Hatch Chili and Roasted Red Pepper Challah Bread Recipe

Hatch Chili and Roasted Red Pepper Challah Bread

There are a few places that make first rate bread in Metro Phoenix AZ but the majority of breads I tried here are very disappointing particularly Challah Bread. It seems that people here don’t add eggs or add almost no eggs to the bread. Challah bread that I’ve tried here looks white and shouldn’t look and taste white. Challah is an egg bread that’s similar to brioche and it is suppose to be an eggy bread. The main difference between Challah and Brioche is that Challah must be braided. The secondary difference is that Brioche is very rich and contains butter and challah isn’t suppose to contain dairy. I don’t mean to brag but these challah breads came out FORKING AWSOME! The breads came out moist and flavorful with a nice texture. I thought adding the hatch chili and roasted red pepper would add a nice taste to the bread and would make tasty sandwiches. The only thing I didn’t expect was that while I was formulating this recipe it got to be a big batch and makes two loaves that are very large. After I got my ingredients together I needed to use my stand mixer (kitchen aid) and it just barely was able to hold all the dough. You might want to consider cutting the recipe in half if your mixer bowl is smaller than 5 quarts. I do note that different brands of flour, different ovens and different climates do produce slightly different results but it should be very close.

Ingredients for two large Challah Breads at least 20 servings.

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 oz + 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (one 1/4 oz pack + 1 teaspoon)

2 cups water (100 – 110 degrees F or to follow active dry year instructions)

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon 100% pure honey (1 Tablespoon is for egg wash)

7 1/2 cups bread flour (plus extra for handling)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons course sea salt

7 XL eggs (3 for bread, 4 for egg wash)

3 XL egg yolks

3 oz hatch chili – fire roasted with stem, seeds and most of skin removed – chopped

1 roasted red bell pepper – stem, seeds and skin removed – chopped

3 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions

In a large bowl add the sugar, yeast and water and place in a warm place. Wait for the yeast to grow. (15-30 minutes)

Mix in 1/2 cup honey. Add about half the flour and mix. Add olive oil, 3 eggs, yolks, salt, all the peppers and rest of flour. Place dough in stand mixer and start low and turn up to medium speed and let it go till the dough pulls away clean from bowl.

Add a little flour to a bowl and form a dough ball the best you can and add a little flour to the top and place in a warm place till at least doubled in size. Take your time.

About 2 hours latter the dough looked like this.

Punch the dough down and knead. Then cut the dough in half for two loaves.

With one half of the dough make three long pieces that you will braid on a slightly floured surface.

Got a visitor in the kitchen.

Place braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Don’t worry if the braids don’t look so great. They need to sit in a warm place till they double and will get better. Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

Now they doubled. Mix the 4 eggs with the one Tablespoon of honey and brush it on the loaves twice. Apply sesame seeds.

Place one loaf in the oven. After 15 minutes brush the loaf with egg wash again put aluminum foil loosely over the bread so it doesn’t get too dark and put back in for about 10 minutes or until done.

Repeat with second loaf.

I found that both loaves took 25 minutes in my oven on the middle rack. I baked the breads one at a time because my oven seems to work more efficient that way.