Round Raisin Challah

Since the High Holy Days are virtual this year and choir won't get the round challahs from Sisterhood at the end of services, I decided to make my own.

I'm not a huge fan of raisin challah, but it's traditional.  I did find a fantastic recipe from Tori Avey where you encase chopped apples in the strands.  I was planning to make mini challahs, so that wasn't going to work.  The strands wouldn't be thick enough.  Might do it when large gatherings are a thing again.

I did learn how to braid a round.  It is so much easier than the step-by-step blogs make it seem.  I forget which one had over 30 steps.  Weighing out the dough balls took longer than the actual braid.  I'm going to have to do this with other kinds of bread, just because it looks cool.

I'm not sure if I over-proofed these, because they collapsed as soon as they were egg-washed.  The two that had more flour coating the strands fared better.  I'm thinking bread flour next time, which most challah recipes suggest anyway.

3/4 C warm water
1-1/2 Tb oil
*1 Tb honey
2 tsp yeast
~3 C flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 C golden raisins

1.  Into the water at about 100ºF, stir oil, honey, and yeast.  Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.  While it's doing that, separate one of the eggs and put the yolk in the fridge for later.

2.  Place 1 C flour in stand mixer with the paddle.  Add water mixture and beat into a batter for 2 minutes.  Add egg white and other whole egg, another cup of flour, and the salt.  Beat into a stringy batter, 2 more minutes.  Beat in raisins.

3.  Pour a generous 1/2 C flour onto a work surface.  Scrape bread batter onto the flour and knead into a ball, adding only as much flour as necessary to achieve an elastic consistency and a ball that doesn't sag instantly.  Lightly coat a bowl with oil and turn dough ball over to coat all sides.  Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

4.  Punch down dough and allow to rest on work surface 10 minutes.  Use a scale to divide the dough into half because the raisins might not be evenly distributed.  (I divided it into quarters at this point because I was making mini loaves.)  Divide each piece again into four more pieces, and round all of them into balls.

5.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat.  Roll each dough ball into a long rope.  To make my 1/4 minis, the ropes were about 9" long.  I'm guessing 14" for half-recipe loaves.  Place two horizontally, then the other two vertically, alternating over-under into a weave.

6.  To make the round braid, number each of the 8 ends in your mind.  Take all the odd numbers and fold them over the even strand next to it clockwise.

7.  Next, take all the even strands, the ones you haven't moved yet, and fold them counter-clockwise until they cross a folded strand.  You'll end up with four sets of folded ends facing each other.  Pinch those closed and tuck under the ends.  Transfer loaf to prepared sheet and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

8.  Preheat oven to 350º.  I'm going with a lower temperature so the outer edges don't overbake before the middle is done.  Get the egg yolk out of the fridge and beat it with a teaspoon of water into an egg wash.  Brush egg wash onto loaves with a light touch.  I should get a spray bottle to do this, like bakeries do.  It's a pain to wash them out every time, but it's worth it.

9.  Bake loaves for 20 minutes.  Rotate and bake again, 10 minutes for 4 minis or 20-25 minutes for 2 loaves.  They should be golden and sound slightly hollow when thumped.  Cool on a rack, so the undersides don't get mushy.  These store at room temperature for 2 days, or wrapped in the freezer for a month.

Makes 2 loaves or 4 mini-loaves, about 12-16 servings

Difficulty rating  :-0