matzah class

Making shmura matzah at New York City's Manhattan Day School. Photo: Katie Han

Jewish families will come together soon to celebrate Passover, and they will look for ways to include the smallest members of the family in the festivities. Teaching the ins and outs of unleavened bread to your children is a good way to get them involved both in the holiday and in the kitchen. But how do you explain levening to little kids? Holidash turned to the experts at the Manhattan Day School, where they've come up with an ingenious way to teach the art of bread making: A challah v. matzah bake-off.

Using recipes from MDS Director Aviva Yablok, kindergartners compare the differences between the bubbling yeast of challah and the super-quick creation of classic shmura matzah, which sends little chefs into a flurry of fun kitchen activity. See, once the water hits the flour, matzah must be made in 18 minutes, from mixing and kneading to rolling and baking. That's it! Start to finish. There's no easier way to get kids into cooking than making it an edible Playdoh race. Added bonus: It's sure to speed up your own slacker kitchen practices as well.

Below are Yablok's recipes for the super-quick Shmura Matzah and the moist and flavorful Family Challah. Whether your prepping for Passover or itching to have some kitchen fun, these should do the trick.

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Aviva Yablok's Family Challah Recipe
2 packages yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup oil (canola or vegetable)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
7 cups flour (bread flour, but all-purpose works too)
1 egg, beaten

Dissolve yeast in one cup water. After it bubbles, add the second cup of water, oil, sugar and salt. Mix gently.

Slowly add flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Keep adding until a dough forms. Knead well for 5 minutes until smooth. If desired, you can divide the dough amongst family members to knead individually, then combine into one round of dough.

Place dough in lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave dough at room temperature and let rise for one to one and a half hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Punch down the dough and shape into three long logs to braid into challah. You can also divide the dough to make loaves of different sizes. Brush with beaten egg and let rise at room temperature for an additional 45 minutes.

Place loaf on baking sheet and bake 25-30 minutes until well-browned on top.

Homemade Shmura Matzah
2 cups warm water
4-6 cups flour (all-purpose or whole-wheat)

Preheat oven to a hot 450 degrees.

Prep the matzah-making station: line a large working surface with a plastic tablecloth, have a rolling pin and foil-lined baking sheets on hand, and flour the working surface well.

Have flour and measuring cup at the ready, and pour warm water into a large mixing bowl.

Set a timer for 18 minutes -- ready, set, mix!

Add flour 1 cup at a time until a dough begins to form. After 4 cups of flour have been added, keep adding flour until dough is not sticky (but not too dry) and workable. Mix quickly and take no longer than a few minutes!

With well-floured hands, and extra flour if necessary, form the dough into palm-sized balls and roll out to quarter-inch thickness on the floured work surface. Poke the flattened dough on both sides with a fork. Place dough onto baking sheets and pop into the oven.

Homemade shmura matzah are ready when golden browned and crispy. Keep your fingers crossed that they are baked before the timer buzzes!

Note: Make sure to poke with a fork last. If you happen to press down again, the holes will seal and the matzah will create air bubbles while it cooks.


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