I have never been much of a baker, despite being in a serious love affair with carbs.
I LOVE to cook but I like to make up my recipes and change them as I go and I always believed that because of that, baking, due to the preciseness required, and I would always be star crossed lovers.
But then two things happened in my life.
A) Chickens - with chickens came eggs, with eggs came the need to find recipes to use eggs.
We ate our fair share of scrambled eggs and egg salad sandwiches at first but I grew tired of peeling hard boiled eggs, which, believe it or not is MUCH more difficult with fresh eggs. So I had to branch out and reach for more diverse egg recipes which meant secret meetings with my ill-fated love, baking , I defy you, stars!
B) The discovery that bread dough is relatively hard to screw up. Particularly this recipe.
Seriously.
I once let this dough rise for an extra four hours. Ok, I forgot about it and watched a couple movies. I came into the kitchen to find it had almost entirely enveloped my Kitchen Aid mixer, I was sure it was a total loss, but decided (with the advice of my friend and personal pastry chef Mel) there was no harm in punching that puppy down and braiding it anyways and you know what? it produced one of the largest, fluffiest loaves I have EVER made.
So without further ado, here is the recipe which I have adapted/mangled/disrespected which, in return has forgiven me for my faults and accepted me into its warm, braided, slathered in butter, loving arms.
Racheli's Deluxe Challah
adapted from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu
Ingredients:
2.5 cups lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast (2.25 tsp if you are like me and buy yeast in giant bags)
1/2 cup sugar or honey
3 eggs (2 gnomes...)
1 TBS salt
1/2 vegetable oil (plus more for oiling the bowl and baking sheet)
1 cup raisins or cheese, or garlic, or habeneros, or herbs or whatever else you feel like (optional)
8-9 cups unbleached white flour
poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions:
This will yield 2 braided loaves.
Place water in a bowl (make sure it's no warmer than your wrist). Sprinkle in the yeast, and let stand for 5 minutes until it's foamy.
Add sugar/honey, 2 eggs, salt, oil and raisins and beat with a whisk for several minutes (or use the whisk on your mixer, turn it on, stand back and do a hand jive because you can!)
Begin adding flour one cup at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition. When you reach the 7th cup, start slowing the additions, adding 1/4 cup at a time, mixing and kneading it in with your hands. Stop adding flour when the dough is quite firm and no longer feels sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it quite vigorously (like you mean it!) for 5-10 minutes. (or set your mixer on pummel, this just makes my mixer hate me and I usually have to finish by hand anyways) The more kneading the better, but bread dough is very adaptable and will accomodate you.
Oil the bowl and the top of the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with clean tea towel and place in a warm and draft free place to rise until doubled, 1.5 to 2 hours (or sit down for a movie marathon)
Punch down the dough, return to the floured surface and divide in half. Knead each half for about 5 minutes, and then divide into thirds. Roll each third into a long rope, about 1.5 inches in diameter, and form 2 braided loaves.
Oil a baking sheet and place the braids on the sheet, about 4 inches apart. Cover with the tea towel, return them to your spot and allow them to rise for about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350. Beat the 3rd egg, and brush it over your loaves. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, and bake for 35-45 minutes. The breads will give off a hollow sound when thumped the bottom, when they are done. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.
Eat with lots and lots of butter.
