Challah - A New Recipe

Ever since college I had my used my tried and true challah recipe that had served me well - it produced a nicely flavored dough with a medium crumb that I enjoyed very much. It happened this year that I committed to making challah for a Rosh Hashanah dinner, but wasn't sure that I would have time to bake it that day. In anticipating this conundrum, I came across a recipe for Stress-Free Challah, which intrigued me. Like the popular recipes for no-knead dough, this recipe involved mixing together a wet dough, letting it rise for 2 hours, then shaping and baking with no proofing required. It turned out that I would have time to make my usual recipe for the dinner, but the recipe lingered in my bookmarks list, especially since it had the potential for being so much easier. Finally, months later, I decided to make a test batch for some friends coming over for shabbat dinner. As it happened, by this time I had come across a recipe for no-knead challah on the King Arthur flour website that was slightly different, and I was conflicted about which to try. Fortunately, Couldn't Be Parve had already encountered this recipe herself and based on her comments, I decided to go with her recipe. I decided to mix the dough and let it rise on Thursday night and then set it in the refrigerator overnight until I was ready to bake it on Friday. Everything went smoothly, and I found the whole process indeed much less stressful than some of my prior challah baking experiences. The challah came out looking beautiful - with certainly less of a crumb than my usual recipe, but more of the rich egg-y texture that people enjoy. Being that it sat in the refrigerator overnight, it did have a bit of a fermented flavor, but I don't feel that that detracted in any way from its flavor.

The following week I made the challah for a large shabbat dinner, this time going through all of the steps of the recipe on Friday. Again, I ended up with beautiful challot. While I might still stick with my first recipe for some special occasions, I think this will be my new go-to challah recipe.

Challah

I had come across this recipe for challah several years ago when making a dinner with friends, and it's been my signature recipe ever since. After buying my first Kitchen Aid mixer (off Craig's List - it's a styling avocado green color), I was excited to have some friends over for dinner and make the challah.

Challah

Ingredients

2 ½ cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
½ cup honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.

Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.