Challah-days

Every Friday morning, I roll up my sleeves and bake bread for our family's Sabbath meals.  My first attempts were, shall we say,"unimpressive."  (We could also say, "not fit for human consumption," or "terrifying to small children," but that would be ungenerous.  And accurate.)  After fifteen years of practice, I've got it down pat, and I figured I'd share a little of the process.  I make what's called a water challah, which doesn't call for any eggs in the dough.  I also cheat, and use my KitchenAid stand mixer to do the heavy work.  Here's what you need:

Ulana's Water Challah

6 cups of King Arthur's bread flour
3T. yeast (I buy it in bulk at Sam's Club)
2 1/4 cups of very warm water
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1/3 cup oil
3 T. sea salt

For the glaze:
1 egg, beaten
sesame or poppyseeds (optional)

Combine the dry ingredients and mix for 20-30 seconds with the dough hook (or your hands).

Add the water, oil, and sweetener.  Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, and cover with a damp towel.  Let rise one hour, then punch down and shape.  It should look like this.  (Or better, if you have the patience to make pretty braids.)

Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with poppy and sesame seeds.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden, like this:

 (If you've been paying attention, I've revealed the next major littelgreenbums undertaking in this post...)