(Pastry Fairy’s) Honey Challah

This is a wonderful basic challah recipe. It is moist, tender, and fairly easy to make; the dough is rather stiff because the liquid to flour ratio is low, so kneading requires a bit of muscle effort. The recipe is from A Blessing of Bread, an absolutely delightful book about Jewish ethnic breads.

For one large or two small loaves

• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup warm (wrist-temperature) water
• 1/3 cup honey (or sugar, but it won’t have quite the same flavor)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, plus an extra egg for glazing

Mix yeast, water, 1/4 cup of the flour in a large bowl. Let this slurry rest for ten to twenty minutes. Stir in the honey, oil, eggs, and salt; then stir in 3 cups of the flour. You should have 1/2 cup flour remaining. Use this flour to knead the dough with. It will take about 5 minutes of kneading. Set in a bowl and spray the top with nonstick spray. Let rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume. You can speed up the rising process by putting the bowl in the oven, as long as it is TURNED OFF. This is a bit dangerous though because someone might wander in and turn the oven on, which means disaster.

Punch down the dough. This means taking your fist and punching the hell out of it. It’s fun and satisfying. Imagine the dough is that guy from your Chem 1A class who always breaks the curve.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into braids, loaves, rounds, or whatever shapes you like. I like a five or six strand braid myself. Put on a greased cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or so. Again, you can speed it up by putting it in the oven.

Beat the extra egg with a dribble of water. Brush this egg wash over the loaf or loaves. You can sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top if you want. Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.