December 15, 2009

Whole Grain Cranberry Challah - Sweet or Savory



For our second Healthy Bread in 5 bread braid, Dr. Jeff provided the Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest.  I wanted a dough as versatile as its no-knead method, so I made a couple of changes to the recipe. I used 50/50 whole wheat white and unbleached AP flours, omitted the orange zest and wheat germ, reduce the honey to 1/4 cup, and increased the butter to 1/2 cup. 

The dough came together quickly and soon enough, I had a blank canvas. So I made three variations: one sweet, one savory, and one neutral.

#1 - Chocolate Studded Cranberry Challah Loaf


I used 1/2 the dough and rolled it out into a rectangle about 8 by 15.  I then spread 1 1/2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips, rolled it up starting from a short side, and placed it seam side down in a 9 x 5 loaf pan to rise.  Once risen, I brushed it with egg wash, sprinkled with coarse sugar and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes.



#2 - Pesto Cranberry Crescents


For this savory variation, I used 1/4 of the dough and rolled it out into approximately a 10 inch circle, spread store bought pesto, cut into 12 8 wedges with a pizza cutter, then rolled each one into a crescent.  I placed the rolls on a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat, but you can use parchment if you'd like. Once risen, sprinke with grated parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.



#3 - Cranberry Crown Loaf (Pictured Above)

For this neutral variation, I made a round loaf fit for a King!  You can make a couple of these in no time for your Holy Day dinner whichever one you celebrate.  For one 8 inch round, I used 1/4 of the dough and divided it into 6 equal pieces.  I formed each one into a roll, placed them in the greased pan, and let them rise.




Once ready, I brushed with egg wash and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden and firm.

And that's it for our second bread braid for HBin5!  This was a fun recipe to work with and I can't wait to see what our other group members concocted.  You can find them all at Big Black Dog's post.


16 comments:

  1. WOW...what a presentation!

    LOVE...LOVE...LOVE the crown loaf. You could make several crown loaves for Christmas Dinner instead of rolls. So pretty, just love it.

    The Parmesan Pesto Crescents sound fabulous! I always tend to do sweet breads of some sort and really need to try more savory recipes!

    And the addition of chocolate chips just sounds so good to me.

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  2. Oh, my! I love your adaptations and your crown loaf is magnificent. Bravo!

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  3. Wow, these are all amazing! How simple is forming that crown loaf...wow! Beautiful job :)

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  4. WOW......double wow!!! Thanks for great ideas!!!

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  5. Love all your varieties! So many choices. I love all of them. GREAT POST!

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  6. I really like your variations, especially the pesto crescents.

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  7. Wow! Great photos! I love the crown and the savory crescent rolls! Thanks for the ideas. Fabulous!

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  8. The crown loaf is the king.... Hands down the winner of all the loafs in the braid that i have seen.... Love it!

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  9. Crown loaf is a great idea, looks great and less fussy than a braid.

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  10. That crown loaf looks out of this world beautiful!

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  11. Thank you all for the great feedback! I agree with all of you that the crown loaf is the easiest and most beautiful to serve.

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  12. Wow, love all the variations! I will have to try those crescents! Judy L, TN

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  13. The round loaf looks so great! I want to make some crescents from the last of my dough, but I'm going sweet with them and adding some white chocolate chips.
    ~Jenny~

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  14. Love all these variations...yum those Pesto crescents are tempting.

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  15. Wow I love all your variations. The pesto crescents sound absolutely amazing. I really need to experiment more with this dough!

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  16. Those pesto cranberry crescents look awesome, yum! I'm a sucker for chocolate chips too, and they managed to steal me away from the chocolate ones! Beautiful!

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