Classic Challah Bread

Challah Bread is soft, slightly sweet and just perfect for your breakfast, A real stunner!!

New year started with a lot of new dreams and there are goals set to be achieved. I’m all geared up for my goals. Among many perfection in bread baking is one of them. I want my morning breads to be completely homemade and I’ve started working on that, earlier which was a distant dream is now turning into reality, yayyy I’m happy.

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts. – James Beard”

So today I planned to bake Challah bread, and I must say it was so good.

Challah bread is basically an egg bread and slightly on a sweeter side. It’s slightly spongy and a little crusty and so good when eaten fresh with a little butter smeared on. This bread is pretty good for sandwiches, great for French toasts. This can be a good option for entertaining and you will be surprised by the lovely compliments you will be receiving as this is one pretty bread to serve. Though it may look complicated but the dough here is easy to work with, which is enriched with eggs, oil and sugar for that
hint of sweetness. And use good quality yeast for best results. The best part is when baked the braids look so beautiful.

Challah is special Jewish bread typically eaten on occasions as Sabbath or other major Jewish holidays. Jews follow a tradition of setting aside a small portion of dough for offering. During Middle Ages term Challah was given to a bread in South Germany which was then a traditional Sunday loaf in various shapes and designs. Challah comes in many forms you bake a braided loaf, or shape it into a roll but whatever shape you bake this bread is just so beautiful, soft, slightly chewy, slight
crusty but absolutely divine.

The best part about this beauty is the way it is braided, people use three, four, six or even nine strands for braiding. Since this was my first time baking this bread, I wanted to keep it simple with three strand braid but went ahead and made the braid using six stands. Initially it looked a bit complex but as you start braiding it is really simple and you tend to move with the flow. The result is in front of you. Braiding six strand involves a little technique here where you need to work on one stand at a time to make things easy and pinch both the ends of the bread to seal the edges and give a good shape.. And don’t worry if the braid does not turn out that perfect, mine wasn’t but all it matters is the baked bread which is so good.

And nothing can beat a freshly baked with your favorite preserve and butter on.

The dough is sufficient to give you two small loaves but I made a bigger one. And if you don’t want to use all dough at once feel free to freeze the dough wrapped in cling wrap. Just thaw the dough before you plan to bake, allow to rise again then shape the loaf, bake and enjoy. And again very important step at any stage give sufficient time for bread to rise. Do not rush and just remember patience is the key to anything good in life.

If you want a freshly baked bread for breakfast simply refrigerate the dough after first rise doing this will slow down the process of second rise. The next morning bring it to room temperature shape the bread and let it rise for 1 hour before baking.

Signing off now with recipe below.

Classic Challah Bread

Ingredients

· 1 ¼ cup warm milk

· 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast

· 5 cups all purpose flour

· 2 eggs

· 1 egg yolk

· ¼ cup olive oil

· 2 tsp salt

· ¼ cup sugar

· 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Instructions

· In a medium bowl add warm milk warmed at 110 F, add 1 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle yeast over. Set aside for 5 minutes till it becomes foamy.

· In a bowl of stand mixer, add the flour, salt, sugar and mix well to combine. Now make a well in the centre add the slightly beaten eggs, oil and start mixing using the dough hook. Add the proofed yeast and keep mixing until on medium speed till the dough begins to hold together. Lower the speed and keep kneading for 6 – 8 minutes till you get a smooth dough.

· Transfer the dough onto a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep it in a warm place to rise for 1 ½ -2 hours. Since it is very cold here I kept my dough in a warm oven which was preheated at 170 F and turned off.

· Now punch the dough after first rise, cover and put it back in warm place to rise again for 30 minutes. At this point you can refrigerate the dough to bake the next morning.

· To make a 6 braided Challah bread divide the dough after second rise into six equal portions. With your hands start rolling the balls into 1 ½ inch wide and 16 inch long strand. Place all the six strands in a row parallel to each other. Pinch the top of all 6 strands together. Spread out all the strands. Start from the strand from far right side, pull it over the two strands under the third
and then over the last two strands. Repeat using the strand from the far left and pull it over the two strands under the third and then over last two strands. Continue to braid till the entire loaf is used up and pinch the ends together to seal, tuck both the ends of the loaf under.

· Place the braided loaf on a greased cookie sheet. Give an egg wash, cover loosely and let it rise in a warm place for another hour.

· Preheat the oven for 375 F. After the dough has properly risen, brush with egg and sprinkle sesame seeds all over. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes.

· Transfer to baking rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Notes : You can freeze the braided loaf covered in plastic wrap. If you want to bake allow to defrost and come to room temperature, brush some egg and sprinkle sesame seeds before baking.

Xo,