Einkorn Challah Bread (Egg Bread)
A fresh take on a classic Jewish egg bread using delicious and healthy einkorn flour! Enjoy it fresh out of the oven, toasted with jam, as a sandwich, or as French toast!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook (Can mix by hand, but it will increase prep time.)
Ingredients
- 530 grams all-purpose einkorn flour (4 cups)
- 13 grams salt (2 teaspoons)
- 14 grams active dry yeast (1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
- 200 mL warm water, plus extra for brushing (¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons)
- 55 grams coconut oil, melted, plus extra for prepping bowl (¼ cup)
- 75 grams honey (3 Tablespoons)
- 2 large eggs + 1 yolk (save the white for brushing the bread!)
- poppy seeds, optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the einkorn flour, salt, and yeast.
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the warm (not hot!) water, melted coconut oil, honey, eggs, and yolk. Be sure to set aside the extra egg white in a bowl in the refrigerator for later.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. With dough hook attached, knead on low speed for several minutes until a wet and sticky dough forms. You will want to pause once or twice to scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Be sure to check under the dough for unincorporated flour.
- Once the ingredients are fully combined, let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes. This gives the einkorn a chance to absorb more of the liquid.
- While the dough is resting, grease a medium-large bowl with coconut oil. This will be the bowl for your dough's first rise.
- Once the dough has rested, lightly flour a clean surface with einkorn flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface using a spatula to scrape it out of the bowl. Don't worry that it's so sticky - it will be okay!
- Lightly flour the top of the dough as well. Gently form the dough into a round and place it in the greased bowl. Flip it over once so that both the top and bottom of the dough are now greased. Cover with a cotton tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm (not hot!) location. Let rest 1.5-2 hours. It should double in size.
- Once the dough is finished resting, turn it back out onto a lightly floured surface. Using a bench scraper (dough scraper), divide the dough into 3 even portions.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently pull each section of dough into a long strip (no longer than the baking sheet) and place on the parchment lined baking sheet parallel to one another.
- Braid the 3 sections. I find it helpful to start in the middle and work my way toward the ends. When finished braiding, tuck the ends under.
- Cover with a cotton tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour in a warm location.
- When 1 hour is nearly finished preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Take the saved egg white out of the refrigerator and whisk it together with 1 Tablespoon of water. Gently brush the mixture all over the top of the dough using a pastry brush. Sprinkle the dough with poppy seeds, if desired.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until bread is golden. Internal temperature should be about 180 °F
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
This challah is excellent in so many forms! Eat it with honey, butter and jam, toast it, use it for a sandwich (turkey and avocado is fantastic with it), and when it starts to get a little stale it makes wonderful French toast!