
Challah in a bag! I saw a uTube presentation on Facebook yesterday, showing how simple it is to make this Jewish bread Challah, in a plastic bag. The video was produced by, “The Lazy Cook’s Challah”. If you’re interested to watch the video, the link is
http://www.yourjstory.com/jewlish/lazy-cooks-challah-bag-easy-delicious/
As we were short of bread next day for breakfast, I decided to give this “full proof” recipe a try.

All the ingredients in a bag!
Ingredients:
Into a 1 gallon plastic zip log bag place the following:
1 tbsp dried instant yeast;
1 cup warm water;
3 tbsp sugar;
1/2 tbsp sea salt;
1/3 cup olive oil.

Squeeze the mixture around inside the bag.
Method:
Mix all these all these 5 ingredients by shaking the bag, and then add:
3 cups of Flour.
You will need an egg and some sesame seeds for the topping. Also reserve another 1/4 cup flour for later use.

The dough mixture proofing in warm water.
Having added all the above ingredients into the plastic bag, squeeze the mixture around to mix them up, and then leave the bag soaking in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes.
After this time, remove the bag and flip the contents every 20 minutes for the next hour, proofing the dough on the table.
At the end of an hour, add in the 1/4 cup flour and mix this up again. This makes the dough not stick to the bag, and then proof the dough for another 1 1/2 hours. Meantime heat up the oven to 200˚ C.
After the final proofing time, divide the dough into three equal portions, roll each portion in a long strand and braid these together.
After proofing further for 15 minutes, baste the braided strands with egg and sprinkle sesame seeds.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cooling on a metal rack.

The sliced Challah. Crumbly, delicately soft and delicious!
Comments:
I ran into some problems midway while proofing the bag of mixture in the warm water, as the bag started to leak! So I transferred the entire mixture into a glass bowl and continued from there!
I find that the proportions of sugar, yeast and salt on the very high side. You can, I know, get by with teaspoons not tablespoons as the recipe indicates.
I would further proof the braided strands of dough for more than 15 mins. and not as the recipe indicates.
“Don’t feed your body and keep your spirit starving. Butter bread for your body and living bread for your spirit. Read the Bible every day and keep your spirit away from hunger.”
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