Scallion Pancake Challah

After make the dough, put it in bowl with cooking spray for at least 2 hours, and cover with saran wrap.

My dough sat in the bowl for 3 hours and this is how much it rose! the dough is really soft to work with. 

Shape the dough into a rectangle with a little flour on the surface so that it doesn't stick

Cut the dough with a pastry cutter

Then spread with sesame oil, salt, pepper, scallions, and red pepper flakes

roll up each of the 3 pieces of dough

then you braid it, and cover it with saran wrap for another 30 min. 

Then before baking, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds

I made 2 loafs with this recipe, one with Nutella and the other with sesame and scallions

My first time making challah!! Wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It does take a minimum of 3-4 hours (2 hours for dough to sit, then shaping, then 30 more min of dough sitting and finally 30 min of baking). I made the dough before dinner, and then after 3 hours, baked the bough the night before.  I was able to make 2 loafs of challah out of this, one with sesame, and the other with Nutella.

I baked it at 375 for 20 min, and then additional 5 min at 325. Made this the night before for dinner the following night. Next time, maybe would bake it a little less.  Also, would put more scallions and salt next time!

Here’s a helpful video of Molly making the challah: https://www.tastemade.com/videos/scallion-pancake-challah

Scallion Pancake Challah (~from Molly Yeh’s cookbook, Molly on the Range)

Ingredients

Basic Challah Dough

·    2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast

·    ¾ cup warm water

·    1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons sugar

·    3¼ cups flour, plus more for dusting

·    1 teaspoon kosher salt

·    2 large eggs

·    ⅓ cup flavorless oil

·    2 tablespoons additional sweetener: sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses

·    Egg wash: 1 large egg yolk + 1 tbsp water

For Scallion Pancake Challah

·     3 scallions, minced

·     1½ tablespoons sesame oil

·     Salt and black pepper

·     Crushed red pepper

·     Toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1.     First, make the challah dough. 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.

2.     Meanwhile, in a large bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the flour, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and honey.

3.     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.

4.     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.

5.     Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

6.     Divide dough 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. Braid and pinch at other end. Place loaf on parchment lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with a towel and let rise 30 minutes.

7.     Brush loaves with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and black pepper.

8.     Bake until loaf is golden brown and has an internal temperature of 190F, around 28 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy!