Jewish Egg Braid (Challah)

A delicious, slightly sweet bread! (And a great excuse to make yet another bread braid!)

To begin....

In a large bowl place 6 cups of unbleached all purpose flour. Make a well in the center and pour 1/2 a cup of warm water and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of active dry yeast and a tablespoon of sugar.. Stir well (a little bit of flour will also be incorporated...). Let stand for 15 minutes.

Then add 1/3 a cup sugar, 2 cups of warm water, 3 large eggs (at room temp), 1/2 a cup vegetable oil (I used canola), and 2 teaspoons of salt.

Mix together, then knead 5-8 minutes. It should be soft and springy. (Springs back when pressed). Dust with flour 1 tablespoon at a time to prevent sticking. (If kneading by machine switch from paddle to dough hook and knead 4-5 minutes).
Place in a greased container, turn once to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled. 2- 2 1/4 hours. Don't let it rise over double, or it may tear and the baked loaf won't have the full volume.
Gently deflate, then rise another hour.

Gently deflate, then divide in half. We like the four strand braid (third strand up, first strand over). Or you can do it with just three.
You can also do some other fun shapes such as:

A turban (A good tutorial HERE)





A wreath

Or Pretzel shaped. I think this one looks so fun!
You can also just do a regular loaves (four 9by5's to be exact)

Let rise until dough is almost doubled in bulk. About 40 minutes. If using loaf pans dough should be about an inch above the rims.
Bake at 350 F. 40-45 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Enjoy!!