Honey Challah with Flax

I baked a challah last week and thank goodness I took these pictures quickly because even with just the two of us it disappeared fast.  One of my new year's resolutions was to bake more bread, that and lose weight, talk about unclear on the concept, oh well. This recipe for a healthier challah with spelt flour, honey and whole meal flax comes from King Arthurs Flour.  I forgot how good fresh baked yeast bread makes the house smell and how wonderful a piece of warm bread drizzled with honey tastes.  My challah didn't make it to the tailgate before the heart breaking 49ers game yesterday but it's just as well because even without fresh bread we shared an amazing spread with our friends and family in the parking lot before the game.
We left our house at 9:30am, made one stop in the city to pick up friends who came in from New Mexico for the game.  By the time we arrived at the first freeway exit for the stadium around 10:15am for a 3:30pm game the traffic was already backing up.  We made the right decision to get off the freeway and go around the back of the stadium to wait in traffic as the parking lot was still closed, everybody who stayed on the freeway was stuck in horrible traffic as they inched their way into the lot when it finally opened.  It was pouring rain when we arrived but we weren't the first ones in our group and thankfully we had a pop up to stand under while the grill was fired up and a first course of barbecued oysters was served followed by tri tip, sausages, chicken and vegetable skewers.  The rest of our group trickled into the lot and eventually we were around 20 people huddling together eating and drinking wine in the rainy, windy and flooded parking lot- a great bonding moment for all the tailgating 49er faithful fans.  The people next to us were making tacos and generously shared one with me which made me remember to share my peanut butter truffle brownies and glazed truffle brownies, recipes from the brownie collection(35 recipes!!!) of Lizzy at That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!   They received rave reviews both in the lot before the game as well as in the press box.

As I mentioned earlier, the 49ers loss to the New York Giants was a heart breaker for all of us 49er faithful fans.  To say the least the home crowd was subdued walking back to the car in the rain after the game.  We were so close to ending our journey with a trip to the Super Bowl after such a winning season.  I am very proud of the 49ers season, the efforts of the team and our son Taylor Price. We had a great run and once again I am very proud to be a 49 faithful, just sorry to see our season with this great group of guys end!

Ingredients And Directions For Honey Challah With Flax

Adapted From King Arthur's Flour

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup grape seed oil

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon raw local honey, I used Bee-Happy Honey

2 large eggs

1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup whole flax meal

1 & 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 package active dry yeast

Place warm water in a small bowl, stir in teaspoon of honey, sprinkle yeast on top and set aside for a few minutes to bubble up.

In another bowl stir together the flours, whole flax meal and sea salt, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook pour in the yeast mixture, oil, the rest of the honey and the eggs and stir to combine.  Dump in the flour mixture and mix on a medium speed until you have a smooth, slightly sticky ball of dough that climbs up the dough hook.  Remove the dough from the mixer, place in a slightly oiled large bowl, cover and place in a draft free spot for about 2 hours.  The dough should be double in size before you remove it from the bowl.  Gently deflate the dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough in 3 equal pieces to make a three strand braided challah.  Roll each piece into a rope and braid together.  Carefully pick up your loaf of bread and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Cover with a lightly oiled sheet of plastic wrap.  Allow to rise until very puffy, not quite double in size, about 60-90 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350F towards the end of the second rise.  For a darker brown shiny crust on your challah make an egg glaze by whisking an egg and a drop of water together in a small bowl.  Brush this egg glaze over the top of your challah and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you desire.  Bake for around 25 minutes until the crust is shiny and brown and the loaf sounds hollow when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.  Remove your challah from the oven and allow to cool on a metal rack.

Makes one beautiful challah!