Whole Wheat Cranberry Herb Challah

Food, Recipes, Sides | November 21, 2014 | By

You GUYYYYYYS.

I did it. 

I made you the best homemade bread in the entire world.  Before you get all skeptical and tell me to stop using so many superlatives, hear me out. First of all, this is challah, so it’s automatically better than all other bread, just by virtue of BEING challah. Second, there are NO bleached or processed flours WHATSOEVER in this recipe. Still not sold? It’s soft and warm on the inside and golden brown on the outside. AND, it has herbs and cranberries in it. 

I knew you’d come around. 

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This week, I went around telling everyone I possibly could about this challah because it came out perfectly. To my surprise, I got the question, “What is a challah?” several times. So, just in case, here’s the Merriam-Webster definition:

chal·lah

 noun

1) egg-rich yeast-leavened bread that is usually braided or twisted before baking and is traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays

2) the most fantastic food in the universe

Ok, so I may have put that last part in there. I know, I know, the superlatives.

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This month’s Recipe Redux challenge was to recreate a healthy version of a dish that we associate with happy memories. As a child, having gone to my synagogue’s preschool and having been raised in a Reform Jewish household, challah was one of the first foods I can remember eating regularly. Every Friday morning, my parents would buy a challah from the bagel shop and bring it home for Shabbat in the evening. We would say the “hamotzi” blessing all together (or in some cases, sing, because singing is one of the only ways you can get a 4-year-old to do anything), and then pass around the eggy end piece, each tearing off a bite. This was always my favorite part of the Shabbat blessings, because the end piece of the challah is pretty much the BEST. It also meant that afterward, we would sit down to a beautiful meal as a family. Even if it was just takeout, it was always a given that we’d be eating it together. (Crying yet, mom? :D)

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On top of all these fond memories, challah has always been my ultimate sicky-time comfort food. Any time I come down with a cold, bug, or food poisoning, even when I can’t fathom the idea of putting anything into my stomach, the one food I will always agree to eat is challah. And, I’m always fine to eat it again once I recover. Challah may not be physically capable of having any bad memories attached to it. This has been true for 22 years, and I don’t see it changing. 

As with all great comfort foods though, challah isn’t always the best for you. Most challahs you will find for sale are made with processed white flours and sugars. If you’re like me and are trying to limit your processed food intake, comfort foods like these are often very hard to give up. Like, what if I want to eat challah more often than once every few months?   

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Well, I’ve found a solution. At least for me! 😉 This recipe uses roughly 2 parts whole wheat flour and 1 part whole wheat pastry flour. Originally, I was petrified that the dough wouldn’t rise like I wanted due to the heavier consistency of the flours I put in the dough. Instead, the baked end result was just as fluffy in the middle as the challah I grew up eating. Only it was nuttier, sweeter, and filled with herbs and cranberries.

I’m still shocked, but I won’t question it. I’ll just make my own challah from now on, and hope I don’t sick of it. Eh, who am I kidding. I could never be sick of challah.

Also, by the way, this recipe would impress the pants off your Thanksgiving guests, and would be even MORE amazing if made into individual dinner rolls. AHHHH THE POSSIBILITIES! When is the next Thanksgivukkah happening again? 😀

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  *This recipe makes two loaves. I made one traditional three-strand braided loaf and one with a round braid. You can read up on how to do both here and here.  

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Whole Wheat Cranberry Herb Challah


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 packet active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbs. honey
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 3 eggs (2 for dough, 1 for egg wash)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tbs. fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions

  1. Empty yeast into a large bowl and add warm (NOT hot) water.
  2. Whisk in 1 tbs. of honey until mixture is thoroughly combined. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
  3. Whisk in 2 eggs, remaining honey, oil, and salt until combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine both flours.
  5. Add flour to yeast mixture gradually, kneading with your hands until fully combined and there are no spots of dry flour left.
  6. Let dough stand in an oiled bowl and in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  7. Once dough has risen, deflate and add cranberries, thyme, and rosemary. Knead until incorporated.
  8. Divide the dough in half. Each half will be one loaf, so depending on what braiding you want, divide each half again accordingly.
  9. Braid loaves, and transfer them to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let sit for one more hour to rise.
  10. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
  11. Brush each loaf with remaining egg, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not overbake!


 


Blueberry Almond Bread

“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by National Dairy Council and the Quaker Oats Center of Excellence and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

 

I never quite understood the term “quick bread.”

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I mean, I get it logically. You don’t have to add yeast. In theory, a good banana bread should take less time to complete than dough takes to rise. But if I may define my own idea of “quick bread” for you, it would be bread that’s prepared and out of the oven in less than a half hour. Or even more ideally, bread that appears out of thin air. If this whole music career thing gets tough (haha… if) I’m going to invent a device that dispenses fresh, warm, delicious loaves of bread instantly at the push of a button. “Carb-O-Matic.” Patent pending. 

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I already have a few recipes for “quick” breads in my arsenal, including this one, this one, and possibly this one (I think scones count). In my opinion, though, you can never really have too many – despite my impatience, quick breads really are quite convenient to put together. As a result, they’re great for brunches, gift-giving, and pot lucks, and can often be repurposed as a muffin recipe, and won’t take a big chunk out of your day. That was a HUGE requirement for me when creating this recipe in particular. If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that the past week and a half has been a bit of a crazy roller coaster ride. I packed up one apartment and moved into another, changed cities, and then packed up a day later to go away AGAIN with my family. I’m now enjoying some well-deserved R&R (aside from the placement exam and audition prep for graduate school), but before I left, I promised that I’d spend my last night at home whipping up a nice recipe for this month’s Recipe Redux challenge, hosted by Quaker Oats and the National Dairy Council.

This bread is delicious fresh, as is, or toasted, but I would recommend storing it in the refrigerator if you do not plan to eat it all immediately as it is very moist. Enjoy!

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Blueberry Almond Bread


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups Quaker oats
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 5 oz. plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup sparkling water
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 12 tbs slivered almonds (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
  2. In a food processor, grind oats into a very fine flour. Sift flour into a medium bowl.
  3. Add baking powder and salt, and mix to combine.
  4. Whisk eggs and yogurt together in a separate mixing bowl until smooth, then whisk in almond extract, honey, and sparkling water.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir gently to combine – do not overmix.
  6. Gently fold in blueberries, and transfer batter to a greased loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle a few extra blueberries and some slivered almonds onto the batter before baking.
  7. Bake about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Notes

  • For a sightly sweeter bread, increase the amount of honey.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 12


Maple, Dark Chocolate Chip, & Sea Salt Banana Bread

“Ew, Sarah, why would you EVER put sea salt and bananas together?” – You

What can I say, I’m good at reading minds. But you know what I was slightly less good at until recently? Baking banana bread. It has literally (and I mean literally, not figuratively…there is, in fact a difference) taken me YEARS to come up with the perfect banana bread recipe. I posted one back in my Tumblr-blogging days that I’m pretty sure consisted mostly of chia seeds. Not to hate on chia seeds (they have their time and place), but this recipe is tastier for sure, and just as healthy. Now, to address your sea salt inquiry, it’s pretty much universal knowledge these days that sea salt and dark chocolate are the new power couple. Caramel tries to make it a love triangle, but I am definitely on Team Chocolate. And lately, I have been putting dark chocolate in and on everything I can get my hands on.

Why?

Well, I’m celebrating, because (Spoiler: if you follow me on Instagram, then neither of the following things are going to be “big news” to you) after a whirlwind year of suddenly changing plans and deciding NOT to take a year off, I took graduate auditions and was accepted to everywhere I applied! I’m going to be pursuing my Master’s degree next year at the conservatory of my dreams in New York City, and I couldn’t be more excited. I also gave my senior recital a few weeks ago to a lot of positive feedback, which means I officially CAN graduate and go to New York City. Also, I thought the performance went well had a lot of fun giving it, which for self-doubting and perpetually unsatisfied me was kind of big.

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So, yeah… I’m declaring that I now deserve to put chocolate in everything. You can judge me or whatever, but you’re going to be thanking my little chocolate binge when you taste this banana bread. Notice I said when, not if, because that’s how sure I am that you need to make it immediately.

Just in case you’re not convinced yet and need a REALLY compelling reason to make it (other than that it’s chocolate banana bread and because I said so), it will use up your ugly, mushy, seemingly inedible bananas. I bet you’ve thrown out some spotty/browning bananas in your time, thinking they were unusable. Think again, my friend – your banana-wasting days have passed, because for this recipe and banana bread in general, the spottier the better! (Unless they’re actually rotten and wrinkled… Then you probably shouldn’t cook with them. :P)

This is what perfect banana bread bananas look like. <3

These are what perfect banana bread bananas look like. <3

Also, this bread came out super moist, and has just the right texture! You could also omit the chocolate chips or walnuts (or both) and the base recipe would come out fine. I will definitely be keeping this as my go-to banana bread recipe!

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Maple, Dark Chocolate Chip, & Sea Salt Banana Bread


Ingredients

Scale
  • 34 overripe medium bananas
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 egg + 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup unbleached whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup oat flour (may do 1 and 1/2 cups oat flour for gluten free alternative)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/3 cup 60% dark chocolate chips, plus 1 tbs. for melting
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • Sea Salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
  2. In a mixing bowl, mash peeled bananas thoroughly until mostly smooth. Some small lumps of fruit will remain, that’s ok!
  3. Mix in melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla, and then add the egg/egg white (adding the egg and coconut oil too closely together may cause the egg to cook in the hot oil).
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients (except for the 1 tbs. of chocolate chips for melting), and then slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
  5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.*
  6. Melt the remaining chocolate chips, pour onto the batter, and swirl with a fork. Sprinkle the top lightly with sea salt, and bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

  • *I recommend using coconut oil spray, which I swear by for baking, roasting, and sauteeing! So flavorful, and so much better for you than most non-stick sprays.

Enjoy! 🙂

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