Beth Henspberger's Challah

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of my week is baking Challot for Shabbat. It's my once a week opportunity to knead dough and it makes me so happy. As you already know, from my previous challah posts, I've been trying out new recipes as much as I can. This weekend was no different. This week's challah recipe comes from Beth Henspberger's The Bread Bible. While this is an egg challah, it's certainly not sweet. It is perfect with egg salad, as we have at home, or with chumous or any other dip. The texture is really great, as well. The dough kneaded really well and rose nicely overnight in the fridge. As you can tell, the breads braided beautifully and turned out really prettyily. If only my dad could see them now! I upped the salt from two teaspoons to a full tablespoon, and it could still stand more. (My niece was so cute- she kept asking for salt on her challah, and then kept licking it off.) Sometimes it throws me off that an egg challah isnt sweet so I think adding sesame or poppy seeds if you have them would really help pull this challah to the more savory side. Surprisingly, I thought this challah was better the next day, in terms of both flavor and texture. I'm sending this over to Yeastspotting. 

Challah

adapted from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible

1 kilo flour

2 tbsp instant yeast

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

2- 2 1/2 cups water

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

sesame/poppy seeds

Assemble the dough as per your usual challah recipe. 

Here are my braided breads. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or so or until a thermometer registers around 200 degrees.