Want to make your Friday Shabbat meal even more special? Then it’s time to bake some challah napkin rings.
Speaker and author Sarah Pachter (“Is it Ever Enough?” and “Small Choices, Big Changes”), who resides in Los Angeles with her husband and five children, finds these edible napkin rings really elevate a shabbat meal.
“I didn’t know how to cook when I got married,” Pachter told the Journal. “So if I can make challah napkin rings, anyone — and I mean anyone — can make them!”
When she was growing up, Pachter’s mother was like Martha Stewart. She made yogurt, had an impressive vegetable garden and baked challah.
“Everything was homemade, beautiful and perfection with my mom,” Pachter said. “When we had Shabbos, naturally, she found a recipe and a concept of making challah napkin rings. Everything was placed perfectly [on the table]. It literally looked like it came from a magazine.”
Pachter thought everyone did Shabbos that way. When she went to her friends’ houses, and things weren’t so spectacular, Pachter realized that wasn’t the case.
“My mom is Ashkenazi and my father’s Moroccan, and my mom learned how to cook Moroccan Sephardic food from her mother-in-law,” Pachter said. “That’s a really daunting task, because it’s French Moroccan cuisine. It’s very difficult. She’s a Southern belle who didn’t necessarily grow up with a ton of elaborate dishes. She didn’t just learn it. She nailed it.”
Since her mother was such an incredible chef, a lot of the time she would tell Pachter that something was easy to make, but it was actually rather complicated.
“I assumed that challah napkin rings were the same kind of thing, where it’s just so hard I’m not even going to try,” Pachter said.
When she tried it, however, Pachter realized challah napkin rings are an inexpensive way to make your Shabbat table look beautiful and inviting.
“Part of my essence, and one of my really big values when it comes to Judaism and life in general, is to beautify the mitzvahs,” Pachter said.
There’s a mitzvah in the Torah called hiddur mitzvah. That means beautifying any mitzvah in Judaism, such as keeping Shabbat or keeping kosher, or learning Torah.
“I love serving Hashem in a way that combines physical beauty with spiritual beauty,” Pachter said.
If someone who is not as religious enters a warm and welcoming home on Shabbat, they are more likely to want to be part of the experience.
If someone who is not as religious enters a warm and welcoming home on Shabbat, they are more likely to want to be part of the experience.
“How my family became religious was going to someone’s house for Shabbat for the first time, so I want to pay that forward,” Pachter said.
When you create your Shabbat meals, you want to do it in a way that’s authentic to you, so everyone gets the most out of the experience. This is true whether you are cooking for your family or are opening your home to guests.
Adding a touch of beauty — and an edible one at that — is a simple and delicious way to enhance your Shabbat.
Challah Napkin Rings
“You can use ANY recipe,” Pachter said. “This is my mother’s recipe, doctored up a little bit by my sister. I use this combo version.”
5 ½ cups flour
Almost 4 tsp of yeast (each teaspoon not quite full)
1 ¼ cup of water
½ cup oil
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs (plus 1 egg yolk for the top)
1 ½ tsp salt
Make a little well with the flour on a flat surface and add the yeast, water, oil, sugar, salt, and 3 eggs into the center. Combine everything by mixing/kneading the dough with your hands until you have a soft, smooth dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour; if the dough is dry, add a little more water.
Wrap your paper towel holder with aluminum foil and spray with Pam (or other cooking spray). Create very small thin braids with the dough and then wrap them around the foil-covered tube. Make sure you have one napkin ring for each guest.
Set braids aside to rise in a warm place for 1 to 3 hours. You can cover them with a towel.
Lightly paint with the egg yolk and, if you want, sprinkle with sugar.
Place tubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350°F for approximately 12 minutes, depending on your oven. You may want to keep an eye; you want your challah to be golden brown. And you can tap on your challah rings when they come out of the oven. If they sound hollow, they are ready. 
Remove from the oven and let cool. When you are ready to set the table, roll up the napkin and slip the ring onto it.
