Making Bread Again

Rob's Excellent Bread Machine Challah

Dump the following into a bread machine in this order:

• 3/4 cup milk (can use water if you want it dairy free)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup liquid honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups all purpose flour

Make a little well in the top then add:

• 2 tsp bread machine yeast

If you want the whole thing done in the bread maker, try a basic bread/light crust setting and hit go. If you want to braid it, use the dough setting and keep reading.

While looking for recipes, I found "Chai Time Blog" and an entry called "Tracey's Challah". While I didn't use her recipe (though it looks good), I love the way her loaves look, so I followed her video on making a 6 braid loaf and copied her idea of pressing the sesame seeds on in patches rather than braiding.

So to make a six-braid challah, cut the dough into two three equal lumps, then cut each lump in half, and roll each lump into a rope. Braid as per the video (or any way you want, really) then let rise for another hour. Brush with an egg wash and press sesame seeds on with a fingertip (or sprinkle sesame or poppy seed over the top). Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes:

My six-braid challah