Month: June 2015

This recipe will make three small loafs, two medium loafs, or one huge loaf. You can do a full ring with this much dough. If you are baking the same day, then you’ll need to give yourself at least 6 hours to do all this (or two days). That can change depending upon how fast your bread rises in the proofing stage.

You can also mix the dough the night before, and put it directly into the fridge in a sealed container over night. Beware, make sure the container is double the size of the dough, as it might rise a lot. Just pull it out about 4 – 5 hours before you want to eat it.

Recipe

Yeast prep

In a smallish container mix:
1 1/4 cup warmish water
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
(if you have instant yeast, use the same amount as active dry yeast, but put it directly into the dry ingredients instead of these wet ingredients)
1 pinch of saffron

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Let sit until bubbling then mix with wet ingredients.

(if you use instant yeast, no need to wait for it to bubble. Just put the yeast in with the dry ingredients)

Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients:
900 grams bread flour
4 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

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Wet Ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients:
3 full eggs
1 egg white (save the yolk in the fridge for the egg wash just before baking)
1/8 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil

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Prepare the dough

If using active dry yeast, when yeast is bubbly, mix into the wet ingredients, then toss in the wet ingredients and mix. There should be around a quarter inch or so of foam as seen in the terrible picture below :).

If using instant yeast, skip this step and mix directly into wet ingredients

Mix all wet ingredients with dry ingredients, mix, then knead.

Knead till it passes the onion skin test. It should take about 6 or so minutes with a mixer on low, otherwise, do it by hand till your hands fall off 🙂

First Proof

It’s best if you can put the dough into the fridge, covered, over night. This over night slow proof adds a complexity to the flavor of the bread. It’s not necessary, but will dramatically improve things. Truthfully, any bread will do better with a slow refrigerated proof.

That being said, this bread is so tasty, it doesn’t really matter all that much. I mean, how can you go wrong with 5 tbps of sugar and 1/8 cup of honey?

If you need to bake this same day, then proof in covered bowl. Place dough in a large bowl that has been dusted with spray oil, then spray cooking oil over the top to keep it from drying out, and cover bowl with plastic wrap.

When it doubles in size, punch down and proof again. When it doubles in size, it’s time to shape the loafs.

Shaping

Three loafs:
You’ll cut the dough into three equal parts for three loafs. Each part is then cut into three equal parts for a three strand braid. It’s easier to do one loaf at a time to avoid confusion. Roll each of the three parts into long strands, maybe about 12 to 16 inches. Then braid them. Pinch and tuck the ends under the loaf and place on a baking sheet.

Two loafs:
You’ll cut the dough into two equal parts for three loafs. Each part is then cut into three or six equal parts for a three strand braid. If you want to do a six strand braid, you should google how to do it. It’s easier to do one loaf at a time to avoid confusion. Roll each of the three or six parts into long strands, maybe about 12 to 16 inches. Then braid them. Pinch and tuck the ends under the loaf and place on a baking sheet.

One loaf:
I’d suggest you google this. There are a ton of videos out there on how to do large challahs. You can do a full ring of three braids, or a super-sized 8 braided loaf. Or get creative?

Second Proof

Now that the loaves are shaped proof again till the loaves doubles in size.

Then do an egg wash and toss in the oven. An egg wash is just the yoke plus a dash of water. You mix it well, then brush it on the loaf.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 450 with a bread stone low in the oven. Not at the bottom, just lower than center.

Immediately after putting loaves in oven, steam* the oven, and then drop down to 380.

Bake for 15 – 30 minutes until it starts to brown on the top, and isn’t burnt on the bottom. You can use a thermometer to test as well. Just google how to do that, as I don’t know how 🙂

*Steaming the oven helps develop a thicker crust. To steam an oven, put a small cake or other tin on the floor of the oven when preheating. This way, it’s super hot when you go to put the bread in. Take about a 1/8th to a 1/4 cup of boiling water (or just hot from the tap) and toss it into the tin and quickly close the oven door to trap in the steam. Wait about a minute or until the water is steamed off, then toss a tablespoon of water in the side of the oven, closing the door quickly. Tip: don’t throw the water on the light bulb in the oven. It’ll blow! You can stop here or do one more side steam.