Gingerbread Challah

Let me give you an idea as to how my mind works.

  The other night Mr. O-P and I were watching football. At one of the breaks a commercial came on for a breakfast place. Could have been Denny's, could have been IHOP, could have been Bob Evans, I really don't know, because all I heard were the words “gingerbread French toast.”  All of a sudden I started to think, ooooooh that sounds tasty.  The plate of French toast in the commercial looked as if ordinary bread had been used, but I immediately started to wonder how I could turn my challah recipe (because French toast isn't French toast, good French toast anyway, unless it is made with challah) into gingerbread challah.  Gingerbread contains molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. So I decided to substitute the honey in the original recipe for molasses and add ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. I can't tell you how amazing it smelled while it was baking; when people walked into the house they commented. As luck would have it, it tasted as good as it smelled.

Here is the recipe so you can try it yourself. It's a bit denser than plain challah because molasses is heavier than honey. It is also not sweet because it contains no sugar. It is intensely flavorful, however, and makes excellent toast, cinnamon toast, and is superb when used for a turkey sandwich. Later on I'll be trying it to make French toast. I'll let you know.

Gingerbread Challah

1 pinch saffron thread

1 tablespoon water, boiling

2 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons molasses

2/3 cup hot water (100°F-105°F)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups white bread flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1 egg, beaten

In a small bowl, soak the saffron threads in the 1 tablespoon of boiling water for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, place the beaten eggs, molasses, hot water and melted butter in a bowl. Mix well.

Add the saffron threads with the soaking water; stir and pour the mixture into the baking pan of your bread machine.

Mix the salt and spices into the flour and add to the baking pan and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Set the program to ‘dough.’

When the dough is ready (mine takes 90 minutes), transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes.

Shape the dough into a loaf and place into a greased standard loaf pan. Cover with a sheet of plastic that you have sprayed with PAM.

When the dough has nearly doubled in size (30-45 minutes), remove the plastic wrap and lightly brush the top of the loaf with the beaten egg.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and leave it to cool before serving.

This post is linked to:

Thursday Favorite Things

Full Plate Thursday

Create It Thursday 

 Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded