Sunday, April 26, 2009

Recipe Series! Bread Machine Challah Bread

Bread Machine Challah Bread


Italian Spiced Challah Bread!



I wanted to make bread in my bread machine, so I searched for a good recipe. This one is A-mazing! Very easy to make, and you can turn it into so many different flavors! Here we go!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Milk
3 Eggs
3 TB margarine/butter
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 teas. active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients to the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. (Usually wet ingredients first, and then dry)

Then do EITHER of these options:
A. Select Basic Bread and Light Crust settings. Start. Bread will be cooked completely!
B.(I did it this way) Select DOUGH settings and press Start.

  1. After the machine is done, take the dough out, and place it on a very lightly floured board, punch the dough down, and let rest for 5 minutes.
  2. Divide the dough in half. Then divide into 3 equal pieces, roll into ropes about 12 to 14 inches, and braid into a loaf. Do the same with the remaining other half. Gently put the loaves on a greased cookie sheet, mist with water, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm, draft free place, until double in size.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water.
  4. Brush risen loaves with egg mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. (optional)
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then, cover loosely with foil, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. This prevents the crust from browning too soon.
Then, check out all the variations I have thought of... and let me know if you come up with more!
* Add 1-2TB Italian herbs to dough. Sprinkle garlic powder on top of loaf after spreading egg/water mixture. This tastes BETTER than Italian Bakery Bread! (The top picture is of the Italian bread!)

* Add Cinnamon, Sugar, Nutmeg to dough. After cooking, drizzle cinnamon roll frosting on top!

*At your machine's add-in cycle, add shredded cheese and spices.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

yummy. This sounds delicious. Was it as good as it sounds?

Kebi Cedawna said...

This sounds great, especially the Italian version.

The Double Dipped Life said...

Yes Beth! The bread is soft and sweet. It just pulls apart. You don't even need butter or jam...mmm... I might have to make some more today!

Unknown said...

Hi. I just tried this recipe with a few changes and it is the best one I've tried!! I whisked the milk (I used soy) til it was foamy. I did the same with the eggs. I also added raisins that I had hydrated in Sabra (orange flavored liqueur). Finally, I added a tsp of Organic Blue Agave.

Louise said...

That looks delicious!