Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Challah
Saturday, June 7th, 2008I am feeling kind of nostalgic. For the past three years, I have “had” to bake a challah every Thursday so that my daughter could bring some to preschool on Friday. (Okay, so some weeks I cheated by using frozen challah from the previous week — but this transgression was always duly noted.)
Though yesterday was her last Friday at preschool — I have a feeling I will be baking challah on a nearly weekly basis for a long time to come. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve gone through until I found one that we all love. I hope you and your family enjoy it as well.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons yeast
- 4 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons veg. oil
Glaze
- maple syrup (optional)
Directions
- Dissolve sugar in 1/2 cup water in bowl of mixer.
- Sprinkle yeast over water and mix, let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
- Add remaining ingredients into mixing bowl.
- Mix with dough hook for 6 minutes. The dough should form a satiny, smooth ball. If it is sticky — add more flour.
- Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in bulk. (I wait 45 minutes - 1 hour.)
- Punch down dough. Wait ten minutes.
- Braid challah. For those of you who have never done this before, it can be daunting. Hopefully, the diagram below –handed down by a family friend– will help. (Click on it to enlarge.) If you need more help — try this video.
- Place on greased cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise until doubles in bulk. (Wait 1 hour.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Glaze with maple syrup. (Wipe up any excess from around challah — cause it burns.)
- Bake at 400 F for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- The challah is done when it sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.
