Challah back, y'all - Challah bread - Daring Bakers Challenge

Honey white challah in a rather sad looking 6-strand braid
and a whole wheat version with sesame seeds and a much easier 3-strand braid!

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from "A Taste of Challah," by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

Very rich tasting and easy to make!

The great recipes can be found here.

Until recently, I have not been much of a bread maker. I remember my mom baking bread a lot when I was a kid... and really, is there a better smell than baking bread or a better taste than fresh, warm bread and butter with jam??? I don't think so.

So this Challah challenge was quite exciting to take part in. The recipes that I followed (whole wheat and honey white) were easy and straight forward. I was a bit too ambitious with my braiding though - a 6-strand braid was waaay to complicated for me. I should have started with the regular 3-strand version! Regardless, the bread was fantastic. My favorite is the honey white! It has a rich taste and I found that one slice was very filling.


I froze a couple of loaves for future bread puddings, croutons, bread crumbs, french toast ideas. I will definitely be making this bread again!


Here is the honey white recipe.

(from Tammy’s Recipes)

Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water, separated

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) (15 gm/½ oz sugar

2 Tbsp. (2-2/3 packets) (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) dry active yeast

½ cup (120 ml) honey

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) oil (light colored vegetable oil, or olive oil if you prefer)

4 large eggs

1 ½ tsp. 7½ ml) (9 gm) (1/3 oz) salt

5 cups (1200 ml) (700 gm/25 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus more as needed (up to 8 or 9 cups total)

1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

What to do

• In mixer bowl/large mixing bowl combine ½ cup warm water, 1 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. yeast. Allow to proof approximately 5 minutes until foamy.
• To the yeast mixture add the remaining water, honey, oil, eggs, salt and 5 cups of flour. Knead (by hand or with your mixer’s dough hook) until smooth, adding flour as needed. Knead for approximately 10 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a clean, oiled bowl, turn to coat or add a bit more oil on top. Cover bowl with a kitchen/tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
• Punch down the dough, divide it into two sections. Use one half to make each loaf (shaped or braided as desired).
• Place loaves on parchment lined or greased baking sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Brush tops loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with seeds or toppings here if wanted.)
• Bake loaves 30-40 minutes until done.
• Cool on wire racks.