Never satisfied with just any old bread, and never satisfied with just one type of fancy, ethnic breaded bread I figured,"hey - how about challah?" Now in case you have never heard of this incredibly delicious egg bread, just head over to that last link at Wikipedia and read away....Don't worry, I'll wait for you.
After trying numerous variations on a theme, I narrowed it down to one recipe that, after extensive tweaking testing will produce a (in my opinion) perfect loaf, either completely in a bread machine (a handy shape for french toast), or if the time permits, can be braided by hand and baked in the oven for a more traditional loaf.
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:
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