Braided Breads and Challah (Or How to Twist Up Your Bread Dough)
 Twisted or braided breads have been around for ages. The Europeans pride themselves in the interesting shapes they can make the bread dough and braided breads are a tradition in which the braided strands symbolize love intertwined. Traditional Challah Bread is made for the Jewish Sabbath that begins at sunset on Friday nights. Usually 2 loaves are made for both Friday night and Saturday lunch. Challah represents the Mannah that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Traditional Challah recipes use numerous eggs, fine white flour, water, yeast, and sugar. Modern recipes may use fewer eggs (there are also eggless versions) and may replace white flour with whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour (freshed milled in the Nutrimill grain mill of course) Sometimes honey or molasses is substituted as a sweetener. The dough is rolled into rope-shaped pieces which are braided and brushed with an egg wash before baking to add a golden sheen. Sometimes raisins are added. Some bakers like to sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top for flavor. Challah is usually contains no dairy to align with Jewish laws, unlike brioche and other enriched European breads, which contain butter or milk.
Eggs add protein and make the bread richer and higher-rising. Since bread with egg tends to dry out rapidly, most recipes call for extra fat to counteract this. Often, too, for grater tenderness the sweetener is increased; and if you use a lot of egg, more salt is needed to keep the bread from being too bland. Adding eggs to whole wheat, we think, does make a bread taste less interesting so often we add a little sparkle to the recipe from some other source like raisins for example. Relatively simple egg breads like Challah draw their elegance from their baker's careful attention to making a flavour-rich crust. Braided breads are usually "washed"with egg yolks and are shaped to increase the amount of crust surface to enhance the over-all flavour of the loaf.
Easy to Make Challah
Challah is really very easy to make. There is a sense of satisfaction in working the dough by hand and crafting such an attractive bread and it certainly will impress your guests. For this Challah bread recipe, we have provided a 7 ingredient recipe that is easily kneaded in the Bosch Universal Mixer. You may substitute some of the white bread flour for a high protein whole wheat flour but you may also want to add a 1 to 2 Tbsp. of gluten to give the dough some extra lightness. This bread needs to rise for 1 1/2 hr and then once the strands are divided they are rested for 10 min. as well. Prepare a large baking s  heet by greasing and sprinkling with cornmeal. Use a lighter colored sheet to help keep the bottom from burning.
Once raised, use a knife to divide the dough into three equal pieces (or four if you choose to make a four-braid bread). Roll the pieces under the palms of your hands into three long ropes as shown. You may need to let each rest for five to ten minutes to allow the dough to relax to get the proper shape. Using this mix, you should have three ropes nearly 24-inches long. If you want the loaf to be larger in the center and less rectangular shaped, make the ropes thicker in the middle and tapered toward the ends.
Braid the three ropes as shown in a common three strand braid just as if you were braiding pigtails. (Some people find it easier to create a symmetrical shape if they start braiding from the center.) When you get to the ends, wet them, pinch them together, and tuck them under. You should have a neat, symmetrical loaf when you are through. You can shape the loaf somewhat with your hands. If you don't like how the loaf looks, simply pull the braids apart and start again. Just a note that our printed recipe describes a little more complicated braid but any braid with look great.
Place the finished loaf on the prepared sheet. (The formed loaf will be about 12-inches long but after rising and baking, you will have a finished loaf of about 24-inches so be sure to allow room on your sheet for expansion.) Cover the loaf and let rise until doubled, about one hour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a glaze by whisking one egg with one-half tablespoon of water. Just before baking and when the loaf has fully doubled, remove the plastic wrap and gently brush glaze over the entire surface of the loaf. Sprinkle the top with poppy seeds or sesame seeds as desired. (Tip the loaf so that you can sprinkle seeds on the sides as well.)
Bake the bread for 20 minutes then cover the bread with a large sheet of aluminum foil to protect the top. Continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the bread crust is a deep golden brown. The interior of the loaf should register 190 degrees with an insta-read thermometer.
 Use an egg turner to loosen the bread from the pan and transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool.
Chocolate Challah or Braided Bread
While white Challah is the traditional Jewish bread, it has become popular with everyone, everywhere. It's attractive and has a firm, egg-rich texture that works for dinner, sandwiches, or French toast. It is typically braided with three, four, or six strands of dough. This Chocolate Challah version is a little more decadent with a chocolate dough, a cream cheese filling and a chocolate glaze. This makes a great holiday treat and will surprise you at how good it is!!
Tomato Basil Herbed Braided Bread
This bread is more a stuffed bread than a braided bread but it is a real good looking loaf with a wonderful flavour of herbs, tomato and basil in every mouthful. The braid look comes from folding over the strips of dough on top of the filling, giving it a cross over effect and sealing in the filling. This recipe can be made with any bread dough but we have chosen the Italian Herb Bread recipe and the Tuscany Tomato Basil Filling. Other bread dough can be used and fillings that we used in our last post about Savory Rolled buns can also be used to make this type of bread.
Happy Baking!!
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Use an egg turner to loosen the bread from the pan and transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool. 
