Comforting Challah Bread

Yields 4 – 8

Ingredients:

1 packet of Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast (or 2 teaspoons of any other kind of yeast)

1 teaspoon honey + 3 tablespoons honey

⅔ cups warm water

⅓ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

4 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips, more if desired (optional)

2 eggs, scrambled for egg wash

Instructions:

1. Add the packet of yeast into a bowl large enough to hold risen dough.
2. Add 1 teaspoon honey and ⅔ cups of warm water. Mix thoroughly with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes. This will allow the yeast to bloom.
3. Add the 3 tablespoons of honey, olive oil, salt, and eggs to the yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. 
4. Add the 4 cups of all purpose flour, one cup at a time, to this mixture. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until dough begins to come together.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl (clean and dry this bowl for later use) and place onto a clean floured surface area. Remove any excess dough from the wooden spoon and add to the dough. 
6. Knead dough into a smooth ball, approximately 5 minutes. Place kneaded dough back into the clean and dry bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise for 1 hour. After an hour, gently remove the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface area and cut into quarters. 
7. Roll each quarter of dough into ropes. (Optional: dot the dough with chocolate chips and pinch to close.)
8. Create a # (number sign or hashtag) with the dough, overlapping each rope. 
9. Cross the ends of the # and tuck underneath the dough, creating a circle-shaped braided dough.
10. Brush the braided dough gently with the egg wash. Keep remaining egg wash in the fridge for later use. Place braided dough gently onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. 
11. Let this braided dough rise for another hour on a countertop.
12. After an hour, brush the risen braided dough with the egg wash a second time.

Baking the challah dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. 
2. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet in the oven on the 15-minute mark. (Note: Check the challah on the 15-minute mark to see how quickly it’s turning color. If it’s getting dark very quickly, you can bake for another 5 minutes or turn the oven off and keep it in the oven so that the residual heat will finish baking it.