- Halacha
- General Questions on Brachot
409
Question
What is the bracha if a bread is made out of ground sprouted wheat and oil but no other ingredients?
Answer
In a regular case where one uses soya, canola or vegetable oil which do not have a very dominant taste, and with the amount necessary for making dough, the taste of the dough is principal and it is classified as proper bread for which the blessing is Hamotzie Lechem Min Ha’aretz. But in a case where one uses a large amount of oil which has a very strong taste such as olive oil, and the taste of the oil is more dominant than the taste of the dough, it is considered snack bread for which the blessing is Bore Minei Mezonot.
Detailed explanation:
The rule is that for bread made of the five types of grain (wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt), the blessing is Hamotzie Lechem Min Ha’aretz (Who brings forth bread from the ground). But if it is Pat Haba’ah B’kisnin (snack bread), its blessing is Bore Minei Mezonot.
There are several interpretations of what snack bread means:
The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 168, 7) writes: As to what is classed as snack bread, there are authorities who explain that it is bread in pouch–like form with the pouches filled with honey or with sugar, nuts, almonds and spice. According to them it is what known as riskulas rialchasu. Other authorities say that it is bread prepared from a dough which was mixed with honey, oil, milk or various spices, etc. and then baked, and the taste of the fruit juice or spice, etc. mixed with the dough must be discernible in the dough for it to have the ruling of snack bread.
(There are authorities who say that such bread is classed as proper bread, unless it contains a great deal of spice or honey, as is the case with the goodies known as cakes where the honey and the spice are almost the principal part of the mixture. The practice is in accordance with this opinion.) (Rashi & Aruch; and this is how one should interpret Maimonides’ opinion as well).
Still other authorities maintain that snack bread is bread, which may be spiced or unspiced, that is made in the form of dry Ke’avim which are chewed and is what are called biscuits.
The halachic ruling follows all three opinions and the laws given for snack bread are applied to all these types of bread.
We see that the Shulchan Aruch says that the halachic ruling follows all three opinions of the interpretation of snack bread. The opinion relevant to our case is the second opinion that it is a dough which was mixed with honey or oil etc. and the taste of the fruit juice (oil) mixed with the dough must be discernible in the dough for it to have the ruling of snack bread. The Rema notes that some authorities say that such bread is classed as proper bread, unless it contains a great deal of spice or honey etc. and the practice is in accordance with this opinion.
The Mishnah Berurah (33) explains that the Rema means by this that so much spice was mixed with it that it resulted in the taste of the spice being more discernible than the taste of the flour. Likewise, in the case of honey, oil or milk , it is required that they should be the greater part and the water the smaller part of the liquid that is mixed with the flour, since where this is the case their taste is very strongly felt, so much so that they provide the principal taste of the mixture in consequence and the taste of the dough is secondary.
Similarly, in the first example given by the Shulchan Aruch of snack bread, i.e. bread prepared by filling pouch-like dough with honey, etc., it is also necessary that there be so much filling that its taste is very strongly felt because of it.
We see from the Mishnah Berurah that in order for the oil to cause the bread to be considered snack bread it is necessary that its taste should be so strong that the taste of the dough will be felt less than the taste of the oil. It seems that in a regular case where one uses soya, canola or vegetable oil which do not have a very dominant taste, and with the amount necessary for making dough, the taste of the dough is principal and it is classed as proper bread for which the blessing is Hamotzie Lechem Min Ha’aretz.

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