Stuffed Challah

My best friend shared her family's challah recipe with me. I love challah and I have spent many years trying to perfect a challah recipe. This is the best recipe I have found that makes sweet and tasty challah. While a traditional Challah is fun to make for the holidays, I like to stuff my challah with different fillings. These two are with chocolate and cinnamon and goat cheese tomato scallion.

Flour mixture

Dough before rising

Three braided Challah

Four Braided Challah

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Stuffed Challah

Serving: 2 medium challah or 1 large challah

Total Time: 3 hours

Dough:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/4 tablespoons salt

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola

• 4 tablespoons honey

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

• 2 eggs

• 1 - 1/3 cup warm water

• 2 teaspoons yeast (1 packet)

Stuffing options:

1. Cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips

2. Halved cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, and scallions

Step 1: Mix the flour, salt, sugar, oil, and yeast together in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add eggs, honey, oil, vanilla into the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients together until combined.

Step 4: Slowly add the warm water into the mixture. Keep adding water until dough forms. Don't make the dough too wet. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

Step 5: Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cover with a dishtowel. Let dough sit at room temperature for about 3 hours or until dough doubles in size. This takes me exactly three hours, no less. You can also let the dough sit overnight if preferred.

Step 6: Knead dough on a floured surface for about 8-10 minutes. To make one challah, split the dough into two balls. Roll into four long logs. If you are adding the filling, flatten each log so you have an indent in the middle of each log. Add the fillings to each log, line the edges with water, and pinch each log closed. Pinch all four logs together at the top and braid together.

Step 7: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add to a greased baking sheet and egg wash the top of the challah (you can use milk if you prefer). Bake for 30-40 minutes or until challah is golden brown and cooked through.

#challah