Challah bread

Ingredients:

700 g bread flour

1 tsp dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs  (1 for the dough preparation and another to brush on top of the dough before baking)

1/4 cup raisins

5 tbsp lukewarm water

200 ml milk, lukewarm

4 tbsp butter, at room temperature

some flour for dusting

Step 1:
Put the flour into the bowl of the mixer.
Add yeast, salt, honey, water, milk,1 egg  and the butter into the mixer. Mix it on a low speed for 5 minutes.
Then at speed 6,beat the dough for 5 more minutes until the dough comes off the hook.
You may need to remove the dough from the hook, a couple of during the mixing process. Take the dough out of the mixer when it's fully combined into an elastic ball. Knead it for roughly 3 minutes, until it takes on a smooth, shiny appearance. Place it into the oiled bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise, for 1 hour until it has doubled in volume.

Step 2:
Sprinkle little flour on a smooth surface and place the risen dough. Using your knuckles, punch it down, to get rid of all the air. Remove it from the bowl, fold the dough for one minute and cover with a cloth. Allow it to rest for a couple of minutes.
Divide the dough into two halves.Take each half and divide them again into 3 and place some raisins in it and form it into three ropes like' as shown below.

Then braid them as shown below. Add some raisins on top too.

Step 3:
Beat  1 egg and brush on top of the braided dough.
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F and bake it for 40 minutes.

Step 4:
Here you go.......a bread so soft and flavourful with a mild sweet taste is a delight by itself.