One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2016: More homemade bread! Everything else has been forgotten already – doing more sports, loose weight, less chocolate, look for a new job (haha – well not that one)… well the first one at least has been accomplished by making a delicious Challah.
There is nothing better than a fresh baked bread coming out of your oven at home! The kitchen smells awesome when baking bread! It’s hard not to bite into the bread right away when it is coming out of the oven (don’t do it – too hot!) ;)) Let it cool down a bit and then eat a slice with butter only (maybe some salt sprinkled on top)…. mmmmmmmh! :)
Challah or Challa or Barches is a yeast bread often made for Schabbat and other jewish holidays. It is pretty similar to the sweet braided loaves we have here in Germany (and are pretty common everywhere else), but not as sweet – it works well with savory dishes as a side or eaten with cold cuts for example. I like it with Serrano ham. Nomnom :)
I sometimes have difficulties with “regular” breads – it’s a shame, but I managed to totally mess up a fool-proof no-knead-bread one time ;) Braided loves with yeast always work fine for me – dunno what I do wrong with the other breads ;) So this recipe should work fine for everybody. If you don’t have sesame seeds, you can replace them with other seeds or sprinkle with some coarse salt if you like.
Enjoy baking! Oh and plan ahead – the dough needs a lot of time to rise ;)
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast
2 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup (85g) honey
1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (185ml) water
seeds for sprinkling (sesame, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.)
1 1/2 TL Trockenhefe
2 TL Salz
3 Eier (L)
85g Honig
80ml Olivenöl
185ml Wasser
Samen zum Bestreuen (Sesam, Mohn, Kürbiskerne usw.)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. Loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl (with a spatula) – grab the dough one one side, lift and fold to the center. Do the same three more times like you would fold a piece of paper on all four sides. Flip the whole piece of dough so the folds are on the bottom and cover again with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the process four more times so you have a total of five rounds of folding, flipping and resting. I placed a raisin for each round next to the bowl to keep track ;) At the beginning the dough will be quite a (sticky) bitch, but by the end of the rounds the dough should be nice and elastic. Cover again with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 16-20 hours.
3. Prepare a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Take the dough out of the bowl and cut into 6 equal pieces. Form into 6 rolls with a length of 12 inch (30cm) each. Braid two loaves and place on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2-3 hours – the should have puffed up to a nice size. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175°C). Brush the loaves, brush with the egg white you kept in the fridge and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool down completely on a wire rack.
2. Den Teig etwas vom Schüsselrand lösen (z.B. mit einem Spatel) und an einer Seite etwas nach Oben ziehen und dann zur Mitte falten – auf drei weiteren Seiten ebenso verfahren – am Ende sieht es so aus, als ob man ein Blatt von allen Seiten zur Mitte gefaltet hätte. Das Ganze jetzt aus der Schüssel nehmen und mit den gefalteten Seiten nach unten wieder zurücklegen. Der Spatel hilft hier wirklich, wenn der Teig noch klebrig ist. Wieder mit Klarsichtfolie abdecken und für 30 Minuten ruhen lassen. Das war die erste Runde – nach den 30 Minuten wird der komplette Prozess noch 4 mal wiederholt, sodass man am Ende 5 Runden mit “ziehen, falten, umdrehen und 30 Minuten ruhen” hat. Am Besten notiert man sich die Runden irgendwo – ich hab für jede Runde eine Rosine neben die Schüssel gelegt ;) Zu Anfang wird der Teig noch ziemlich zicken, weil er überall kleben bleibt – das wird besser, bis man am Ende dann einen schönen elastischen Teig hat. Noch einmal gut mit Klarsichtfolie einpacken und dann für 16-20 Stunden in den Kühlschrank stellen.
3. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen. Den Teig aus der Schüssel nehmen und in 6 gleiche Stücke teilen. Jedes Teigstück zu einer Rolle von etwa 30cm (12 inch) formen und daraus dann zwei Zöpfe formen. Auf das Backblech legen und mit Klarsichtfolie abgedeckt noch einmal 2-3 Stunden gehen lassen, bis sie gut an Größe gewonnen haben. Den Ofen auf 175°C (350°F) vorheizen. Die Zöpfe mit dem zurückgehaltenen Eiweiß bestreichen und mit Samen bestreuen. Im Backofen für 20-25 Minuten backen – mit einem Zahnstocher testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und erst herausnehmen, wenn der Zahnstocher sauber herauskommt. Auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Challah Bread
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 1200
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500g) bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast
- 2 tsp. salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (85g) honey
- 1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
- 3/4 cup (185ml) water
- seeds for sprinkling (sesame, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.)
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix flour, yeast and salt until well combined. Add two of the eggs and one egg yolk (keep the egg white in an airtight container in the fridge for later), honey, oil and water and mix with a spatular or your food processor until a dough forms – it will be quite sticky, but that is fine. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl (with a spatula) – grab the dough one one side, lift and fold to the center. Do the same three more times like you would fold a piece of paper on all four sides. Flip the whole piece of dough so the folds are on the bottom and cover again with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the process four more times so you have a total of five rounds of folding, flipping and resting. I placed a raisin for each round next to the bowl to keep track ;) At the beginning the dough will be quite a (sticky) bitch, but by the end of the rounds the dough should be nice and elastic. Cover again with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 16-20 hours.
- Prepare a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Take the dough out of the bowl and cut into 6 equal pieces. Form into 6 rolls with a length of 12 inch (30cm) each. Braid two loaves and place on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2-3 hours – the should have puffed up to a nice size. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175°C). Brush the loaves, brush with the egg white you kept in the fridge and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool down completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Enjoy baking!
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
