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Submitted by Lynn
Yield: Approximately 2 ½ to 3 dozen
(vegan alternatives listed)
Ingredients:
½ lb. unsalted butter or Earth Balance
1 cup milk or soy milk
¼ cup sugar or coconut sugar
½ tsp sea salt
1 egg or flax egg (1 TBS ground flax & 3 TBS water)
1 Tbsp. each of GROUND mahlab**, fennel seed, anise seed
(** Mahlab is the dried “heart” of the cherry pit. It can be purchased in most Middle Eastern stores. If you can’t find it, you can omit it; the taste will be slightly different, but still delicious.)
½ tsp ground ginger
1 pkg. dry yeast
2 Tbsp. baking powder
5 to 5 1/2 cups organic flour
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1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. of water (for egg wash)
Directions:
1. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add milk and heat gently. Cool.
2. Beat egg and add to cooled milk.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in ¼ cup warm water (about 105-110° F). You can check the temperature with a food thermometer, or by putting a drop on your wrist. If it feels comfortable to your wrist, the temp. is good to go. Set aside.
4. Mix sugar, salt, spices, and baking powder together. Set aside.
5. Place 5 cups of the flour into a large mixing bowl. Combine the blended spice mixture into the flour.
6. Add the milk-egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in the dissolved yeast, and mix well.
7. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough seems a bit sticky, add some of the extra ½ cup flour that wasn’t used earlier.
8. Place dough in a large, clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then cover that with a towel. Allow to rise for 2 hours.
9. punch down and then Break off about a golf ball-size piece of dough. Roll it into a long, thin rope, about 16 inches in length. Break off about one-third of the dough. Shape the longer piece of dough into a horseshoe (U) shape. Place the shorter piece of dough in the center of the “U”, and begin braiding the 3 strips of dough.
10. Place the braided dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Continue to shape dough until tray is full. (Don’t place choregs too close to each other. Give them room to expand while they bake.)
11. Let shaped dough rise on the tray for 1/2 hour before baking.
12. Brush tops with beaten egg. (This is the egg wash.) if vegan don't bother it will be fine without it.
13. Bake at 375° F. on the bottom oven rack until the bottom of the chorag is golden (about 15 minutes). Then transfer the tray to the top rack until the top of the chorag is golden (about another 5 minutes). Cool chorag on cooling racks.
14. Continue this procedure until all dough is shaped and baked.
15. Store completely cooled choreg in a container with a tight-fitting lid, or place in freezer bags, and freeze until ready to serve.
