Colorful Challah
Fill your home with love and fresh-baked bread, piping hot right out of the oven! Do you know that this beautiful, distinctive braid symbolizes the joining together of family and friends? This pillow-soft Colorful Challah, with an amazing braid, is a pleasure to eat. You can achieve this dreamy, colorful hue with our Suncore Foods® Powders. Celebrate today with the goodness of bread! Slice yourself a piece and enjoy!
Ingredients
Challah Dough:2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus another 1/2 cup for your work surface
2 cups bread flour
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tsp Suncore Foods® Blue Butterfly Pea Powder
3 tsp Suncore Foods® Purple Sweet Potato Powder ( 2 tsp for the darker purple, and 1 tsp for the lighter pink)
For the Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
Directions
1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the yeast, sugar, warm water, and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until smooth. Cover and let sit for 1 hour.
2. Crack the eggs directly into the yeast mixture, then measure in honey and oil. Mix until uniform.
3. Add the salt, the remaining 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (you should have 1/2 cup left over) and all of the bread flour. Mix into a shaggy dough. Then knead in the bowl until the dough forms a ball
4. Sprinkle your work surface with a few tablespoons of the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Divide your dough into thirds and separate, to 1/3 add your Suncore Foods® Blue Butterfly Pea Powder by flattening the ball and spooning the powder into the center and folding in half, then your larger concentration of Suncore Foods® Purple Sweet Potato Powder to the next 1/3 and your lower concentration of Suncore Foods® Purple Sweet Potato Powder to the last third with the same flatten and fold technique. knead by hand for another 3 to 4 minutes until the colors are fully blended and the dough is smooth and elastic and tacky but not sticky, if more flour is needed add slowly and work the dough before adding more to prevent over flouring
5.Oil three bowls and place the dough in separate bowls. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it’s doubled in size.
6.When the dough has doubled, remove the dough from the bowls. Use a bench scraper or sharp knife to divide each colored dough into two equal parts. Press your dough into an oblong shape feeling for large air bubbles, then begin to roll your strands . Gently lengthen the strands to about 12 inches long and taper the ends.
7.Arrange the strands in a pattern, blue, pink purple, blue pink purple cover with a clean damp towel and let rest for 5 minutes.
8. To braid the loaf, pinch all the strands together, this will be the start of your braid. Pull the two outermost strands away from the two innermost strands. Take the right inner strand and twist it over the left strand. Then take the two right outermost strands together and pull them under the innermost right strand (originally the left innermost) then take the two outermost strands on the left and place them over the left innermost strand. Then take all 4 of the innermost strands and twist like you did in the beginning right over left, and repeat the process until the whole loaf is braided. Once completed pinch the ends and tuck them under.
9.Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a clean damp towel; let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes. While you preheat your oven to 350F and make your egg wash.
9.After 30min use a pastry brush to coat the exterior of the loaf with egg wash, make sure to be thorough! Bake for 30. Let rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
2. Crack the eggs directly into the yeast mixture, then measure in honey and oil. Mix until uniform.
3. Add the salt, the remaining 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (you should have 1/2 cup left over) and all of the bread flour. Mix into a shaggy dough. Then knead in the bowl until the dough forms a ball
4. Sprinkle your work surface with a few tablespoons of the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Divide your dough into thirds and separate, to 1/3 add your Suncore Foods® Blue Butterfly Pea Powder by flattening the ball and spooning the powder into the center and folding in half, then your larger concentration of Suncore Foods® Purple Sweet Potato Powder to the next 1/3 and your lower concentration of Suncore Foods® Purple Sweet Potato Powder to the last third with the same flatten and fold technique. knead by hand for another 3 to 4 minutes until the colors are fully blended and the dough is smooth and elastic and tacky but not sticky, if more flour is needed add slowly and work the dough before adding more to prevent over flouring
5.Oil three bowls and place the dough in separate bowls. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it’s doubled in size.
6.When the dough has doubled, remove the dough from the bowls. Use a bench scraper or sharp knife to divide each colored dough into two equal parts. Press your dough into an oblong shape feeling for large air bubbles, then begin to roll your strands . Gently lengthen the strands to about 12 inches long and taper the ends.
7.Arrange the strands in a pattern, blue, pink purple, blue pink purple cover with a clean damp towel and let rest for 5 minutes.
8. To braid the loaf, pinch all the strands together, this will be the start of your braid. Pull the two outermost strands away from the two innermost strands. Take the right inner strand and twist it over the left strand. Then take the two right outermost strands together and pull them under the innermost right strand (originally the left innermost) then take the two outermost strands on the left and place them over the left innermost strand. Then take all 4 of the innermost strands and twist like you did in the beginning right over left, and repeat the process until the whole loaf is braided. Once completed pinch the ends and tuck them under.
9.Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a clean damp towel; let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes. While you preheat your oven to 350F and make your egg wash.
9.After 30min use a pastry brush to coat the exterior of the loaf with egg wash, make sure to be thorough! Bake for 30. Let rest for 30 minutes before slicing.