. This recipe makes two challahs so I usually freeze one challah and then use the other one that day. It’s still good the next day but will start to lose its moistness by day three, which is why its so good for french toast.

Making a yeast bread is a bit tricky until you have done it a bunch of times. You have to make sure your yeast is good and proofs well. You also have to make sure that the water is warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast.  The other trick is making sure that the dough is the right consistency. The dough should not feel sticky but soft. After a while of making this bread, I felt when the dough was right. It is a lot of work but well worth it! The difference in taste from store bought is truly significant. This recipe was originally given to me when I took a Challah class at the JCC in Manhattan. The original recipe was adapted by Shoshana Ohriner. She has a great website and great ideas on how to bake all different types of challahs, even ones with sprinkles, which I thought looked amazing.

If you are interested in learning more about making yeast breads, I really recommend taking a class either at your community center or at a culinary institute. I took an excellent class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. Also please note that I wrote approximations such as 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of honey. I do love sweet so I add a bit more sweetness to my bread because I love the sweet taste. If you don’t want it that sweet you can cut back to 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 cup of honey.

This is how I made it:

3 packages of dry yeast (about 2 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

3/4 warm water

3 cups of white flour (may need more when mixing)

3 cups of whole wheat flour (may need more when mixing)

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1/2-3/4 cup of honey

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Mix yeast, brown sugar and warm water in a bowl. Let stand for five minutes until mixtures bubbles a bit. If it doesn’t bubble you need to start over. I keep my yeast in the fridge and it stays for a long time. Just a tip!

In one large bowl, mix flour and salt. Use a whisk to mix. In another large bowl mix eggs, oil, water and honey.

When yeast has proofed (bubbles a bit), add the yeast mixture to flour and salt mixture and mix well.  Add egg mixture and continue mixing until dough comes together. Add flour if necessary.The dough will remain soft but shouldn’t be sticky.

Since I use my stand mixer for this recipe, I switch over to my dough hook at this point. I mix with the dough hook for about 2 minutes or so. The dough will come together as a ball. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead by hand for a couple of minutes. Feel it intermittently to see if you need to add more flour. Don’t add too much flour or it will get too dry. Add a little bit at a time. Place the ball in a well oiled bowl and turn the ball over so dough is well coated with oil.  Cover with a towel and let rise for about two hours or until doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Punch down dough. Divide dough into two large pieces. For each ball of dough further separate into three pieces. Form three ropes per challah and braid accordingly. Place on lightly greased sheet and brush with egg wash.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  They are done when the challah is browned nicely on top and makes a hollow sound when tapped.

Let cool and eat!

This Irish Soda Bread is an amazing recipe.  I went to a pub a couple of months ago in Westfield New Jersey and first tried Irish Soda Bread.  I loved it so much that I was all about finding a good recipe to make it myself. I love bread with loads of raisins, moist, a little sweet and crunchy on the outside. After many searches for the perfect recipe for Irish Soda Bread I found it here at allrecipes.com. The bread comes out of the oven warm and absolutely amazing. Its excellent right out of the oven and even after a couple of days. I have never frozen it because it never lasts! I have gotten so many compliments on this bread, its worth trying.

Irish Soda Bread by Penguin Lady (This is exactly how the recipe is written on the website)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups raisins
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch round cast iron skillet or a 9 inch round baking or cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 strokes. Dough will be sticky. Place the dough in the prepared skillet or pan and pat down. Cut a 4×3/4 inch deep slit in the top of the bread. Dust with reserved flour
3. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 65 to 75 minutes. Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.

I love pound cakes more than anything. I also know that I can’t eat pound cakes on a regular basis so I have to monitor myself! If anyone is wondering I do have a lot of self control and practice portion control on a regular basis with all of my baked goods. I love and enjoy the taste of excellent baked goods but know that I can’t eat too much at a time. I am also a big fan of freezing and making baked goods in small portions. Anyway, back to the pound cake! I first tried this pound cake when staying at a beautiful place up in New Paltz, NY called Minnewaska Lodge. My husband and I love going up to New Paltz. Its a great place for hiking, rock climbing, walking or just about anything! The town is adorable and the place has such a good feel to it.

When I first ate it I immediately wanted the recipe. The bread was sweet, moist, a bit heavy which pound cake should be and just absolutely delicious.  The woman behind the front desk was very nice and gave me the recipe to this delicious bread. The secret to the moistness of the bread is the sour cream! I halved the recipe that was originally given to me which makes one big loaf and two mini loaves. I also altered some of the other ingredients. Here is my adapted version of this recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of softened butter

2 1/2 cups of sugar

6 eggs

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of baking powder

3 cups of reduced fat sour cream

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or vanilla paste

1 cup of frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one large loaf pan and two mini loaf pans.

2. Cream together butter and sugar.

3. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients.

5. Slowly add dry ingredients into egg mixture alternating with sour cream and vanilla, mixing well.

6. Bake mini loaves for about 30 minutes until done and large loaf for about 60 minutes or until done.

Enjoy. Also, your baking time may vary according to your oven!