Daring Bakers' Challenge - CHALLAH!

Challah. I LOVE CHALLAH. As my first Daring Bakers Challenge, I'm pretty psyched. It's like easing me into the process. Anyways, growing up I had challah all the time. The local bagel shop had probably the best challah ever, in fact, when I go home, I usually insist on eating challah with literally every meal. So, when I found out the May Daring Bakers Challenge was challah, I was very excited. I have made challah a few times before, but since it's a long process and I don't have a recipe I love, I don't do it too often. This time, I decided to make two loves, one savory (sesame/poppy seed) and one sweet (dried cranberry). I used King Arthur Flour's Classic Challah Recipe because I've had very good luck with their other bread recipes (croissants, English muffin bread, Scali bread). I made a few changes to the recipe, but overall I thought it turned out great.

Challah

Recipe adapted from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
12 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (the original recipe calls for honey, but since I didn't have honey, I used maple syrup - I thought it worked well!)
4 large eggs
8 cups flour
4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoon instant yeast
Add-ins: Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, cranberries, etc.
For egg wash: 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water, beaten

Instructions:

1. First, mix all ingredients except add-ins and egg wash in mixer with dough hook. Mix until everything has come together into a stiff dough.
2. Split dough in two equal part, put each in a greased bowl (I used Pam) and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise for 2 hours. NOTE: If adding in anything that should be incorporated into the dough, such as cranberries, this is the time to do it. Take out your first half of dough and place it into another bowl. Use the mixer to mix the add-ins into the remaining dough half. Then place half into bowl with plastic wrap. 
3. After two hours, split each half into three small "strands." These can be short, as they will rise a bit more over the next 10 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
4. Roll each strand into long strands, maybe 15-20 inches long. Put the end of the three strands together and pinch them so they stay. Braid the loaf as you would a normal braid and pinch the other end. Put on a baking sheet with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with other loaf. Let rest and hour to an hour and a half.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put one loaf in the refrigerator (this will ensure the bread doesn't over-proof). With the other loaf, brush egg wash over entire loaf. DO NOT OVER EGG-WASH. (This happened to me on my second loaf. It was still tasty, but one side definitely tastes a bit like scrambled eggs). NOTE: If putting seeds (or anything else) on top, this is the time to add them on. Bake the loaf in the oven for 20 minutes, then put a foil tent on it and bake for another 20. Take out of the oven, you're done!
6. Repeat step 5 with the other loaf. Now you're really done!
7. HELPFUL TIP: King Arthur's website suggests placing two cookie sheets under the bread to ensure it doesn't get too crispy on bottom. I did this and the loaves turned out great! Since I did do it, I don't know how they'll turn out with only one cookie sheet, but the crust could burn or become too thick.
8. ALTERNATIVES: There are many ways to braid challah. There are 4 strand loaves, round loaves, challah rolls, etc. If you google the type you want, there are tons of tutorials out there.

 Photos of Steps 4 and 5:

 

Photos of the savory challah!

Photos of the sweet challah!