Challah Bread

OH this is a good one.

I’m really struggling to make a good basic white loaf. And it’s really, really annoying me. But brioche-like breads have always been my friend so I went back to that so I could stop wasting flour.

I’ve been eyeing up these golden braided Challah loaves for a while now, and now is as good a time as any to get experimenting in the kitchen. Now, people get fancy with it and you can plait more than 3 strands, but I got confused just plaiting three, and I couldn’t follow the video for 6 strands. So three it is!

BONUS – it’s amazing as French toast:

(for the French toast, beat 2 eggs, 100ml semi skimmed milk, 1/2 tsp cinammon and 1 tbsp vanilla sugar. Soak 4 slices of challa bread in this mixture for 2 minutes each side. Heat 2 tbsp butter in a large pan and fry the bread for a few minutes each side. Serve with your faves - fruit, bacon, yogurt..)

Two recipes for the price of one!

Ingredients

• 480g plain flour
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 75g vegetable oil
• 60g honey
• 2 large eggs (with one more egg, beaten, for the glaze)

Method

Add the flour, salt, and half of the yeast into a large bowl. Mix and make a well in the middle.

Pour in the water, the remaining yeast and the 1 tsp sugar in the well and allow to sit for a minute or two.

Add in the oil, honey and eggs and mix well until just combined.

Kneed that bad boy for a few minutes. The dough should be stretchy and silky.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 90-120 minutes.

Deflate the dough carefully. Divide into three strands and roll out to about 50cm long.

Plait the loaf on greaseproof paper (easier to lift) – there are plenty of videos online, you don’t want to follow mine because I kept getting it wrong at the start.

Place the loaf on a baking tray, lightly cover with cling film and allow to rise again for 90 minutes until nice and puffy.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and glaze the risen loaf with the beaten egg.

Bake on a low shelf in the oven for 30 minutes until beautiful and golden. Check after 20 minutes and if it’s getting too brown, tent it with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Remove and let cool. Then slice and enjoy!