Challah for your Breadmaker

My sis-in-law gave me a breadmaker for my birthday recently (thanks again, T!) and I have been having soooo much fun trying out different recipes!  If you know me at all you know that I am the definition of a carb junkie.  I eat bread in one form or another EVERY SINGLE DAY.  PERIOD.  You'll never catch me on one of those low-carb diets.  :)  This recipe for Challah, a traditional Jewish holiday and Sabbath bread, is one of my new favorites.  It has a wonderful texture and flavor and makes excellent toast.  If you wanted to make a more traditional braid you could throw the ingredients in your breadmaker on the dough cycle and then form the loaf to your liking and bake in the oven at 350 for about 45 min.  Traditionally Challah is topped with sesame or poppy seeds, signifying the manna that fell from heaven.  I think it would be a nice touch, and easy enough to throw on at the last minute before your breadmaker starts the bake cycle. 

For a 1.5 pound loaf you will need:

3/4 c. warm water

1/3 c. butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 c. flour

1 3/4 tsp. yeast

poppy seeds or sesame seeds, optional

Layer them in in that order except seeds and bake on the sweet bread cycle.  I chose a medium crust color for mine.  If you want to add the seeds to the top, sprinkle them on when your bread is doing it's final rise, before the baking cycle begins.