Spelt Challah

🧂 Ingredients

• 156 grams warm water

  (⅔ cup)
• 6 grams active dry yeast or instant yeast

  (2 teaspoons)
• 3 egg yolks

  (at room temperature)
• 43 grams oil

  (neutral, such as canola, vegetable, sunflower (3 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon))
• 85 grams honey

  (¼ cup)
• 378 grams whole grain spelt flour

  (3 cups plus 2 Tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons)
• 7 grams salt

  (1¼ teaspoons)
• 1 egg

  (beaten (egg wash))

Instructions

• 1 Pour water into mixing bowl of electric mixer. Cover with yeast and about ½
  teaspoon of the honey. Stir gently to hydrate the yeast. Let it sit for 5-10
  minutes to get foamy. (If using instant yeast, skip this step and mix your yeast
  and water in with everything else in the next step.)
• 2 Add the yolks, oil, honey, and spelt flour. With the dough hook attachment,
  knead the mixture for about 3-4 minutes until the dough is formed. You may need
  to turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
  Decrease the mixer speed to low and slowly add the salt a little at a time,
  allowing each portion to knead into the dough a bit before adding more. Increase
  the speed and continue kneading for 3-5 minutes. The dough, which will be
  slightly sticky, should pass the windowpane test, meaning if you take a small
  piece of it and stretch it between your fingers, it should be translucent
  without ripping.
• 3 Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 3 hours, until the dough has
  doubled in size.
• 4 Fold the dough over itself to gently deflate it. Divide dough into as many
  portions for the type of braid you are making. If making two smaller challahs,
  divide the dough in half and then divide each half into the number of portions
  needed for braiding. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle it with a little more
  spelt flour.
• 5 Shape challah as desired. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for
  1¼ - 1½ hours. The challah should be puffy.
• 6 Preheat oven to 350° F.
• 7 Apply egg wash. Bake 25-30 minutes. The internal temperature should be between
  190° F – 200° F.

Nutrition Info