Delicious Egg Challah
I made up this recipe years ago when I was first experimenting with challah recipes, and kept tweaking it until I was happy with both its taste and its texture. For those who are looking for a genuine, easy-to-work-with, home style egg challah, this is the recipe of choice…
Yield: 4 large loaves or about 20-25 small individual sized rolls Remember, that if you have a small family or don’t want to use so much challah at once, you can either opt to halve this recipe, or follow the freezing tips and advice on page 42 of the book, Step Seven out of ‘Seven Steps to Amazing Challahs’.
Ingredients
2 ounces/ 50 gram cube of fresh yeast 3-4 cups very warm water, divided ¾ cup canola oil ¾ cup sugar, divided 1 & ½ T. salt 5 eggs 16 cups freshly sifted flour (2.3 kilos of flour) 1 more egg for glazing later on seeds for sprinkling the tops of the challah with, optional
Method
Sift your flour and set it aside. In a small bowl, add 2 cups of warm water, the yeast, and ¼ cup of the sugar. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it to activate for about 8 minutes.
In the mixing bowl add: the oil the salt rest of the sugar rest of the water the 5 eggs 8 cups of flour Start to mix it so it becomes a thick mixture.
Check your yeast to make sure it activated properly. If so, pour it into your mixture and continue to knead. It should now turn into a sticky dough.
Keep adding in the rest of the flour in increments until it is all kneaded in. If the dough is too firm, add bits more oil and water until it is smooth, pliable and non-sticky.
Turn the dough out onto an oiled surface and knead for a few minutes by hand to ensure that all the pieces from the bottom of the mixing bowl are equally incorporated.
Separate challah at this point, with a blessing.
Place your dough in a large plastic bag to rise in the fridge overnight or several hours. If you plan to shape and bake it immediately, leave it to rise on your counter for an hour or until double in bulk. Follow braiding and rising techniques in chapters 2-4 of the book.
Preheat your oven about 20 minutes prior to when the challahs will be ready to bake. Brush the risen challahs with the last egg, and add on toppings of your choice. Bake as directed, at 360° / 190° until golden brown on top and bottom.
