I love baking challah. When I taught 3-year-olds, I baked it with them every week. That made me an expert on kneading the dough by hand and knowing what it should feel like before setting it aside to rise. I still occasionally baked challah, in big batches and small ones, and always by hand.
Last year I got one of the greatest presents ever for my birthday: a Bosch Universal Plus mixer! It is THE ultimate kitchen toy for bread making. Just throw the wet ingredients in the bowl, top with flour, and mix. There was a bit of a learning curve using a machine vs. my hands to make the dough. I never knew how long to mix and stopped the mixer every few seconds till I thought it felt right. I actually still do that sometimes, since bread baking is different based on the weather, your mood, and just about anything.
Oh, I’m not trying to scare you and tell you it’s hard. I actually think baking bread is quite easy and very forgiving once you have some practice. And if you don’t forget to add salt, which I have done before. Don’t make that mistake.
I realize that though we have a couple of challah recipes on the blog, this is my new favorite recipe and I haven’t shared it with you yet!!Due to an overwhelmingly popular post on Facebook and Instagram, with a bunch of emails and messages asking for the recipe, I had to post it to share with everyone.
There’s nothing like the smell of challah filling your whole kitchen and house, especially when you bake it on a Friday, which I love to do (when I’m not cooking Shabbat dinner. Otherwise, make this any day of the week.)
Oh, and while I love to make zaatar challah and everything spice challah, my mom prefers plain challah, and since most of my challah goes to her, I most often make plain ones. Those seeds just get every where!
This recipe comes from Chef at Home:
