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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Challah if you love carbs!
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 4:53 PM
My mom nicknamed my sister and me her "bread machines" because every time we go home for a visit, she always puts us to work making homemade dinner bread rolls, wheat rolls, raisin bread, challah, or some other bread.
Making bread is a labor of love. You've got to deal with live yeast, kneading dough, resting the dough, waiting for the dough to rise, punching it down, more kneading, forming, more rising, baking, and cooling. And you've got to have a large chunk of time on your hands since the entire process can take hours. Hence, that's what my mom gets my sister and/or me to do it.
Here's my favorite challah recipe. The recipe makes two beautiful loaves and is totally worth the time and effort. Keep one and give one away, or keep both! (The leftovers make great French toast.)
Challah
Yield: 2 loaves.
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 package of Fleischmann's dry yeast
1/2 cup margarine softened
1 cup very warm tap water (120-130 degree)
4 eggs room temperature
1 tsp cold water
Poppy Seeds and/or Sesame Seeds, optional
Add yeast, water, sugar, margarine, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well. Stir in 3 eggs, 1 egg white (reserve 1 yolk), and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 40 to 60 minutes.
Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide remaining half into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3 of the dough. Divide larger piece into 3 equal pieces; roll to 12-inch ropes. Place ropes on greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal. Divide remaining piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll to 10-inch ropes; braid. Place small braid on large braid. Pinch ends firmly to seal and secure to large braid. Repeat with remaining dough to make second loaf. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 40 to 60 minutes.
Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seed, if desired. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until done, switching positions of sheets in oven halfway through baking time. Remove from sheets; let cool on wire racks.
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