I love playing with color, texture, and shape with my challah. Looking to create a red challah? Add beetroot powder. Green? Try using green tea matcha powder. Do you want bread with a golden hue? Try turmeric mixed in with the dough. This challah combines beautiful color with Middle Eastern flavors — the flavors and colors of different parts of the world meet in one delicious bread.
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Ingredients
- 4-4 ½ cups bread flour (440g)
- 3 ¼ tsp active dry or instant yeast (10g)
- 2/3 cup warm water, 90-100 degrees (150g)
- 3 ½ Tbsp honey (70g)
- 6 2/3 Tbsp tahini (70g)
- 1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (20g)
- 2 large eggs (100g)
- 1 ½ tsp ground turmeric (8g)
- 1 ½ tsp salt (8g)
Directions
- Weigh one cup of flour and combine with yeast and warm water.
- Let proof for 20-25 minutes until mixture begins to swell.
- Whisk in honey, tahini, olive oil, eggs, turmeric, and the remaining flour plus salt.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 20 minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator for a cold overnight rise. The dough will only increase about 1/3 but will continue to develop and rise fully from its cold proof through remaining steps.
- Remove from refrigerator the next day and allow about 30 minutes for the dough to begin to come back to room temperature before shaping.
- Divide the dough into hunks, depending on your design plan. Let the dough rest, then roll out and braid. Allow the shaped dough to rise again for 1-1.5 hours at about 70 degrees F.
- Before you put the shaped dough in the oven, glaze it with egg wash and apply seeds. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 30 min.
