This week food store shelves are being wiped of turkeys, cranberry sauces, corn, pumpkin and countless other Thanksgiving accompaniments. While Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, I felt like it is appropriate to write about this week because I am seriously itching to go home for the break. People enjoy Thanksgiving because it usually consists of gathering with family and friends to share a large meal. There are usually so many components to Thanksgiving meals that you can never taste it all and leftovers last for days.
While this is the holiday that sends the most people into food coma, people still manage to consume and enjoy the leftovers in the following days. Instead of forcing yourself to have turkey sandwiches for an entire week’s worth of lunch, why not try putting an edge of Thanksgiving into your Shabbat this Friday?
Here’s a recipe for cranberry pumpkin challah:
Ingredients:
½ cup pumpkin puree (add more if the dough is too dry) homemade or canned
½ cup- ¾ cup dried cranberries
2 1/4 tsps active dry yeast
¼ to ½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground ginger
3 ¾ cups whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ tsps salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 egg for mixture + 1 egg (for the glaze)
Directions:

1. Sprinkle the yeast into the water in a bowl. Leave for 10 minutes and then stir till it dissolves.
2. Mix the flour and spices together in a large bowl, make a hole in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast/water mix.
3. Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the yeasted water to form a soft paste.
4. Cover with a wet paper towel and let it “sponge” until frothy and risen (about 20 minutes).
5. Whisk the sugar, salt, oil, egg, dried cranberries and pumpkin puree together. Add to the dough and mix well.
6. Knead for about 5-10 minutes. Then let the dough sit for several minutes.
7. Oil the bowl lightly, put the dough in it, and cover the bowl with a towel.
8. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough has tripled in size, about 2-3 hours.
9. Punch it down and shape as you wish (If you’d like to try braiding: halve the dough and then cut each half into thirds, rolling those thirds into ropes of dough, and then braid the ropes).
10. Place the loaves on baking sheets that have been oiled or sprinkled with cornmeal/flour.
11. Let the loaves rise until at least doubled in size, about 40 minutes to an hour.
12. Glaze the loaves with the extra beaten egg.
13. Bake the loaves at 350° F for 40-45 minutes.
Notes: Makes one big loaf or two smallish loaves. You can serve this as you would normal challah, or try it with leftover cranberry sauce or raspberry jam. Also if you want more of a pumpkin taste you can either add more puree or try sprinkling in some pumpkin pie spice. Additionally, you can add sprinkles to the challah after glazing it with egg in step 13. Hope you enjoy this challah twist!
Recipe adapted from Maggie Glezer’s cookbook A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking from Around the World.
