For the Dough

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbl instant yeast
1 1/2 Tbl salt
4 lg eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Olio Verde (not Novello)
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Filling

Nutella spread

roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

For the Egg Wash

1 egg + 1T water

Note: This recipe makes enough for 2 loaves. Since this bread goes so fast and is best the day it is baked, I usually split the dough in half, making one  and leaving the other half  in the fridge to make the next day or so when the other has already been gobbled up!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the eggs, water, honey, olive oil, yeast and salt and stir on low to combine. Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook attachment, turn the machine on low again and gradually add in the flour. Stir until you do not see any more dry bits of flour. Cover (not airtight) and stick it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days. The longer you let it rise in the refrigerator, the better tasting the dough will be. However, if you need the dough sooner, you can let it rise for 2 hours on your kitchen the counter.  The dough will still be good, but definitely not as good as if you had let it sit 1-4 days in the refrigerator.

Once the dough has risen sufficiently, take it out of the fridge, turn it out onto a floured board and form it into a ball. Cut the ball in half with a dough scraper and either put one half back into the fridge for another time, or make both loaves the following way:

Generously flour the dough and your hands and knead it for a few minutes. Use the palm of your hands to roll the dough into a thick, even log. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces using a dough scraper (it is easier to get even pieces when the dough isn’t round). Now roll each piece with your hands to stretch it into a long 1 1/2 inch thick rope. The easiest way to do this is to place the dough on the counter and roll back and forth with the palms of your hands, starting in the middle and working outwards.

At this point you could either braid the 3 ropes together and continue the process to make plain challah bread, or you could fill each braid with your favorite spread (I chose Nutella) and turn it into something sweet! To do this, create an indent in each dough rope using the side of your hand. Slather each indent with a fair amount of Nutella (you have to eyeball it, not enough Nutella and you’ll wish you’d added more, but too much and it will be hard to close the dough around it, making it seep out in the oven) and bring up the sides of the dough, encasing the Nutella, and pinch it shut. Don’t worry if its messy, it doesn’t have to be perfect!

Next, connect the three ropes of dough at one end and braid. Pinch the ends and tuck them under. Transfer (carefully!) the braided loaf onto the baking sheet and brush with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350°F 20 minutes before the rising time is over.

When it’s time to bake, uncover the dough, brush with the egg wash again, and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Place in the oven, on the center rack, and bake for 25 minutes. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes and then tranfer to a wire rack to continue cooling (the moisture it releases gathers underneath and could make the bread soggy). Let it cool another 20 minutes before cutting. Technically, this bread should be good for about 2 days if you store it covered, but it NEVER lasts that long!

So there you have it! It may sound complicated, but all it really takes is some time organization. If you know when you want to make it, just make the dough a day or two in advance! It’s definitely worth it! It’s not too sweet, so it’s great for breakfast, or as an afternoon snack, although it may be too much as a dessert after a meal, it is a bread after all!

Obviously, you could fill the dough with any jam or spread and cover with any one kind or variety of toasted chopped nuts. Apple butter and chopped walnuts? Raspberry jam and chopped almonds? Another ridiculously delicious alternative is to fill the bread with Gabriella’s selected Alicos Pistachio Cream spread (available soon at www.keytosicily.com) and top with roasted chopped pistachios! It’s amazing!