Holla for Challah!

I've been waiting to use that title line since I decided to bake these Challah rolls.  Last weekend, I had a significant bread victory when I prepared some brioche sticky buns using a recipe from a fantastic bed and breakfast in Cambria, CA, called Olallieberry Inn.  When Marjorie, one of the innkeepers, prepared these sticky buns for breakfast one day, I thought I was going to die.  So I bought her cookbook and tried them at home.  I had some yeast leftover and a little more bread-making confidence after making the sticky buns, so I decided to try Challah bread.  

I've had this book on my shelf for a while that I found somewhat intimidating.  It's called Baking Artisan Bread by Ciril Hitz and is a very thorough and detailed description of the bread baking process and several different bread formulas (French, Brioche, Croissant, Challah, Bagel, Pizza, etc.).  After reading through all the formulas, I noticed that the Challah bread looked like a good place to start.  I could do it all in one day (not over two days), I had all my ingredients, and it seemed very straightforward.

I began with a sponge starter: a mixture of some of the flour, all the yeast, and most of the warm water.  Once that was ready (after about 30 minutes), I prepared the dough using more flour and water, plus oil, honey, eggs, salt, and sugar.  All the mixing and kneading could be done with my KitchenAid mixer equipped with the dough hook.  I can't tell you my delight when I was able to form a true gluten pane with my dough!  Just like the pictures in the book!  After a rise, division of dough into six 100g parts, a quick 20 minute resting period, and shaping my rolls, I had an assortment of Challah knots.

Following a 1 hour secondary rise, egg wash, and sprinkling of poppy seeds, they were ready to go into the oven.  After 25 minutes, I ate one almost immediately after I pulled the tray from the oven.  We had the rest for dinner with our beef stew.  I'm seriously contemplating making these for Thanksgiving...