Wheat Challah Bread

Ok, so this is the third week of my give-away and this is

a post from April 24, 2009.

The gift is related to this post in some way...

remember if you guess what the give-away gift

is I will put your name in the drawing twice...

Come give it a try... We are trying to change the things we eat. We have already added more water, no margarine, and increase veggies & fruit.

We no long buy bread from the stores but I make it. About four loves a week. I was making

it from all purpose white, then read an article that called the white

flour The White Killer...ooh...uhh...! My thoughts exactly!

So we are slowly changing over to whole wheat by first making

the loaves with 1/2 white 1/2 wheat flour. Once the girls are

accustom to the taste I will slowly add more wheat and less white.

Here is the recipe, it was my white flour recipe

I just altered it a bit.

mix together and allow to proof for 10 min:

• 2 pkges of active yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 TSP of honey

mix together with mixer:

• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/3 c of butter (soften)
• 1 tsp salt (optional)

then add:

• the yeast mixture
• 3 c of whole wheat flour

mix with mixer for 3 minutes. Then mix with wooden spoon

• 3 c white flour. Add this a little at a time, stirring and mixing. I end up using my hands the last bit of flour.

Turn out on kneading surface and kneed for 6-8 minutes till dough becomes smooth. Oil the sides and bottom of a large bowl and place the dough in side. Turn the dough once to allow oil to cover the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for about an hour to double in size.

Once it has double in size, punch down, cut in half, braid and place each Challah loaf in a pan. Again let rise for an hour or till it doubles in size.

Take an egg and beat it adding a little water, mix well. Brush on the Challah bread just before baking. Sprinkle with your favorite topping, kosher salt, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds. It's also nice just plain.

I cook mine at 300 degrees for about 30 min. It's done when you can tap it with a knife and it sound hollow.

Enjoy!