Unicorn Challah

I have this constant to do list of things I must get done and things I want to get done. Some just keep getting transferred to the next weekly list and that was this challah. As soon as I had to slow down with my job because my pregnant body just couldn’t handle it,  I had some free time to do my little projects.

Ever since I took bread class in pastry school, I liked it but never loved it. I felt like it was slow moving and lots of wait time. This is all true but the key is patients. We did make challah once but I quickly forgot about it. Recently, I went to a challah making class and it intrigued me! The teacher taught us how to stuff it with ingredients like nutella. Once I tasted it, I thought, wow, I can totally play around with color, flavor, etc.

Though I haven’t found my favorite recipe yet, I will share with you my process of coloring and baking it. I’m still playing with the amount of egg yolks to master the perfect fluffy yet chewy texture that I love from my local bagel store who makes the best challah in my opinion. Though it seems like everyone has their own preference on texture. If you have a favorite, please share!

Follow your favorite recipe and mix dough for about 4 minutes. Take the dough out and cut into 3 pieces. Flatten each piece a bit and add color to each, pink, purple and a mixture of sky blue and yellow to make teal. You can use gloves at this point changing them between each color. Or fold it up, bringing each end together so that the color is enclosed in the center.

I added each one individually back into the mixer with the dough hook to finish being mixed making sure the color is distributed. You may have to take it out a bit to mix by hand. After, I put them in separate bowls with oil in them. Make sure to put some oil on top of the dough so that the wet paper towel doesn’t stick. Then cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight.

The next morning, roll out each piece into a long rope. Braid then cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes to rise one last time. Once the bread has risen, apply egg wash generously with a brush in every crevice and side. Bake according to your recipe instructions and viola! You now have beautiful unicorn challah!

One last thing: kids go crazy over the colors! My nieces absolutely loved it and they fought over what color they could eat. You can also slice and make into awesome french toast the following day. I have seen variations online to make it more sweet than savory with a sugary glaze over top with sprinkles.