I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and survived the heat! We are melting here in Seattle! It is warmer here than in Alabama, how is that? Anyway, we had a busy weekend with a wedding and miscellaneous house projects so I didn't do much cooking but I did manage to bake a few things. I had never made challah bread before but I always see it in the grocery and it looks so beautiful and yummy so I thought I would give it a go. Mine definitely didnt turn out looking as good as the ones in the store but hopefully after some practice I will get the hang of it. 

What is challah? It is a traditional Jewish bread that is often served at ceremonies or holidays. It is a tad bit sweeter than normal sandwich bread and very light because they are eggs in the dough. Traditionally challah is made with white flour but I made mine with a light wheat flour and it turned out very moist and fluffy. Challah is perfect for a quick snack with fresh preserves and butter but the mac daddy of challah dishes is challah french toast. Mmmmm mmm good. Im hoping to try that out later this week. 

Happy Monday everyone! Enjoy!

Homemade Challah

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks, egg whites reserved for egg wash
• 2 TBSP oil
• 3 TBSP honey
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (not dry active yeast)

In a bowl combine the water, eggs, honey and oil together. Whisk until well mixed. Add in about two cups of bread flour, yeast and salt. Beat together until smooth. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes. You should see little bubbles on the surface indicating the yeast is alive and active. 

Continue to add the flour, half a cup at a time until the dough becomes firm enough to work with your hands. Pour out onto a flast surface and knead for about 8 minutes. You may need more flour, if so, add it 1 heaping TBSP at a time until the dough is workable without sticking to your hands. But make sure you dont add too much flour. I didnt use all 4 1/2 cups.  It is better to be on the sticky side than on the dry side.

Place into a greased bowl and turn dough over to lightly coat all sides. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and all to rise until doubled in size. This took me abut 1 1/2 hours.

After dough has risen place onto a flat surface and cut dough into three equal pieces. It is helpful to use a kitchen scale to make sure each piece is the same weight to ensure an even challah. 

Roll out each piece of dough into a 15 inch rope. Connect the three pieces of dough at one end and start to braid the dough starting from the right side. Once the day has been braided pinch the ends and tuck them under the braid to make clean ends. Place brain on parchment lines cookie sheet.

Take the reserved egg whites and using a wire whisk beat the egg whites until they become foamy. This will take about 5 minutes. Brush the challah till all the dough has some of the egg wash. Set the remaining egg wash aside because you will use it one more time. Cover the braid with plastic wrap and allow to rise till double in bulk. About another hour and a half.

After the dough has risen remove the plastic wrap and whisk the remaining egg wash again and brush the foam on the braid again. Place into a 400F oven for 20 minutes then rotate the bread and turn the heat down to 375F and bake for another 15 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!