As the secular year ends and New Year’s looms, it is traditional to make resolutions for the coming year. One resolution that will add meaning in 2026 is learning how to bake challah (or making it more often) for Shabbat and holidays. This recipe for “challah in a bag,” developed specifically for a Hadassah workshop, reduces muss and fuss by mixing and kneading the dough in a plastic bag. The technique makes it even easier to accomplish this delicious mitzvah. 52 Shabbat Dinners cookbook author Faith Kramer demonstrating how to make “Challah-in-a-Bag” to the Hadassah Marin Chapter. Photo courtesy of the author. Hadassah Marin Chapter members making “Challah-in-a-Bag.” Photo courtesy of author Faith Kramer.

The recipe, adapted from one in my 52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen cookbook, was first used at a challah-making event for the Marin (California) Chapter of Hadassah. Almost 40 Hadassah members and friends mixed and kneaded challah in one-gallon plastic bags and then shaped the dough into foil pans, which they brought home to bake.

Veteran challah makers helped novices. For some, it was the first time they had ever made and braided this familiar Shabbat bread. For others, making challah was like a visit with an old friend, comfortable and comforting but with a new twist.

Below is my recipe for Challah in a Bag. (I also give directions on how to traditionally mix and knead the bread in the........

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