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Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah is now one of my absolute favorite Gluten Free Challah recipes, designed specifically for Rosh Hashanah using special “simanim” or symbolic Holiday fruits. Inside are sweet chopped dates, figs, golden raisins and dried pomegranate seeds. It’s like having Rosh Hashanah in a Challah!!!

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah

Name: Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups certified gluten free oat milk, baby bottle warm; 2 tablespoons active dry yeast; 4.5 cups (575g) certified gluten free oat flour; 1/2 cup (70g) tapioca flour; 1 1/3 cups (225g) potato starch; 1 tablespoon xanthan gum; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1/2 cup canola oil; 1 cup fresh plain seltzer; 3 ounces dried dates, chopped (around 1/2 cup); 3 ounces dried figs, chopped (around 1/2 cup); 3 ounces golden raisins (around 1/2 cup); 1 ounce dried pomegranate seeds (around 1/4 cup); Propellant free nonstick vegetable spray

Some of the most popular recipes on Kosher Everyday are my Gluten Free Challah recipes. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time developing gluten free challah recipes that meet the stringent standards that people are looking for in a great gluten free challah. Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah is the latest (and greatest!) gluten free challah recipe that meets and exceeds those expectations!!!

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah. I use some cool challah molds for these and they hold lots of sweet honey in the grooves on top!

Why Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah

I’ve been thinking about the Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah recipe for a long time. I wanted to develop a gluten free challah recipe that would be extra special for Rosh Hashanah, and year round. I started collecting ingredients and even picked up some new ones when I went to the Fancy Food Show in NY in June. It was very important to have the challah bursting with traditional Rosh Hashanah fruits like dates, figs, pomegranate seeds and golden raisins.

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah is bursting with Rosh Hashanah fruits!

Which Challah Recipe to use…

By now you know that I have many gluten free Challah recipes. I love them all, have updated many of them over the years, and have added ingredients for variety.

Cinnamon Roll Gluten Free Oat Challah. It feels like Rosh Hashanah!

It was a little difficult to decide which recipe to use as the base of the new Simanim Fruited Gluten Free Challah, but ultimately I decided to go with the Gluten Free Water Challah recipe. It’s super light and delicious, and adding the simanim fruits would only enhance the challah and the challah itself wouldn’t take away from the fruit.

Gluten Free Water Challahs!!!

But you can use any of my Gluten Free Challah recipes!

The truth is that this recipe would be great with any of my Gluten Free Challah Recipes. I would halve the Honey Oat Challah recipe or double the amount of fruit. It would also be fabulous for Rosh Hashanah.

I make a lot of small Gluten Free Challahs and freeze them. It’s important to warm them after freezing before you eat them. Then they are exceptional!!!

What are the important criteria for determining what is an excellent Gluten Free Challah

People are constantly asking for great Gluten Free Challah recipes. While everyone’s opinions are different (of course!) there are a few details that are considered important.

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah – Criteria #1 They have to taste great!!!

You can wash, say a hamotzi blessing and say the birkat hamazon after eating the Gluten Free Challah

Since people generally are eating challah for Shabbat meals, it’s important to be able to participate in all ritual aspects of the Shabbat meal such as washing for hamotzi, saying the hamotzi blessing, and being able to say birkat hamazon after the meal.While I am not a Rabbi and have no intention of ever becoming a Rabbi do not take my word as biblical finality. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consult with your own Rabbi to determine how these halachot apply to your circumstances.With that being said, in my experience the general consensus is that there needs to be at least 51% oats in the challah dough in order to be considered as “meal” worthy. In other words if you choose to, you can wash, say hamotzi and bench on this Gluten Free Challah.It’s a big deal.

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah – You can wash, say hamotzi and bench on these babies!!!

You can braid the Gluten Free Challah dough!!!

One of the best things about the Kosher Everyday Gluten Free Challah recipes is that you can braid them all!!! It’s true.While you do have to be gentler with the dough than you would with glutenous challah dough, you can braid this challah. It’s best to have a large bread board or silicone mat to braid on, and I strongly recommend wearing vinyl disposable gloves.

Nothing sticks to these guys.

Yes folks, vinyl disposable gloves are my secret Gluten Free Challah making weapon. Nothing sticks to them, and it makes forming the challahs so much easier.

Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah – YES you can braid these challahs! Just be gentle.

You can also use Challah Molds as well

If you really don’t want to braid your challah, you can use a challah mold. I have a bunch of them on my Gluten Free Challah Amazon Influencer Storefront. I think I got my rose molds in Israel, but these by Silikomart are pretty similar.

Silikomart Rose Bread Molds

I also used the Silikomart Mini Girotondo Silicone Molds. Those are the ones with the spiral on top. I think they’re super cool because you can spiral your honey in the grooves on top!

Silikomart Mini Girotondo Molds – love these! They also have a big one for that impressive single round Gluten Free Challah!

You don’t have to egg this Gluten Free Challah

Since I chose to use the Gluten Free Water Challah as a base, you don’t use eggs! I spray the tops of the braided ones with a little bit of non-stick spray before baking so they brown well. If you’re not egg-phobic, you can also egg the tops of the challahs if you like. I wouldn’t recommend putting any additional spices on top except maybe Honey Powder – which I think might bee cool. 😆

You can use a mold or make the traditional Rosh Hashanah spiral challah. I sprayed the top with nonstick spray to help it brown.

Here’s the recipe for Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah

I based this recipe on my Gluten Free Water Challah. Feel free to use one of my other Gluten Free Challah recipes if you like. Just remember, if you’re making the Honey Oat Challah recipe, double the fruit or halve the challah recipe.

About all that fruit

There’s a lot of wonderful fruit in the Fruited Simanim Gluten Free Challah. I’ll put links to the ingredients following the recipe, but if you don’t/can’t/want to have all the fruits in the challah feel free to use only one or two (I strongly recommend the golden raisins!), or leave them out completely. Totally up to you.