YaYaNaNa’s Easy-to-Bake Challah

This is a guest article by my mother, YaYaNaNa.

Woo Hoo….After years of domestic slackness, I have begun working from home. Just not having to spend 2 hours a day in the car has been enough to inspire a domestic revival. That and the feeling of inadequency I have in the face of my domestic daughter’s blog. SO last Wednesday, David Reisman’s Bread Machine Challa bread recipe appeared in the paper (The State, SC). Since we have not 1 but 2 bread machines sitting unused in the pantry, I decided to act.

I bought yeast.

This morning, I threw all the ingredients into a bread machine and turned it on using the dough cycle.

2 ½ tsp dry yeast

4 C white flour

2 tsp salt

3T vegetable oil (I used corn oil)

1/3 C white sugar

1 C warm water

2 eggs

An hour and a half later, I took the dough out of the machine and shaped it into 2 loaves. The dough was very silky and not sticky at all, so I didn’t have to use any extra flour to handle it. Then I covered it with a layer of waxed paper and then a kitchen towel. That way the towel wouldn’t stick to the dough. I let it rise for 30 minutes. To keep it out of cool breezes or drafts, I just set it out on top of the stove.

Then I mixed an egg yolk with ¼ cup honey. I warmed the honey up for 20 seconds in the microwave first. Good thing too! If I hadn’t done that, I might still be waiting to get it out of the bear. A tip: spray the measuring cup with Pam, and the honey slides right out!

Next I brushed it all over the loaves and sprinkled liberally with sunflower seeds…because I didn’t have sesame seeds, which would have been more traditional.

I baked it for 25 minutes at 350. That sounded so short and not so hot…

…but it turned out perfectly.

Delicious!