Twisted, sweet, almost brioche-like bread, it’s a festive and impressive appearance of bread!

Ingredients (for two big challah breads):

For the dough:

• 1kg sifted flour
• 2 tbsp dry yeast
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup oil or 75g butter
• 1/5 tsp salt
• 2.5 – 3 cups lukewarm water or milk
• Handful of raisins

For brushing:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• Sesame or poppy seeds for decoration

Instructions:

Dough:

1. Mix eggs, milk/water, and oil
2. Add butter or oil and mix well
3. Add the sifted flour and yeast and mix
4. Mix and knead till you get a smooth dough – if needed, gradually add more water or milk to help with this (Adding extra milk can make the dough sticky, but that’s ok)
5. Add raisins
6. Knead the dough for another 10 minutes until smooth, elastic, and soft
7. Form into a ball, sprinkle some oil on it and transfer to a bowl
8. Cover with plastic wrap, rise at room temperature until doubled in volume
9. Remove air from dough and divide into two balls

Braiding:

1. To make a 4-braid challah, take one ball of dough and divide into 4 separate balls
2. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide
3. Place the 4 in a row, parallel to one another, and twist them
4. Continue until all strands are braided

Baking:

1. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches between them
2. Cover and allow to rise till doubled in size
3. Heat the oven to 350F in turbo mode
4. Beat and egg yolk and a spoonful of milk and brush gently over the bread
5. Sprinkle sesame/poppy seeds on each challah
6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until nicely browned
7. Allow to cool completely