This year Easter and Passover converged in the same week and we baked and baked many loaves of this amazing bread which we dropped off (safely 6 feet away) to our friends in Nantucket. My friend Susan enlisted her two children (who are 5 and 7 and absolutely adorable) to make these loaves using the entire process as a teachable moment. She had her son measure the ingredients, her daughter read the directions, both children were responsible for mixing the dough and watching the rising time (telling time reinforced in the process!) and then allowed them the creativity of making their own loaves. In this crazy time we have gotten back to basics - and baking bread is a time honored tradition that brings people together in the best of ways. As If you make this bread please tag us!

Best Challah (Egg Bread)

Adapted by recipe from Joan Nathan and Smitten Kitchen

The secret to baking a perfect challah bread are simple and two-fold:

1. Use two coats of egg wash to get that laquer-like crust

2. Don’t over-bake it.

3. Let the dough rise 3 times (one of which should be a slow rise by placing it in the fridge). Joan Nathan, adds that three risings always makes for the tastiest loaves, even better if one of them is slowed down in the fridge.

Note: When baking bread, you always have a waiting period where the dough rises. To speed up this process, you’ll notice some recipe require placing dough in a warm environment. Our tip here is to slow down this process by placing the dough in the fridge for one of the rises.

Time: about 1 hour, plus 2 1/2 hours’ rising

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (about 1 1/2 packages, 3/8 ounces or 11 grams)

• 1 tablespoon (13 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water

• 1/2 cup (118 ml) olive or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl

• 5 large eggs

• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon (14 grams) table salt

• 8 to 8 1/2 cups (1000 to 1063 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup raisins (about 70 grams) per challah, if using, plumped in hot water and drained

• Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon (13 grams) sugar in water; set aside for 5 minutes until a bit foamy.

2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)

3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.

4. At this point, you can knead the raisins into the challah, if you’re using them, before forming the loaves. To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular*, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.

5. At this point (if you’re baking right away) you can egg wash and allow the dough to rise for another hour. If you’re saving the dough to be baked another day, skip the egg wash and place the dough in the freezer. TIP: The best way to freeze bread is to first wrap in wax paper, then in saran wrap, then in aluminum foil. This will help avoid any freezer burn for when you are ready to bake. It will stay good for roughly 3 months.

6. If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.

7. Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.