Vegan Challah Bread

I love bread.  I love bread. I love bread.  I know it's not the best thing in the world to eat but come on-sometimes you NEED bread ! At least I do.  I've had some of the best bread I've ever had since becoming vegan.  There are still a lot of recipes I want to try but I've been stuck on one in particular just because I love it so much.  I cannot tell you where the original came from- as I do not know.  And I've made some slight modifications to the recipe I was initially given.  I do thank whoever originated it, as do my family and friends.   I use this bread when we have pasta, when I make black bean and salsa soup, when I eat chili, when I really want bread.

This recipe makes a huge amount of bread (2 full loaves) and really should be eaten in a day or two so I usually plan accordingly or give a loaf away.

Ingredients

1 tbsp ground flax

2 cups plus 3 tbsp very warm water

5 tsp yeast

1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 tbsp salt

5-7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1 tbsp dried herbs- basil, oregano, tomato mixture I think Mrs Dash makes a blend including them

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1) In a small bowl, mix together flax and 3 tbsp water and set aside.
2) In a large bowl combine 2 cups of water with yeast and 1tbsp sugar.  Set aside 5-7 minutes, mixture should get bubbly
3) In another small bow mix vegetable oil with dried herbs and garlic salt - set aside
4) In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, salt and 2 cups flour.  Add flour mixture to yeast and stir to combine
5) Add flax mixture, oil mixture and 3 cups of flour- mix until forms tacky ball- add more flour if wet or sticky (I do not kneed it by hand but I use my kitchen aid, if you do not have one you may want to kneed a few minutes)
6) Oil a large bowl and place dough into it, turning to coat.  Cover the bowl and set aside in warm place for 1 hour.
7) Punch down the bread and divide into half.  Take one half and divide again into 3 parts- roll into long strands and braid together.  Do the same for the other half.  Set both braided parts onto a parchment covered cookie sheet and cover and allow to rise for another hour.
8) Preheat oven to 375
9) Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

We normally just pull this bread apart and enjoy while it's still warm.  You can warm it a few seconds in the microwave if you're eating it the next day or pop it back into a warm oven for a few minutes.   This bread does not get a really thick crust, the insides are light, soft and full of flavor- dip away, butter it up or eat hot and plain- Either way so delicious!

Nutrition Facts Vegan Challah Bread
10 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		337.5
Total Fat		5.9 g
	Saturated Fat	4.0 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		672.9 mg
Potassium		34.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		22.5 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.8 g
	Sugars	7.4 g
Protein		7.6 g

Vitamin A	0.0 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	0.0 %
Vitamin C	0.0 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	4.0 %
Calcium	0.1 %
Copper	0.0 %
Folate	24.0 %
Iron	14.6 %
Magnesium	0.0 %
Manganese	0.0 %
Niacin	19.2 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.0 %
Phosphorus	0.0 %
Riboflavin	0.0 %
Selenium	0.0 %
Thiamin	24.0 %
Zinc	0.0 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.