Heavenly Challah

Shalom!

I've been to Israel many times. In my head  (and heart) it's the most amazing place, with the most amazing food. I'm always craving Israeli food, the hummus, the olives, the falafel. But one thing I miss the most, their challah. So fluffy, sweet and buttery. I tried many times to develop a recipe to make it taste just like the one in the Middle East, and I finally cracked it. This recipe will take time but not a lot of effort, and once you try it once I'm sure you won't even care about the time you spent.

What you'll need is:

- 2 & 1/2 cups of flour 

- salt & sugar (a pinch each)

- 1 package of dry yeast

- 1/2 cup of butter  

- 2 eggs 

- 2 cups of warm water 

- 1 tablespoon of honey 

Preparation: 

To begin with, you need to bloom the yeast, this way you'll know if it working properly. Add the package to 1 cup of warm water and a pinch of sugar, let it sit for 15 minutes while you mix the rest of the ingredients. Beat the two eggs with the oil and honey. Once the yeast is foaming and bubbly add it to the wet mix (if the yeast is not foamy, you'll probably need to buy another package). Mix the wet ingredients well, and add the flour half a cup at the time integrating everything well with a wooden spatula. Continue until you're all out of flour. The dough should not be sticking to the bowl of your hands, if it is, add a bit more flour and if it hasn't come together well a bit more water if needed. Once the dough is well mixed, you need to knead. I know it's tiring and annoying but trust me it's going to make the challah so nice and fluffy, you won't regret those 10 minutes of work! The way to know when the dough is ready is to softly press your finger down, the dough should bounce back fairly quickly. If this is the case, grease a bowl, set the dough inside, cover it with a kitchen towel and leave it to rise for 40-45 minutes. Meanwhile, watch a show, right now I'm obsessed with Dead to me on Netflix, oh but before you go, preheat your oven at 200 degrees. Anyway, once you've watched an episode and a half, get back to your dough, by this time it should've grown double the size. This is the time to punch it down in revenge for the 10 minutes of kneading. Bring it out and divide it into three equal parts (it doesn't have to be perfect) roll each part into long logs. Then make a braid, I know it sounds difficult but it's really not. Doing as if it was hair just a bit more cautious. Once you're done, grease an oven tray and carefully lay your masterpiece and cover it again for 25-30 minutes. I know it's a long time but you can finish watching that other half of the episode. In this time the dough will rise again and get nice and fluffy. Now get a brush and paint some milk on top so it gets nice and brown. Put the bread in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Once it's done you can leave it in the oven with the door slightly open for it to cool down or just rip a piece and eat it now, it's gonna be amazing either way! Now the only thing that's left is to enjoy, I like to have it with a homemade apple caramel sauce, but it goes with anything savory or sweet.

!בתאבון