My sister taught me to make challah bread a few years ago. And my family loved it! And I love that.
But, if I was going to be making it all the time, I needed to find a way to add some nutritional value. The original recipe calls for white flour and sugar.
Here’s what I found. You can replace up to half of the white flour and it’s still a crowd pleaser. Did I try more than that? I sure did. I thought it was still delicious, but it was too much for my people.
Ingredients
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm water (110 to 115 F)
- 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 cup oil (avocado or grapeseed oil works great)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 cups oat flour
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- Sesame seeds
Directions
- Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of warm water with 1 teaspoon of honey.
- n the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the remaining 1/12 cups warm water, ¼ cup honey, oil, salt and the yeast mixture. Add 3 of the eggs and blend well.
- Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, using the flat paddle to blend after each addition. When the dough starts to thicken (around 5 cups), you can switch to the hook attachment or knead by hand. You want a smooth and elastic dough, so you may need a touch more or a touch less flour.
- Place the dough in a bowl and oil the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 1 ½ hours. Plenty of time to workout, read a book, play a game . . . you can relax for a bit.
- Punch down the dough, turn it over and let it rise for 30 more minutes.
- Now you’re ready to shape the dough. Shape into a long braided loaf or into rounds.
- Let rise one more time for about 20-30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Brush the loaf (or loaves) with egg wash (1 egg, 1 tbsp water and honey if you like. My daughter likes the extra sweetness on top). Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Notes
This recipe makes about 9 mini loafs, 3-4 smaller loafs or one very large loaf. For my family I like to make the minis or the smaller loaves. It freezes very well.
This recipe adapted from The Gourmet Jewish Cook by Judy Zeidler.
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