challah virus

Almost a month ago I caught  a virus called challah. The symptoms are pretty easy to describe, during night you knead challah dough and it repeats night after night until you use all duck eggs. And no, the recipe does not require duck eggs but it happened that I got one of the best gifts recently from my foodie friend Smiljana. She gave me free range duck eggs and I started to knead and bake like crazy. And not any recipe for basic challah dough, but the very special one from the Molly on the Range cookbook recently written by Molly Yeh, quin of sprinkles. Have to say that so far I only tried her mouthwatering cake recipes but the contagious video for this bread recipe was shared by Betty Liu - scallion pancake challah. And all is true, this dough is amazingly simple to make, trust the more experience blogger and follow all the steps described and you will end up making it on a regular basis. 

Scallion Pancake Challah / Adopted from Betty Liu / Recipe: Molly Yeh

makes 2 loaves

Basic Challah Dough 
4 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1  1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon plus 1/4 cup sugar
6 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 large eggs (duck eggs for golden yellow color)
2/3 cup flavorless oil
1/4 cup additional sweetener: sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses
egg wash: 1 large egg yolk (duck egg yolk for getting this shiny crust on top) + 1 tbsp water
In a medium bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the flour, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and additional sweetener.
When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with the dough hook until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough. 7-10 minutes, adding more white flour as necessary.
Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. Or, stick in the fridge overnight and let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour before shaping.

For scallion pancake challah
6 scallions, minced
3 tbsp sesame oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
salt and black pepper
crushed red pepper
egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water
toasted sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 190C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Divide dough into 2 parts. Put one aside and cover with plastic wrap. Divide the other half into 3 equal parts and roll into 12 inch logs. Gently flatten each log so that it is about 3 inches wide. Brush with sesame oil, sprinkle with scallions, salt, black pepper, red pepper. Roll logs up lengthwise and pinch seams to seal. Lay logs next to each other and pinch them together at one end (see GIFs by clicking on Betty Liu name above). Braid and pinch at other end. Place loaf on parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with other half of dough. Let rise 30 minutes.
Brush loaves with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and black pepper coarse sea salt.
Bake until loaf is golden brown and has an internal temperature of 190F, around 28 minutes (30 minutes in my case :)).

This bread is really special, please make it and taste it. This virus is worth of spreading!!