Torah Explorers

This afternoon I tackled the Chocolate Chip Challah recipe from Chocolate Chip Challah. It used many of the same methods and ingredients as the bread we baked two weeks back. There were three major differences. A sweet potato filled in for the plain potato. Much to the glee of my kids, chocolate chips were added. Last, but certainly not least, as you can see in the picture the recipe suggested a new braiding method. Instead of merely making a braided loaf, or twisting the coil into a round loaf I rolled out six long snakes and made two sizable braids, then twisted each braid into a coiled loaf. Very fun and quite fancy.

My three year old helped me to set out all of the ingredients and had a quizzical look on her face when I pulled out the baby-food grinder. It’s been out of use for awhile but not too long ago it was in daily use. We would boil just about any fruit or veggie and grind it at the table so our kids almost always ate what we were eating. If only there was a gadget once they hit elementary school to help them remember how much they devoured all fruits and vegetables, instead of listing out their acceptable choices. Emily was fascinated as I set it up. She loved spinning the crank and watching the cubes of boiled sweet potato come spiralling out like play-doh hair in their play-doh barber shop or lava from the play-doh volcano. We’ll be using that gadget a lot more now I’m sure. Maybe some peach sauce after the farmer’s market opens- yum.

This recipe is so similar that it too formed a delightful dough. The sweet potato added a lovely golden hue. Jack and Emily loved sticking the chips deep into the dough and watching them pop back up slightly so that the challah dough looked like a giant inflated chocolate chip cookie. I was caught up helping Molly pack for her first girl scout camping trip and was so caught up changing the batteries in her flashlight and sneaking little notes into her bag that I forgot the egg wash- gasp! The good news is thanks to that sweet potato the finished result still looked golden. That being said, as much as we’ve enjoyed some of the sweet challah recipes we’ve tried, this one just didn’t seem like challah at all. I’ll be sure to braid and twist again, the chips were a novelty, but next time I’ll save them for dessert.

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