No Knead Challah

Another fine recipe from the folks at Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  This came via The Ivory Hut. 

I've been baking the boule for well over a month now, a couple of times a week and it's outstanding.

 

The Boule.

When I ran across the recipe for Challah, I knew I'd have to make it. Different ingredients, but similar, easy preparation.  I'd previously made a kneaded version, but the fact that this is no-knead made a must-do. You see the 5 minute part of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day is the prep. You simply mix your ingredients in a large bowl, add the flour, stir and let it rise until doubled. At that point you can bake the bread or refrigerate the dough until ready to bake.

 

Here's the recipe, which I halved, and made one big loaf.

Challah
(with permission from the authors of Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day)

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or a neutral-tasting oil, such as canola), plus more for greasing the cookie sheet
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water)
poppy or sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
Makes four 1-pound loaves.

To make the dough, mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, melted butter or oil, and water in a bowl or container (at least 5-qt in size) that you can cover later. Then, using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour. Again, no need to knead this. (You can also mix this in a 14-cup food processor or a mixer with a dough hook attachment.) Mix until there are no more dry streaks of flour left.

Cover (but not airtight) and let rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. The dough will rise and then fall down a bit. When it does, it’s done and you can either use it immediately or store it in the refrigerator. The dough is quite sticky and easier to handle cold. (Since this is an enriched dough, plan to use it within 5 days. Beyond that, freeze it in 1-pound portions and it will last for up to 4 weeks in the freezer if stored in an airtight container. If you do freeze the dough, make sure you defrost it in the refrigerator overnight before using it.)

When ready to bake, take a cookie sheet and either grease it, line it with parchment paper, or lay a silicone mat in it. Dust some flour on the surface of the dough and take a 1-pound chunk of dough (about the size of a grapefruit). Dust it with a bit more flour and quickly shape it the way you would a boule, gently pulling the sides of the dough toward the bottom while rotating the dough. It should take you less than a minute to get a round shape with a smooth surface.

To make a braided loaf, divide the dough into three portions and roll each portion into a long rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. When you have the ropes shaped, braid them starting from the center and working toward one end, then turn it over and work again toward the other end. This gives you a more evenly-shaped braid. (To make the rolls, simply take small 1-inch balls of dough, roll them gently, and place three balls in each well of a well-greased cupcake or muffin pan.)

Let the loaf or rolls rest and rise on the cookie sheet for at least 40 minutes if fresh, and at least 1 hour and 20 minutes if it was refrigerated. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If baking it in a cookie sheet and not a stone (which is what I did), the oven only needs to preheat for about 5 minutes. Brush the dough with the egg wash, then sprinkle it with the poppy or sesame seeds.

Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes, adjusting the time if you are baking different-sized loaves. (For the rolls, I baked them for about 20 minutes.) When done, the challah will be golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf will give resistance when pressed. Challah doesn’t have the hard crust of a boule because of the fat in the dough (and we didn’t use steam either).

Here's how mine came out-

Looks nice doesn't it- Want a slice?

See if you can find it at Yeast Spotting!