No-Knead Challah
Recipe adapted from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or neutral-tasting vegetable oil such as canola), plus more for greasing the cookie sheet
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water)
Poppy or sesame seeds for the top
1. Mix the yeast and water, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter or oil in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (no airtight) plastic food container.
2. Stir in the flour without kneading, using a spoon or spatula.
3. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2-3 hours. I let it rise most the day and then put in the frig over night so it's completely cold. It's easier to work with if it's cold.
4. Use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using. Then allow the usual rest and rise time.
5. On baking day line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a silicone mat. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour or corn meal and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. (I use surgical gloves if the dough is very wet and it usually is.) Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.
6. Divide the ball into thirds, using a dough scraper or knife. Roll the balls between your hands (or on a board), stretching, to form each into a long, thin rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. Braid the ropes, starting from the center and working to one end. Turn the loaf over, rotate it, and braid from the center out to the remaining end. This produces a loaf with a more uniform thickness than when braided from end to end.
7. Allow the bread to rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1-2 hours.
8. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.
9. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the seeds.
10. Bake near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time. The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure. Due to the fat in the dough, challah will not form a hard, crackling crust.
11. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.
2 comments:
It does look very yummy and you have been a busy Mommy again!! Would sure like to taste it!!
It's funny that it says "artisan bread in 5 minutes" when you have to let the dough rise for 3 hours and then bake it after that. That seems like more than 5 minutes to me. I would rather just spoon the flour into my mouth and wash it down with water.
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