Cinnamon Challah

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We introduced Nana’s famous challah recipe a few months ago and have been making challah almost a few times a month since. Nana’s recipe is our go-to for a tried and true classic challah. As time has gone on, we have experimented with different ways to modify this recipe and introduce new flavor profiles to make this recipe transform into something new. We were craving something a little sweet this week and decided to bake a cinnamon swirl challah that we could repurpose for French toast or eat straight out of the oven with butter or cream cheese. The challah is perfectly sweet without feeling like dessert; it has been a favorite for everyone but especially with kiddos.

Cinnamon Challah

  • Servings: 1 extra large loaf
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Our spin on Nana’s classic recipe to make the challah a bit sweeter and perfect for French toast.

Ingredients

  • 3 packages of dry yeast
  • 3 cups warm water, divided into ½ cup and 2 cups
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 8 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 tbs coarse salt
  • 5 eggs
  • 2/3 cups sugar for challah + 1 tbs for topping
  • 1/4 cup cinnamon for challah + 2 tsp for topping
  • 2 tbs nutmeg
  • 1 tsp water

Directions

  1. Combine 1/2 cup of warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Mix together and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Put the flour into your mixing bowl. Make a well into the center of the flour. Pour in the yeast mixture and let stand until the mixture is bubbly. Add 4 eggs, oil, salt, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg into the bowl. Mix all of the ingredients together with a bread hook. Gradually add the remaining 2 ½ cups of water. Keep an eye on the dough as you add the water. You want the dough to be able to easily knead into a ball. You may not have to add all of the water.
  3. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a floured service until it is smooth and satiny. Let the dough rise for one hour in a greased bowl in a warm place (in a warmed, but off, oven) covered with a towel or cheesecloth.
  4. Knead the dough again on a floured surface for five minutes and let the dough rise again until it is double in size (approximately one hour).
  5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into three even pieces.
  6. Roll the pieces into long logs – approximately one inch circumference. Braid the dough making sure to tightly pinch the strands together at each end.
  7. Place the challah on a baking sheet and let rise in a warm area for an hour.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  9. Combine the last egg and the 1 tsp water in a small bowl and scramble the egg. Once the challah is done with its final rise, brush the egg over the challah. Do this twice so that the challah is double coated in the egg wash. Combine the remaining 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbs sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of the challah.
  10. Bake the challah at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes (35 minutes total). Remove the challah from the oven. You will know the challah is fully cooked if you flip it over and tap on the bottom – it will sound hollow. Let the challah rest on a cooling rack for one hour before slicing.

Beer & Cheese Bread

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While this Beer & Cheese Bread was originally inspired by St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, it is such a versatile bread that it pairs well with just about everything from chili to barbecue. What we love most about this recipe is how well the contrasting flavors in the bread work together. The beer adds a natural fizz to the bread, which keeps it really light and airy while it bakes. The hoppy taste from the beer also gives it a nice sour punch, which complements all of the melted sharp cheddar cheese. The secret to this recipe is the melted butter. Adding it in two stages gives the bread a crispy, chewy crust that is to die for. If no one was around we would cut the whole crust away and devour it straight out of the pan.

Beer & Cheese Bread

  • Servings: 1 loaf
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One of our favorite quick bread recipes! Although it is inspired by St. Patrick’s Day, it pairs well with everything from chili to barbecue.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 3 cups (13.5 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbs sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (4 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 (12 oz) bottle lager-style beer
  • 2 tbs melted butter, divided

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized. Add a bit of freshly cracked pepper and remove from the heat.
  3. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and make a well in the center. Add the onions, cheese and beer to the flour, stirring until just combined. The dough will be sticky.
  4. Scoop the batter into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan that is coated with cooking spray. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the melted butter on top of the batter. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle the remaining tablespoon of butter over the top. Bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the center is baked through.
  5. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slice and serve with butter.

Cast Iron Cornbread

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Cornbread is one of our go-to winter side dishes. After experimenting with different ways to prepare cornbread we have settled that the best way to cook cornbread is in a cast iron pan. Pouring creamy batter into a scorching hot pan gives it an instant crust and a chewy center which screams “dunk me in chili!” There are plenty of great cornbread mixes out there, but if you’re looking to put some extra love into it, make it from scratch. Minus the buttermilk and the cornmeal, you probably already have most of these ingredients in your pantry. We love serving it hot out of the oven with homemade honey butter.

Cast Iron Cornbread

  • Servings: 10
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Our favorite homemade cornbread recipe that puts a box mix to shame.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups buttermilk
  • 2 cups yellow cornmeal
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tbs brown sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbs melted butter, divided

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the cast iron pan in the oven while you make the batter.
  2. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk together in a small mixing bowl. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a second large bowl. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
  3. Remove the pan from the oven place the butter in the pan. Put it back in the oven for a minute or two, or until it is completely melted. Add the batter to the pan and cook the cornbread for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
  4. Carefully remove the cornbread from the oven and serve it hot with butter.

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins with Cinnamon Honey Butter

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You might question “needing” a bread item as you plan your Thanksgiving menu this year, particularly with all of the other side dishes that will likely grace your table. At Tuck & Tate, we think the more the merrier! We will gladly cook extra if it means there will be leftovers later on. Over the years we have served croissants and traditional Parker House rolls, but this year we wanted to try something different and do a pumpkin cornbread muffin. This is a great alternative for people who like cornbread but aren’t including it in their stuffing recipe. We love these muffins all throughout the fall because they can easily swing from sweet to savory depending on what we serve them with. For Thanksgiving we are serving them with whipped cinnamon honey butter, but the muffins are great with chili and the leftovers make amazing cornbread croutons for a kale caesar salad.

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins with Cinnamon Honey Butter

  • Servings: 12 muffins
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The perfect sweet & savory muffin to accompany your Thanksgiving menu, your next barbecue, or chili on a cold night.

Ingredients For The Muffins


– 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
– 1 cup buttermilk
– 1/4 cup honey
– 1/4 cup + 2 tbs brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
– 3/4 cups all purpose flour
– 1 tbs baking powder
– 1/2 tsp baking soda
– 3/4 tsp salt
– 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– 4 tbs butter, melted

Ingredients For The Cinnamon Honey Butter


– 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
– 1/4 cup honey
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– sea salt to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Whisk the pumpkin, buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, and 2 eggs together in a large mixing bowl until they are well combined.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Gently mix to combine, being careful to not over mix, as the muffins will be tough if you do.
  4. Add the melted butter to the cornbread mix and gently mix to combine.
  5. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour a just heaping 1/3 cup of batter into each of the 12 muffin cups. Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked through. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin.
  6. While the muffins are in the oven, make the honey butter. Use a hand mixer to whip the butter, honey, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. Add a pinch of sea salt. Serve the muffins hot with the butter at room temperature.
    7. (If you bake the muffins in advance, reheat them at 300 degrees, covered, in the oven for about 7-10 minutes before serving.)

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Nana’s Challah

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There is something very zen and therapy-like about baking bread. Watching the ingredients bubble, patiently waiting for the dough to rise, the kneading and braiding…. we love it all. We don’t bake very often, but every time we do, it is such an enjoyable experience. For our readers that don’t know, challah is an egg bread. It’s a fluffy and rich dough that is traditionally braided before baking. Overachievers can braid it in a multitude of ways, but an old fashioned three strand braid is a great introduction to making challah. 

Recipes like this are great to have in your back pocket. You can gift a loaf has a hostess gift over the holidays, make stupidly delicious sandwiches with it, and turn it into decadent french toast. We wanted to include it in our Hanukkah menu for anyone who celebrates and needs a go-to recipe, particularly for nights when Hanukkah falls on Shabbat. 

Nana's Challah

  • Servings: 1 extra large loaf or 2 medium loaves
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Nana’s go-to base challah recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 packages of dry yeast
  • 3 cups warm water, divided into ½ cup and 2 cups
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 8 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 tbs coarse salt
  • 5 eggs
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp water
  • Challah toppings (poppy or sesame seeds)

Directions

  1. Combine 1/2 cup of warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Mix together and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Put the flour into your mixing bowl. Make a well into the center of the flour. Pour in the yeast mixture and let stand until the mixture is bubbly. Add 4 eggs, oil, salt and sugar into the bowl. Mix all of the ingredients together with a bread hook. Gradually add the remaining 2 ½ cups of water. Keep an eye on the dough as you add the water. You want the dough to be able to easily knead into a ball. You may not have to add all of the water.
  3. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a floured service until it is smooth and satiny. Let the dough rise for one hour in a greased bowl in a warm place (in a warmed, but off, oven) covered with a towel or cheesecloth.
  4. Knead the dough again on a floured surface for five minutes and let the dough rise again until it is double in size (approximately one hour).
  5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into four even pieces for one large challah or two halves for two medium challahs.
  6. For the large challah: Roll three of the four pieces into long logs – approximately one inch circumference. Braid the dough making sure to tightly pinch each end. Use the fourth piece of dough and divide into three equal pieces. Create a small challah out of the three pieces using the same methodology as the large challah. Place the small challah on top of large challah and pinch the ends of the small challah and large challah together.
  7. For the medium challah: divide each half of the dough into three equal pieces. Roll each piece into long logs – approximately one inch circumference. Braid the dough, making sure to tightly pinch each end. Do this for each half of the dough so that you have two equal sized challahs.
  8. Place the challah(s) on a baking sheet and let rise in a warm area for an hour.
  9. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  10. Combine the last egg and the 1 tsp water in a small bowl and scramble the egg. Once the challah is done with its final rise, brush the egg over the challah. Do this twice so that the challah is double coated in the egg wash. Sprinkle the poppy or sesame seeds on top of the challah.
  11. Bake the challah at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes (35 minutes total). Remove the challah from the oven. You will know the challah is fully cooked if you flip it over and tap on the bottom – it will sound hollow.

Easy Buttermilk Biscuits

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There is nothing better on Thanksgiving than soaking up gravy with fresh, warm biscuits. We love this recipe because it is so simple and quick to put together. They give your house that fresh-baked smell that instantly welcomes guests into your home. You can make these biscuits a few days in advance of Thanksgiving to take some of the load off your plate and can reheat them in the oven Thanksgiving day. They also make great leftovers (stay tuned for a post-Thanksgiving recipe).  

Easy Buttermilk Biscuits 
Makes: 16 biscuits
Prep Time: 10 minutes         Total Time:  25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 egg, scrambled
  • 1 and 1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:  

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and lemon juice in a bowl.
  3. Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the dry ingredients. This helps to evenly breakup the butter into the dough and is most easily done if the butter is cold. If you don’t have a cheese grater, you can cut the butter into small, pea sized squares.
  4. Add the milk and egg to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine the dough. You want to try to keep the butter in small pieces so don’t go overkill on mixing the dough. Just mix it until combined.
  5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter or, if you don’t have one, use a drinking glass. 
  6. Place the biscuits on a sprayed baking sheet or silpat cooking sheet and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. The biscuits will be flaky, warm and ready to serve immediately. If you are reheating for Thanksgiving dinner, brush with a little bit of melted butter. Reheat at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. 

Homemade Pretzel Bites

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Tate’s dad loves a good football Sunday, and as a result, a number of amazing game day appetizers have been created over the years in the spirit of feeding the inhabitants of the man cave. He is famous for his homemade pretzels, but the epitome of the Tuck & Tate dream team came when we mixed his homemade pretzels with our kale and artichoke dip. This, people, is what appetizer dreams are made of. 

This pretzel recipe originally came from Pinch of Yum– a food blog that we have obsessed over for a few years now. We tweaked her recipe to fit our football needs and present you with this crossover version below. 

Homemade Pretzels
Makes: 24 pretzel bites 
Prep Time: 20 minutes   Inactive Time: 60 Minutes   Total Time: 95 minutes 

Ingredients:

  • 1 package quick rising yeast
  • 3 tbs brown sugar 
  • 1 cup whole milk (warmed)
  • 2 tbs melted butter
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • 4 cups warm water 
  • 1 egg, whisked in a small bowl 
  • Everything Bagel seasoning 
  • Kale and Artichoke Dip (or your favorite dip to bake in the center) 

Directions:  

  1. Put the warm milk, sugar, and yeast in a standing mixer bowl. Let the mixture set for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble. 
  2. Add the melted butter, salt, and flour to the yeast mixture. Use a dough hook to blend the mix until a dough forms. Most of the dough should be balled together- this will take approximately 3 minutes on low speed.  
  3. Sprinkle extra flour onto a flat countertop. Remove the dough from the mixer and knead with your hands a few times- until it is a ball. Clean the original mixing bowl, grease it with cooking spray, and put the dough into the clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60 minutes. 
  4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 
  5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place on a floured surface. Divide the dough into 24 balls (we divide the dough in half, divide each half into 3, and each 3 into 4 to get this without our brains exploding). 
  6. Combine the baking soda and 4 cups warm water. Dunk each of the pretzel balls into the baking soda/water mixture and place in a ring in a cast iron skillet. You will have too many pretzels for the skillet; any extra can be placed on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 
  7. Brush the pretzels with the whisked egg and top with everything bagel seasoning. (Carefully) pour your dip of choice into the center of the pretzel ring and bake for 12-13 minutes. Let the pan sit for a few minutes after it has finished cooking before serving.