Baking with Julia – Challah

Challah for everyone! Doesn’t looking at this bread just make you deliriously happy? No? Just me? I’m fine with that. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating – bread is my favorite thing to make in the whole wide world. It’s so weird and cool and alive and it usually has so very few ingredients but so much flavor. Plus, toast. Toast is the single most satisfying snack I have ever come across.

Don’t you just want to lay your head down on this beautiful pouf of dough and take a nap??? Again, just me? I don’t believe it.

I made this challah on a lazy Sunday and like most good bread, it was a bit of a time investment. I ended up kneading it by hand because I just enjoy working with butter and egg doughs – they are just so dreamy and fun to play with. After I kneaded it for about ten minutes it had reached the right lovely consistency so I put it to bed for the first rise which took about an hour and a half. Then there was some fun braiding action and another rise of about an hour before baking. The great thing about butter and egg breads like challah and brioche is that you don’t really have to fuss over creating a steam bath or using a baking stone for them to get the desired crust since they’re meant to be a little softer. And they still look super-impressive right?

If you want to give this a shot, you’ll find the recipe here on Lauren Groveman’s site and I think we both know you do. I hope you have as much fun as I did but I realize that I’m kind of a weirdo so the chances of that are slim to nil.