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This recipe makes four 1-pound loaves, and the dough will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator, or 4 weeks frozen.
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To make the dough, mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, melted butter or oil, and water in a bowl or container (at least 5-qt in size) that you can cover later. Using a wooden spoon (or a food processor or mixer with the dough attachment), mix in the flour. No need to knead. Mix until there are no more dry streaks of flour left.
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Cover (but not airtight) and let rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. The dough will rise and then fall down a bit. When it does, it's done and you can either use it immediately or store it in the refrigerator. The dough is quite sticky and easier to handle cold.
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When ready to bake, take a cookie sheet and either grease it, line it with parchment paper, or lay a silicone mat in it. Dust some flour on the surface of the dough and take a 1-pound chunk of dough (about the size of a grapefruit). Dust it with a bit more flour and quickly shape it the way you would a boule, gently pulling the sides of the dough toward the bottom while rotating the dough. It should take you less than a minute to do this.
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To make a braided loaf, divide the dough into three portions and roll each portion into a long rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. When you have the ropes shaped, braid them starting from the center and working toward one end, then turn it over and work again toward the other end. This gives you a more evenly-shaped braid.
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Let the loaf rest and rise on the cookie sheet for at least 40 minutes if fresh, and at least 1 hour and 20 minutes if it was refrigerated. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If baking it in a cookie sheet and not a stone (which is what I did), the oven only needs to preheat for about 5 minutes. Brush the dough with the egg wash, then sprinkle it with the poppy or sesame seeds.
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Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 25-35 minutes, adjusting the time if you are baking different-sized loaves. When done, the challah will be golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf will give resistance when pressed. Challah doesn't have the hard crust of a boule because of the fat in the dough. Let it cool first before eating, but I don't follow that last step.
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(Recipe shared with the permission of the authors of Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day.)
