4 cups of water-should be warm
4 packets active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 (5-pound) bag of bread flour (you can take out some cups of white flour
and in some whole wheat flour)
1 ½ cups of sugar
1 ½ Tablespoon of salt
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups of canola or corn oil
1 large egg lightly beaten
Combine water, yeast and 1 Tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Let mixture sit until it bubbles (about 10 min)
Place flour in a large aluminum bowl, remove 2 cups and set aside for another use. Stir in 1 ½ cups of sugar and salt mixing well; Push the flour against the sides of the bowl, leaving a well in the center.
Pour the yeast mixture, 3 eggs, and 1 ½ cups oil into the well.
Mix with a wooden spoon until you can no longer stir it.
Knead the dough with your hands until it no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. The dough should be smooth and springy. If the dough is still very sticky, knead in a small amount of flour until smooth.
Brush the top of the dough with oil, cover with a clean plastic garbage bag (kitchen
size). Let rise for 1 ½ hours in a warm room.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down.
At this point you should slice a fist size piece and make a bracha.
Divide the dough into 6 equal potions. You can braid into a 3 braid, 4 braid or 6 braid or even make challah twist rolls.
Place shaped loaves into greased pans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Brush challah with beaten egg and let rise for 45-min to 1 hour.
Bake challot 25-30 min until golden brown, and challah sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.
Special trick, place a small tray of ice cubes on the lower shelf while challah is baking for a crisper crust.