Pumpkin Spice Challah

Me and my perfect pumpkin!

What do you get when you combine fall, a #basicwhitegirl, and Judaism? Obviously the answers is PSL, I mean PSC (pumpkin spice challah)! One of my favorite things about the holidays and the change of seasons is the different colored and flavored chips that companies manufacture. When I stumbled upon pumpkin chips in the supermarket I knew that I finally found the missing ingredient in my pumpkin challah recipe!

To get in the fall spirit, my graduate program took a trip to a local farm. We ate donuts and also went through a sunflower maze and corn maze. We somehow couldn't find the exit to the corn maze so we gave up and left through the entrance. I think we decided that the entrance was also the exit, but maybe accountants are only good with financial statements and just not very good with mazes. We also took a hayride out to a pumpkin field and were able to pick our own pumpkins. I didn't end up putting the pumpkin or pumpkin seeds in the challah, mostly because I wanted to display the pumpkin outside the front door of my big girl apartment, but I bet the challah would have tasted great with toasted pumpkin seeds!

MAcc goes to a Pumpkin Patch!

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
2/3 cup water
2.5 tsp yeast
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice 
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pureed pumpkin
4-5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Chocolate Spread
Pumpkin Chips
White Chocolate Chips

Mix water, yeast, honey, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

In a separate bowl mix brown sugar, 2 eggs, oil, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and pureed pumpkin. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air.

Separate the dough and roll out each ball into a strand. Place a layer of chocolate spread on each strand then put pumpkin chips and white chocolate chips on top. I did a 3 strand challah, but you can do whatever shape you want.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm looks pumpkinlicious to me!

When I bake challah at home, my family and I will eat it immediately after it comes out of the oven, leaving very little as leftovers. The only problem with living alone is that when I bake challah there isn't anyone to split it with. Since I have very low self control, especially when it comes to food, the second the challah came out of the oven and cooled down I brought it over to my old sorority house. And thank god I did because I don't know if my little body could handle that much challah at once.