Holla for Challah

In case you weren't already aware, we really like breakfast food. We like it a lot. I figured we needed a little break from pancakes, though. Since I have mastered the art of making yeast work for me, I decided to make a challah loaf. It is typically a sweet breakfast bread but my plan was to make French toast out of it. So, obviously, I made the bread the day before I wanted to make toast of the French. And, in case you weren't already aware, things don't always go the way I hope them to in the end. But we'll get there. First, lets start at the beginning of making challah.

Once you work up the ambition to dedicate the time and energy needed to make a loaf of bread, exclaim to your family that you are going to get moving on the challah bread.

And if you have a four point five year old, she will say with all her wit and charm, "It's not challah, Mommy, it's HOLLA! bread!!"

After you finish laughing, you can head to the kitchen and get going.

The first thing you have to do is get your yeast all activated and stuff. Put it in a bowl with honey, melted butter, and milk that you heated to approximately 120 degrees. Stir it really gently and let it sit for 15 minutes. This picture is the beginning, five minutes of sitting, ten minutes of sitting, and finally fifteen minutes of sitting. Look how bubbly and excited the yeast got.

In another bowl, mix together flour and salt. Make a well in the middle of your flour mixture. After the fifteen minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture. Beat an egg and add that as well. Stir to form a rough dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Put in a bowl, cover with a clean towel, not a dirty one, and let rise for an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size. I created a happy yeast rising environment by turning my oven onto it's lowest setting and placing my dough in there to do its thang.

While your dough is rising, watch this movie. Do you know what it is?

Here's another shot. Need a clue: Wendy Peffercorn. Need another clue: FOREVER. FOREVER.

I introduced Avery to the cinematic wonderment that is The Sandlot this past weekend. She loved it. To her, it's the big dog movie. She really likes it when Squints tells the story of the beast. And she likes to point out that sometimes Ham and Benny say naughty words because they are boys who spit. Obviously the worst form of being there is: a boy who spits and says naughty words. Well, at least to a four point five year old who still believes in cooties and following the rules. In ten years, lets hope she still thinks that boys who spit and say naughty words are bad news bears. I digress.

After about an hour and a half, you will see Benny get Smalls out of the biggest pickle of their lives, all because of PF Flyers.

And after an hour and a half, your dough will have grown massive. Punch your dough. Divide it into three strips and braid those three strips.

My advice to you is to make your strips thick and short instead of thin and long. I made mine a little too thin and long.

Cover your loaf and let it rest for about a half hour.

Beat an egg with some milk.

Take your egilk or milgg and brush it on your loaf. There really is no graceful way of combining milk and egg is there? That's kind of a bummer. It would be fun if there was.

Then bake your loaf for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.

Hey good lookin'. Come here often? Now this is where my plans got foibled. My plan was to make this into nice big, thick pieces of French toast the next day. But because I made my strips to long and thin instead of thick and short, my loaf wasn't very tall. It presume it would have made just fine French toast, they would have just been mini. I know that the bread was made correctly because when I cut it open, it was not dense and tough. It was airy and soft, with a nice outer crunch.

Instead of making French toast in it's original form, I made baked French toast. I will tell you how to make that a different day.

First, make your bread.

Or buy a nice loaf of French bread and check back tomorrow.

Braided Challah

1 package yeast

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup lukewarm milk (between 115 and 125 degrees)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon milk

Combine yeast, honey, milk, and butter. Stir gently. Let sit for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture and egg. With a wooden spoon, stir gently to combine.

Turn onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth. Place in a bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour and a half.

Grease a baking sheet. Punch your dough. Divide it into three pieces. Roll each piece into a thick, short strip. Braid the strips together. Tuck the ends under.

Cover loosely. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Brush your loaf with the glaze and bake for 40 minutes.

Recipe courtsey of sugarcrafter.net.