Sweet Challah Bread
- For The Sponge
- 1 cup luke warm water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 cup bread flour
- For The Bread
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 whole egg
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (it's fine to use a different salt)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups bread flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- cinnamon sugar or cheese (optional)
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the water, honey and yeast.
- Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Stir in 1 cup bread flour, and cover with a towel.
- let stand for 30 minutes.
- Stir in the olive oil, whole egg, and egg yolks until very well mixed.
- Add the salt, sugar, and the rest of the flour.
- You should have a sticky dough Pour dough out onto a well floured surface and knead, adding flour as you need it, for 10 minutes.
- Place dough in a large greased mixing bowl and let rise for 1 hour.
- Place dough in the refrigerater and let rise over night or at least 6 hours.
- Turn dough out on a corn mealed surface and cut it into two proportional pieces.
- Cut and braid the two dough balls, place in two loaf pans or form the Jewish circle with them.
- Let dough rise for 1 hour and preheat your oven to 375F.
- Beat 1 egg with the tablespoon of water and brush the doughs with the egg wash TWICE.
- Sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or cinnamon sugar, optional.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, you may have to cover the breads with foil to stop them from browning to much after 15 or 20 minutes.
- Remove the breads from the oven and either place them in plastic bags to get a soft crust or place them on wire racks until cooled completely before storing for a crisp crust (I personally don't wait for either and just eat it right out of the oven).
- Serving Sugestions: Make grilled sandwiches with breads, baked beans, bread pudding, thick beef stew, olive oil with herbs and black pepper, good old fashion butter.
- **Ifyou would like a cheesey challah bread, just sprinkle on your favorite cheese in the last 2 minutes of baking ENJOY!
water, honey, active dry yeast, bread flour, bread, olive oil, egg, egg yolks, kosher salt, sugar, bread flour, egg, water, cinnamon sugar
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/sweet-challah-bread-80129 (may not work)