Harissa tomato challah 辣味番茄哈拉麵包

Harissa tomato challah 辣味番茄哈拉麵包
Yield 1 medium loaf

Dough Ingredients 

• Sun dried tomato, 90g

• Water 80g at 110-115F

• Yeast 10g

• Sugar 12g + 40g

• Egg 1 large

• Yolk 2 , reserve the egg white for egg wash

• Chili oil 20g 

• Bread Flour 295-320g

• Tomato powder 20g

• Harissa powder, 5g

Steps

1. Soak the sun dried tomato in cold water for 20 minutes. Drained and finely chopped. You will get around 60-65g of chopped sundried tomato.

2. Put the yeast in the water with 12g of sugar in the mixing bowl, wait for several minutes until the mixture is foamy and activated.

3. Add in the remaining 40g of sugar, chili oil, whole egg and the yolks, mix a little. 

4. Mix 295g of the flour together with the tomato powder and harissa powder and add it into the bowl of the wet ingredients. Knead the dough until it starts to form into a dough shape. Knead in the chopped sun dried tomato. The dough might be a bit wet and sticky at first, but the texture will be a lot better if you continue to knead and the gluten has a chance to develop. Add more flour if absolutely needed but do not over flour it. Continue to knead until the dough is not sticky anymore, smooth and elastic.

5. Transfer the dough to an oiled container, cover and let it rest until it’s doubled in volume. (about 2-3 hours)

6. Punch down the dough, cover, and rest for another 30 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Divide the dough into equal portions, shape into round, cover and rest for 10 minutes 

8. Roll each dough out into long strips and braid them into challah. Transfer the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Cover and do a final proofing until when you press down the dough it slowly rises back up halfway. About 60-90 minutes, depending on the weather and temperature.

9. Preheat the oven to 375F. Whisk the remaining egg white to make the egg wash.

10. Once proofed, brush on the egg wash. Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350F. Bake for 25-30 minutes for regular challah, and 15-18 minutes for mini challah. Cool on a rack before serving.