Challah

I make two challah breads every Friday in preparation for the Sabbath. The children's mouths are watering from the moment the golden loaves come out of the oven, hoping for a bite. But, no, they must wait until dinner.

I started making my own challah to save money - store-bought challah was hitting $3.49 a loaf, plus the extra trip to buy it on Friday. But, more importantly, it tastes so much better than store-bought!

I didn't think I'd have the time to make bread each week - until I found a recipe online for bread machine challah. You make the dough in the bread machine, then shape the loaves and bake in the oven. It's really easy. I modified the recipe as the original proportions were coming out too gooey. I save the egg whites and egg wash to make a scrambled egg breakfast a few days later. And if the bread hasn't been completely eaten by Sunday morning, it makes delicious French toast!

I let the dough rise in the oven (warmed for one minute, then turned off) because here in humid South Florida, it is difficult to get dough to rise out in the open. The oven method seems to work for me.

Bread Machine Challah

3/4 cup water
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. dry yeast
cooking spray
1 large egg, slightly beaten

Place the water, egg yolks, salt, oil, flour, sugar, and yeast in the bread machine in the order suggested by your machine's manufacturer. Set to the dough cycle and start. After a few minutes, check the dough - it should have been formed into a firm ball. If it is too gooey, add flour by the teaspoonful until a ball forms. If it is too dry, add water by the teaspoonful until it is firm but not gooey.

When the dough cycle is done, remove the dough from the machine. Preheat the oven for 1 minute, then turn off the oven. Grease a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Divide the dough into half, then each half into thirds. Stretch out each section into a long strand. Taking three strands, braid the strands together, and pinch the top and bottom ends together. Do the same for the other three strands. Place on the baking sheet and allow the loaves to rise in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the challahs from the oven and preheat oven at 350 degrees. Meanwhite, brush the challahs with the beaten egg. Bake the challahs for 30 minutes, lightly covering the loaves with aluminum foil after 15 minutes of baking.

Check out more recipes at:

• Crock Pot Wednesday  
• Ultimate Recipe Swap Thursday 
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• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• What's Cooking Wednesday
• Lovin' from the Oven 
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• Finer Things Friday