Challah (BBA)

As I mentioned last year, I’ve made the challah from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice many times without documenting it, so here’s a post to rectify that.

Reinhart’s recipe has a lot going for it: it can be done in one day, uses a whole number of eggs, is pareve, and it tastes good.

I did all the kneading of the bread in the stand mixer, making sure the dough passed the windowpane test. The dough was quite active for me, easily doubling in size during fermentation. I made the “celebration” variation, in which a third of the dough is used to make a mini-braid atop the larger braid.

Aside from the mini-braid leaning to one side, the bread rose dramatically and its all egg-white glaze browned extremely well. The crumb was open and flaky, and was a rich golden colour. There isn’t anything I would change about this loaf. It’s a reliable, not too sweet challah that could become my regular Friday loaf.