Challah is one of my favorite breads and I have always wanted to try making it. I always feared making bread, as it appears to be a complicated process. I fear no more! Thanks to this recipe, I have succeeded in making a challah bread that is eggy with a chewy crust and that is just so delicious.
I will admit that I was anxious every step of the way. When I mixed the dry and wet ingredients together, it did form a ragged dough, but I felt it was a bit too dry and added an additional tablespoon of water and then another, increasing the water volume by 2 tablespoons. I then placed it all in my KitchenAid and let the mixer do all the work. I didn’t find it was very elastic at the 10-minute interval, so I kept mixing the dough for an additional 10 minutes—a total of 20 minutes. I was still hoping for a more elastic dough and ended up kneading it by hand for a couple of minutes more, and that worked for me.
Even though it was a warm day, I decided to try out my “Bread Proof” function on my oven and let the dough rise for 2 hours. I punched down the dough and cut it into 6 portions to make the braid. At first I thought the dough was a bit tough, but once I started shaping the ropes, the dough began to relax more.
Creating the braid was a bit complicated, but I was determined. I watched videos on how to braid it, read the instructions several times, and even unbraided and re-tried the process a total of several times. In the end, it still wasn’t exactly right, and certainly not the prettiest, but close enough.
After letting it rise again in its braided formation, I brushed on the egg white and sprinkled sesame seeds on top and baked the loaf for 35 minutes. It produced a very large loaf! I may make 2 smaller ones next time.
I could barely wait to try it and cut into it while it was a bit warm—just enough for the butter to melt. It was truly delicious, and I am thrilled to have made my first, but not my last, challah! Can’t wait to use it for grilled cheese (or, as my nieces like to call it, Girls Cheese).