CHALLAH BREAD

One of my favorite bread to eat is Challah Bread!!  It is almost too pretty to eat.  Emphasis on Almost!!  This BIRTHDAY month is getting better and better!!

The history of Challah bread is very rich just like it’s taste.   It is known as a special bread for the Jewish community even though now it’s so popular that you can find this bread in any bakery or grocery store.  It can be shaped into braids or circular shape.  The braids can be made into three, five and seven braids.  It can even be made into 12 braids.  Now, if you’ve tasted Brioche, you might say that it tastes just like Challah.  But the main difference is Challah is kosher so it is made with oil.  Brioche is made with butter so it is not considered kosher.

A lot of the ingredients that we use have websites that has great recipes to try.  This particular recipe is a recipe that I found from King Arthur Flour.   If you look at the website, it has recipes, products, videos and it even has a baking school.  How awesome is that!!

There are a few Challah recipe in the website.  There is one with honey and one with sugar as the sweetener.  I chose the one with honey.  This recipe is really simple, however, it does take some time to make because it needs 2 rising times. First, combine all the ingredients in your stand mixer bowl with the hook attachment until it becomes a smooth dough.

Lightly grease a large bowl, then shape the dough into a ball and put the dough into the bowl.  Put a plastic wrap on top cover it.   Leave it in the bowl and let it rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  This will be the first rise.

After the first rise is done, the dough should be risen but not necessarily doubled in size.  I always get excited when I see dough rise!!

With dough recipes, the next instruction is usually to punch down the dough to deflate.  For this one,  you don’t need to punch it, you just need to gently press it down and deflate it.  Put it on a lightly greased surface.

Once you flatten it into a disk, divide it into 3 and roll it out to the same length. Braiding the dough is really like braiding hair.  Now, Challah bread can make into 3 strands, 4 strands, or the traditional way of 6 strands.  I like the 3 strands look.  If you want to make the 6 strands look, you can check out this video at the King Arthur Flour‘s website.

When you are done braiding, transfer the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Look at how pretty!!  Don’t forget to pinch the ends and then folding it down.  This stage is the second rise.

Put a plastic wrap that is lightly greased with oil, so that when it rises, the dough won’t stick to the plastic wrap.  This second rise needs about another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Near the end of the rising, you can preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and brush the top with egg wash.

Before putting the baking sheet into the oven, you want to put another baking sheet under it.  This will prevent the bottom from browning too much.

The total bake time for this Challah Bread is 30 minutes.  At the 20 minutes mark, the bread is usually brown on top because of the egg wash.   You want to make a tent made out of aluminum foil so the top won’t brown even more.

Restrain yourself from eating it right after taking it out of the oven!!  ?  This bread is so delicious with a swipe of butter.   Or, you slice it, toast it and slather a delicious layer of jam or peanut butter or both.  Or you can also make this into trench toast.  Or you can also turn this into bread pudding.  So many ideas!!!

Happy Baking!!!