Recipes

Here is our much-requested family challah recipe.  We make the dough in the bread machine, and then take it out, braid it, and let it rise.  You can also divide it into 12 dinner rolls, which is what we do on Thanksgiving.

Challah:
3/4 C hot water
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
3 C of bread flour
2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast

Add to the bread machine, keeping the yeast separate from the wet ingredients.  Put the machine on the "dough" cycle.  When it is done, take the challah out and braid it, then put the braided challah on a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with Pam.  If it is early in the day, you can let the challah rise in the fridge.  If it is closer to the time you plan to bake it, leave it out on the counter or in the oven (not turned on!) to rise.  When ready to bake, put the oven to 350 degrees, and bake it for 20 minutes.  Then take the foil out from underneath and bake another 10 minutes.  We don't glaze ours with egg wash, but you can if you prefer.  It makes excellent French toast later in the weekend!

I also want to share my current favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It's Martha Stewart's "soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies" from her cookie book.  It is simple and quick, and the dough is made up in less time than it takes to preheat the oven.

Chocolate chip cookies:
2 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar

1 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

2 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix flour and baking soda in a medium bowl, set aside.  In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add salt, vanilla, and eggs and mix until well-blended, about 1 minute.  Then add the flour mixture, mix until you can no longer see the flour.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop heaping tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets (I use sil-pats and a Pampered Chef cookie scoop).  Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are brown but the centers are still soft.  You want them to look under baked.  They are delicious!

P.S. Can you tell we're a house full of carbaholics?