Challah
It is scarily close to the end of my first semester of law school. This coming week is the last full week of class. After that, two half weeks are all that separate me from reading period and final exams. And then that’s it – one sixth of the way through.
Time is a weird thing that way. The first day of Property, straight out of The Paper Chase, feels like literally forever ago. But at the same time I feel like I just started school, and that the days and weeks have been so short. Alas, such is life.
With the end of the semester suddenly looming, the fact that this last weekend was three days due to a cancelled Friday Contracts class was especially welcome. I considered it the calm before the storm and spent it doing fun things rather than the work that I probably should have done.
Included in such fun things was spending an afternoon making bread with Erik, of Pumpkin Bread Pudding fame. Seeing as I have zero experience with Challah and a general fear of yeast breads (I don’t trust warm water to actually activate yeast), his expertise was much appreciated.
We ended up making two loaves because the first one didn’t seem to be rising, but both worked anyways. One was made with milk and the other with water, and the procedure differed between the two. I’m posting pictures of the more successful one, but if you are desperately curious as to how to make Challah in a stand mixer, let me know in the comments and I’ll tell you what we did.
First, measure out the flour into a bowl and set aside. 
In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, salt, and crushed saffron. Whisk together with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes until bubbles start appearing around the edge of the bowl – this means your yeast is ready to go.
Whisk up the eggs and pour them into the flour. While stirring lightly with a spatula, pour in the yeast mixture and stir until just pulls together. 
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about a minute until elastic. Spray a stainless steel bowl with cooking spray and put the dough inside, rolling it around to coat the dough.
Cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour and a half.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch down dough and cut into three equal pieces. Shape into balls. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and let them rest about 15 minutes.
Roll each ball into a long rope about one inch thick. Braid, like you would anything else, starting in the middle. (I don’t want to teach you how to braid – YouTube it if you’re not sure what to do.)
Tuck in the ends and use a little water to attach them together.
Place the dough back on the greased baking sheet and allow to rise, covered with a towel, for another 30 minutes.
Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
You can even add some sea salt if you’re feeling fancy.
Bake at 375°F for 40-50 minutes. When it’s looking like it might be done, pull it out and knock on the bottom – if it sounds hollow, it’s good to go! Not gonna lie – this step alone has turned me on to real bread baking.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.
How good does that look? The top one is made with milk and the bottom with water – to be determined if that actually makes a difference.
Enjoy!
Challah
Ingredients:
- 5 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 packet yeast
- 3 threads saffron, crushed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 eggs plus 1 yolk
- 1 1/3 cups warm water, about 110°F
- poppy seeds
- sea salt
Directions:
- Measure the flour into a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, yeast, saffron, sugar, and warm water. Whisk together with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes until bubbles form around the edges.
- Whisk the 3 eggs in a small bowl and pour into the flour.
- While mixing gently with a spatula, pour in the yeast mixture and stir lightly until just starts to come together.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute until elastic.
- Spray a stainless steel bowl with cooking spray and place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half.
- When dough has doubled in size, punch down and cut into three pieces. Shape each into a ball and place on a baking sheet covered with cooking spray. Allow to rest 15 minutes.
- Roll pieces into long ropes about 1 inch thick. Braid together, starting in middle, and attach ends using a little bit of water.
- Place on baking sheet and cover with a towel, allowing to rise for an additional 30 minutes.
- Coat with egg yolk and sprinkle with poppy seeds and sea salt.
- Bake at 375°F for 40-50 minutes. Bread is done when knocking on the bottom produces a hollow sound.
