Salted Caramel Challah

Whelp its official, I’ve got that summertime sadness! This has been the craziest winter with a whopping 100.2 inches of snow. We only need 7.4 more inches to break the record set during the winter of 1995-96 for the snowiest season on record. I am not going to lie, the snow days have been nice but beyond that it has been excessive! We’ve even had to shovel the grass so Bailey could go outside. To help bring back summer we found a summertime challah that we forgot to blog. So this Thursday we are throwing it all the way back to Fourth of July weekend to our delicious salted caramel white chocolate chip and health bar challah. This amazing combination is sure to help shake off the winter blues whether you are buried in 100.2 inches of snow or not!

Little Lindsey and Jennifer loved playing in the snow! We had a huge backyard growing up with a nice steep hill that was perfect for sledding. Even though we are supposed to be getting older and more mature, the inner kid in us still cant resist sledding and building snow men (and the occasional snow dog).

Recipe: (makes 2 loaves)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Salted Caramel Spread (we used Jiff)
White Chocolate Chips
Heath Toffee Chips

Mix water, yeast, honey and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed. Add flour and salt. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air.

Separate the dough and roll out each ball into a strand. Place a layer of salted caramel spread on each strand then put white chocolate chips and heath toffee chips on top. I did a 3 strand challah, but you can do whatever shape you want.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook.

This challah was the so great and gooey!!!

Even Ally and Katie Loved the Challah... back in July!!