Italian Challah
This recipe was just referred to in the family as "Nana's egg bread", but after making it for a few months, I found an old 50s cookbooks with a recipe for challah which was remarkably similar. So, I just started calling it Italian Challah.
This recipe was just referred to in the family as "Nana's egg bread", but after making it for a few months, I found an old 50s cookbooks with a recipe for challah which was remarkably similar. So, I just started calling it Italian Challah.
- 1 each egg
- egg wash
- 500 grams unbleached, all purpose flour
- 15 grams extra virgin olive oil
- 15 grams granulated sugar
- 1 each egg yolk reserve white
- 11 grams kosher salt
- 10 grams yeast active dry yeast red star
- 225 grams water full-strength tap hot
- 1 each egg white (from yolk above)
- 1 each egg optional in addition to white
- Carbohydrate 401.368433 g
- Cholesterol 531.26 mg
- Fat 32.476714 g
- Fiber 15.5846102381468 g
- Protein 71.275119 g
- Saturated Fat 6.8837265 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (1134g)
- Sodium 51354.1886 mg
- Sugar 385.783822761853 g
- Trans Fat 3.6736575 g
- Calories 2216 calories
Step-by-step
- Add the flour to your mixing bowl.
- Zero out your scale and then measure out your olive oil by pouring slowly into the bowl (no waste transferring containers).
- Weigh out remaining ingredients except water and add them to the bowl. Reserve the whites from the one yolk for use as egg wash later.
- Place your mixing bowl under your mixer with the dough hook attachment, weigh out your hot water, and then add it to the bowl. If you use Red Star active dry yeast, it LOVES the hotter water and you do NOT need to proof it.
- Mix on low until ingredients start to together. Then, turn up to whatever is appropriate to your mixer for a medium speed that won't burn out the motor. Knead for 10-13 minutes.
- Remove from bowl, round out into a dough ball and place in a large, covered container (plastic wrap of some sort) to proof for about an hour.
- Once dough has doubled in volume, punch down and divide into whatever you'd like to use the bread for. See public notes section below.
- Allow to rise again for 45 minutes to an hour. Set oven to 375 degrees.
- Before placing in oven, brush loaf / dough pieces with egg wash if you like. Don't score the bread as I feel it mars the color.
- Place in oven, and toss a cup of water into the bottom of the oven, and back for 10 minutes. Then, rotate and back another 10 minutes until golden brown.
What happens to a dough structure when extra virgin olive oil replaces traditional neutral neutral fats? Substituting plant-based lipids alters crumb tenderness and extends shelf-life because unsaturated fats interfere differently with gluten development than solid fats do.
Hydration and Mixing Precision
Active dry yeast tolerates warmer liquids than instant strains, but water exceeding 115 degrees Fahrenheit will denature the cells entirely. Weighing ingredients in grams eliminates volume discrepancies common with flour packing. Knead the mass for ten to thirteen minutes until a smooth windowpane forms. Maintain ambient proofing temperatures near 75 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve proper volume doubling within sixty minutes. Steam generation inside a 375-degree oven sets the crust gelatinization early, producing a glossy exterior without scoring.- If dough feels excessively sticky during the initial hook attachment phase, allow the flour five minutes to hydrate fully before adding more powder.
- Store baked loaves in a paper bag at room temperature to preserve crust crispness, avoiding plastic containers that soften the exterior.
