harvest apple challah

I normally don’t post two days in a row, but I got the urge to bake a few days ago – something with yeast, and something not created out of obligation – so I perused the KAF site, where I stumbled upon a recipe for Harvest Apple Challah.  I knew right away that it was what I wanted to make.  Challah is one of my favorite breads, and and this version is particularly fitting for the new season upon us.

It was only after it had come out of the oven and Jade and I immediately dove in, slicing into the warm, soft bread studded with apples and drizzling it with honey (delicious) that I realized hmm, this sounds familiar: apples and honey…  I remembered reading a few posts on other blogs about the same thing and then it occurred to me that there was a Jewish holiday coming up.  I did a little internet research and found that it is traditional to eat foods with apples and honey on Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, which just happens to be today.  So, to my Jewish readers: may you have a sweet new year.

Though I’m not Jewish, luckily there’s no rule saying you have to be to enjoy this bread (or any other Jewish treat).  Besides, apples and honey and bread are reason alone to celebrate the fact that fall is here; that Demeter has given the gift of harvest before her Persephone returns to the underworld again in a few short months…

Or maybe just for the fact that it’s a Wednesday, and a lovely one at that.  I see no harm in it.

Harvest Apple Challah

I replaced one cup of the flour with white whole wheat, which gave it a bit of a heartier texture (which we liked), but know that if you do the same it also made the dough a little stiffer and harder to work with, so I recommend using the entire amount of regular unbleached flour.  You also reduce the risk of your bread being on the drier side with the wheat flour.  Also, because they must remain unpeeled, I made sure to use organic apples.

Ingredients

For the dough:
½ cup lukewarm water
¼ cup honey
1 packet instant yeast
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
4 cups unbleached flour
1½ teaspoons kosher salt

For the apple filling:
2 medium-to-large apples, NOT peeled; cored and diced in ¾” chunks
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup granulated sugar

For the glaze:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Honey, for serving (optional)

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or other bowl), mix the water and honey together until honey dissolves.  Sprinkle on the yeast and lightly mix.  Let stand 10-15 minutes until slightly foamy and activated (you can skip this, but I like to do it to ensure the yeast is active because I’m paranoid, for some reason).

Add the rest of the dough ingredients to the yeast mixture and mix with the paddle attachment (or by hand) until the mixture just comes together.  Replace paddle attachment with dough hook and knead the mixture until a cohesive dough forms.  If you’re not using a stand mixer, you can knead it by hand.  The dough should be smooth.  If you’ve replaced some of the unbleached flour with a wheat flour, your dough may be slightly drier and stiffer.  Form the dough into a ball in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise about 2 hours, until doubled and puffy.

Toward the end of the rising time, coat a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray.  Coat a piece of foil with cooking spray and wrap it around the bottom and sides of the pan.

Core and slice the apples into ¾” pieces.  (Do not peel them.)  Toss apples with cinnamon and sugar.  Set aside.

When dough is ready, gently deflate, transfer to a lightly greased surface (I sprayed cooking spray on it), and flatten into a rough rectangle, about 8×10″, with the short side facing you.  Place half of the apples down the center of the dough, and fold the left side over the apples, sealing the edges.  Place the rest of the apples on top and to the side of the folded over dough.  Fold the remaining half of the dough over the apples (like folding a letter) and seal the edges.  Now, the messy part: using a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough in half the long way.  Then, cut the dough crosswise eight times, resulting in 16 pieces.  Don’t worry about the pieces being the same size or keeping it neat.

Squeeze the dough pieces into the pan in a single layer.  You don’t have to put them in any sort of pattern or design; place some in sideways or flat or on their sides, and jumble it all up; it doesn’t matter.  Apple chunks will fall out, just put them on top.  Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap and let rise again about 1 hour, until puffy and about 2″ high.  Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 325º.

When ready, brush the egg wash on the surface of the bread.  If you like, you can sprinkle on coarse sugar (I used regular sugar) to give it an extra sweet crunch.  Bake bread about 55 minutes, or until bread reaches an internal temperature of 190º (this took 65 minutes in my oven).  Remove from oven, let sit 5 minutes, then carefully remove from pan.  Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature, preferably drizzled with honey.

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Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour (love them!).

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