Salted Maple Challah
Ingredients
- 2¼ teaspoons (¼ ounce) active dry yeast
- 1 cup water, heated to 115º
- 5½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons maple sugar (found at specialty food stores, or here)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 eggs, plus 1 yolk
- ½ tablespoon white sesame seeds
Salted Maple Challah
Ingredients
- 2¼ teaspoons (¼ ounce) active dry yeast
- 1 cup water, heated to 115º
- 5½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons maple sugar (found at specialty food stores, or here)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 eggs, plus 1 yolk
- ½ tablespoon white sesame seeds
Hunting for stories and recipes in the main branch of the New York Public Library in Bryant Park, we came across Tzimmes in Vermont, a cookbook of “treasured recipes of JCOGS, The Jewish Community of Greater Stowe.” Held together in a small three ring binder, the white and green pages of the cookbook explain how a small group of Jews started to gather for regular potlucks in Stowe in the late 1980’s. Those meals grew into a Jewish organization and hebrew school, which the proceeds from the book helped support.
Of all of the recipes, the one that felt most of its place was a maple challah. The recipe weaves the sweetness of maple into a classic Shabbat challah. Updating it a bit, we added a touch of sea salt to balance that sweetness. While it’s wonderful anytime of the year, it’s slight sweetness makes it perfect for Rosh Hashanah.
We tracked down Barbara Stern, who served on the committee that created the cookbook and heard about how the community came to be, where the recipes came from and more. Read an excerpt from our interview with her below.
