Challah

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure flour into a bowl; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Add butter and water and mix together with wooden spoon until well blended.
Add eggs and as much of the rest of the flour as you can with the wooden spoon.
When it gets too hard to mix, dump dough onto a cloth-covered board and knead for about 8-10 minutes. Using any flour left to keep the dough from getting sticky.
The dough should look smooth and shiny.
Place the dough in a greased bowl; turn once and cover it with a cloth or dish towel.
Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down dough.
to make 2 loaves, cut dough in half. To make smaller loaves, cut dough into 6 or 8 pieces.
To make loaf:
Cut off 1/4 piece of the dough and set aside.
Cut the remaining piece into 3 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long 1-inch thick snake and braid.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Take reserved piece of dough and cut it into 3 equal pieces. Make each piece into 3 skinny braids and braid.
Place smaller braid on top of larger braid and tuck ends under.
Cover and let rise about 1 hour.
Carefully brush with egg wash.
Bake for 30 minutes and check color. If it is not browning evenly, turn loaf around.
Let cook until golden.
Loaf is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.
Cool on a wire rack.
This is best served warm or warm before serving.