A challah with milk bread texture.
This recipe makes 3 small loaves as written, one of which can be finished by us in an evening. You can also create 2 medium loaves for a larger group and/or French toast leftovers.
Once I figure out how much flour I'm adding by weight, I'm intending to try tangzhong with this recipe as well.
| Ingredients |
Step |
¼ c. water
2¼ t. yeast
1 t. sugar |
Proof the yeast by stirring together in bowl of stand mixer. Let sit 10 minutes, until activated and foamy. |
1¼ c. water
1 large egg, room temperature
3 large egg yolks, room temperature (reserve 1 egg white for egg wash)
⅓ c. honey
2 T. oil
2 t. salt |
Add to the proofed yeast and whisk together thoroughly. |
| 4½-6 c. flour |
Add flour by half-cupfuls, mixing by hand and then kneading together by hand or by machine. Stop adding flour when the dough is soft like a marshmallow, sticky like a Post-It note, and has more structure than a batter. It's better to err on the side of a softer dough rather than harder, since the gluten will have time to develop and we'll have a chance to add more flour while working the braids. |
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Boil a saucepan or kettle of water, of no particular volume. |
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Grease a bowl with oil. Drop the dough in, then flip it so that all surfaces are greased. |
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Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place dough in turned-off oven. Place boiled water beneath the dough bowl. |
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Let dough rise in warm, moist oven until doubled (roughly 1 hour). |
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Punch down the dough. Let it rise again in the oven until doubled (roughly 1 hour). Retain the warm, moist environment for the braid to rise! |
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Lightly flour a surface. Remove the dough from its bowl. Divide the dough into 3 even parts. Grease two freezer bags and store one dough part in each, then freeze the two bags for another day. |
| ½ c. raisins or chocolate chips (optional) |
Knead the third of the dough you're baking today by hand for a few minutes, possibly kneading in ½ c. of mix-ins. |
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Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment. |
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Create strands. Flour the outside of the strands. Braid challah on cookie sheet:
For a tall six-stranded braid:
- Far right, move over two
- Second from the left, move over all
- Far left, move over two
- Second from the right, move over all |
1 egg white or egg
1 T. water
½ t. salt |
Beat until smooth. Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer to the braid. Reserve the leftover egg wash! |
| poppy seeds (optional) |
Sprinkle on top, if using. Then cover braid with greased plastic wrap. (If the braids are well-floured, a cloth might be sufficient.) |
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Let braid rise (in the warm, moist oven if available, otherwise on the countertop), until the bread keeps an indent when you poke it rather than popping back (30-45 minutes). |
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At around 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. |
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Once the bread keeps an indent when you poke it, bake challah for 12 minutes, apply another layer of egg wash, return the challah to the oven with the opposite side to the back to encourage even browning, and then bake for another 10 minutes. For bigger braids, increase the time. The target internal temperature is 190 degrees. |
To work from frozen dough, move the dough from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before you want to bake. The next morning, it should be thawed. Continue the recipe from the point of turning out the dough onto the floured surface and braiding it. Fry the egg wash for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
Source: Tori Avey; six-strand braid instructions from Lindsey in the Smitten Kitchen comments