Glazed Donut Muffins

I'm not sure it gets any better than donuts. I love chocolate, cake, candy, ice cream - any sweet food under the sun! But donuts are where it's at. If I drive by a DD it takes everything in me to not stop and get 2 a donuts. Naturally I was drawn to this recipe.

I baked them up and they sit in my freezer until I pop one out. I usually try to take slivers at a time to make it last half the day

I went with the double dip method on the glaze and next time I would even triple dip, because I had enough icing left over. I would cook them at the 15 minute mark too. Last time I did 17 and I just find the very bottom a little too done for me, but overall these are a keeper!

Glazed Donut Muffins (from My Baking Addiction) - makes 12
 1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 to 1 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg, to taste (I used ¾)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

Glaze
3 tablespoons butter; melted

1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water


Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth.

Add the eggs, beating to combine.

Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.

Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.

In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.

When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. I glazed my muffins twice.

Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day or store in the freezer, individually wrapped.

Cinnamon Baked French Toast

Overnight French Toast has really made its mark on the blog world over the past 2 years or so. I've been wanting to try it, but put it on that Christmas Morning list that I told you about before. I decided to go with this Pioneer Woman version. It was sweet with a crunchy cinnamon topping, which added a lot of texture and flavor. I loved that it made a lot so we were able to eat it over a few days, but also that I did all of my work ahead of time.

I am still wanting to try a lot more recipes. There are some blueberry ones and some with no topping that look completely delicious, but I always know that I have this one up my sleeve. Have you tried an overnight breakfast dish yet? It's perfect for if you have company or if you know you will jsut want to be lazy in the morning. Hey, that's how I feel everyday!

Cinnamon Baked French Toast (from Pioneer Woman)
1 loaf French Bread - I used sourdough
8 large eggs
2 cups milk (we used skim, but Ree uses whole)
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¾ cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Tear French bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly place in the pan.


In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour evenly over bread. Cover pan with saran wrap and store in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture using a fork or your hands. Combine until the mixture resembles sand with a few pea sized chunks. Cover and store mixture in the refrigerator.

When you’re ready to bake the French toast, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from refrigerator and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the French toast is set and golden brown.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Cream Cheese Danish

Any kind of cheese is fine by me. Add it to something sweet and it's even better. I remember eating entenmanns cheese danish when I was younger. It was a treat and I really loved it. Soemtimes when I pass it in the store I am so tempted to purchase it - but being the only sweet eating in my house, I bring myself back to the reality that I would gain 5 pounds if I put it in my cart. Come on Remy, grow up and eat lots of good stuff with Mommy!!

This past year I really wanted to try out some recipes to become traditional holiday foods. So this was on my Christmas morning list. Surprisingly, Adam liked it! He is not a sweet eater at all, as I've mentioned before, so I was loving that he enjoyed it. I made it the night before but it was easy enough that I should have made it that morning.

Next time I would love to try this individual cheese danish recipe. They look so yummy!

Cream Cheese Danish (from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl)
2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan.

Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes

Soft Pretzels

I don't think that I know anyone who doesn't like a soft pretzel. They're warm, soft, sweet and salty and you dip them into condiments. Like cheese and mustard. Yum.

They are also surprisingly easy to make! I usually make bite sized ones but I tried a new recipe and made regular ole pretzels this time. They were a hit and I will continue to make these. You can easily make these bite sized nuggets instead of full sized as well.

I also think it would be interesting to change up the toppings. How about a sesame or poppy seed pretzel? everything? cinnamon/sugar?? Go Crazy!


Soft Pretzels (from Alton Brown)
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

Since it's our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as our own little family, I really wanted to start some traditions. I am carrying on the new pjs on christmas eve tradition that my family always had, but I wanted more. I had found this recipe and marked it under 'Christmas Baking' so that I would easily remember it. When we trimmed our tree, I had this sitting out to snack on. Maybe thats why Adam didn't actually put any ornaments on? Im not sure, but I do know that I want this to become a yearly thing.

I would bake it a couple of minutes less than the suggested 25, but I like everything just slightly gooey. And it made a perfect breakfast for the next morning, too. Like I said before, back to healthy eating for me. I dont even want to imagine the calorie count in this loaf, which we ate in under 24 hours.

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread (from My Chocolate Therapy)
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dried active yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup butter, melted

For the Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
hot water

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, place the cornstarch, sugar, yeast, salt and 2 cups of flour.

Heat the milk and butter together in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and add the water. Let this cool for about a minute, then add the vanilla, and pour all the liquid into the bowl with the flour. Stir this all together until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Start the mixer on a low speed as you add the eggs one at a time until they're just incorporated. Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup more flour to the bowl. Mix again at low speed for about half a minute. Add 2 more tbsp of flour and mix in on medium speed until you get a smooth, slightly sticky dough (about 45 seconds).

On a work surface sprinkled with 2 tbsp of flour, knead the dough until it's not sticky (about 1 minute). Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size which should take about an hour.


While the dough rises, make the filling by combining the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour your work surface and gently tip the dough onto it, sprinkling a little more flour on top of the dough. Roll the dough out into roughly a 40 x 40 cm square, then brush about 2/3 of the butter over the entire surface of the dough.

Sprinkle 3/4 of the filling mixture evenly on top of the butter on the dough, then roll the dough tightly into a log.

Place the log horizontally on your work surface. Take a piece of thread and place it vertically on your work surface. With the thread still vertical, place log on top of the middle of the thread. Move the thread to the left or right, so it is still under the dough, and is 1 cm in from the end of the log. Take the ends of the thread and hold them above the log. Cross them over each other once and pull them away from each other until the thread has cut through the dough completely.

On a piece of baking paper, use a rolling pin to flatten each slice to 3-4 mm thick (or just flatten in your hand like I did) Brush the top of each flattened slice with a little of the remaining melted butter, ans sprinkle on about 3/4 tsp of filling mixture. Place them on top of each other so you have 4-5 stacks each containing about 5 slices.

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place your stacks of dough into the greased loaf pan, cover loosely with clingfilm, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes

Bake the bread for 25-35 minutes when it should be golden brown on top. (like I said, I baked for 25 minutes and it was slightly more cooked then I prefer). Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Meanwhile make the glaze by stirring the vanilla then the hot water, a little at a time into the powdered sugar in a small bowl until you get a slightly runny icing.

Turn the loaf onto your plate and drizzle the icing overtop.

 

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

In 1 week we will all be ready for fall. Pools will be closed and the temps will slowly begin to subside across the country. By the end of September we should have average highs of only 79 here - so perfect! I made these muffins a month or so ago and have them stashed in my freezer. I needed a taste of fall and wanted to test out this extremely simple recipe.

There's only 40 calories in a mini muffin which won't break your calorie bank and these go great with a cup of joe - but don't think that this is a substitue for true pumpkin bread. It lacks some flavor and could use some pumpkin pie spice and ground cloves mixed in. But theres no need to really tweak this - make it when you're in a pinch but save your pumpkin bread recipe for when you need a true slice of pumpkin-y goodness!

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
1 box Spice Cake mix
1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree

Mix both together and pour into muffin tins, large or small.

Bake for 15 minutes for minis and 25 for larger - I suggest checking them regularly though, so that you do not over bake.

Top O the (Blueberry) Muffin to You!

It isn't very often that I bake something that Adam will eat. In fact, unless we have cookies (in the freezer) or cookie cake, he really doesn't eat baked goods. I found these muffin tops on pinterest and thought I'd bake them up since I've had 1 cup of blueberries in my freezer for a little while now, with no real vision for them.

I failed to get any kind of decent photo of these, and its a shame because they really are very tasty! Even Adam raved about them, twice. Which let me tell you, that doesn't happen often. They are perfect for company or to throw in the freezer, individually wrapped, for a snack or breakfast on the go. Personally, I would throw in more blueberries next time. I will also put in some of the juice to make them more blueberry throughout, like the original posters photos. Either way, it's Goodbye stumps and hello tops. Oh, and try to not think of the Seinfeld episode while you bake and eat these - I bet you can't do it!

Blueberry Muffin Tops (from Iowa Girl Eats)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla and everything was still a-ok)
2 teaspoon lemon zest, about 1 lemon
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.

 In the bowl of your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add in egg and beat until combined. Add milk, almond extract and lemon zest then beat until combined.

Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. The dough will seem too thick, but just keep at it!

Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, then shape into large balls.

Bake 6 to a baking sheet for 13-15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the bottom, and set on top.

Do not overbake, Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool all the way. If you don't plan to eat these all immediately, once they cool wrap each top in plastic wrap and then put them all into a gallon freezer ziploc and freeze.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Soft pretzels remind me of attending baseball games, basketball games and fairs. I love a good soft pretzel - the warm doughy inside combined with a crusty, salty outside is just divine in my book. Sure, you can pop a Pretzel Time pretzel in your microwave for 45 seconds, but it just isn't the same as one of those big, warm ones that you buy out.

I haven't actually made my own pretzels before now, but I knew that it was about time I made a pass at it. And what better time than superbowl, really? You probably have all of the ingredients in your home and it's perfect for game days, parties, guests, or just a special snack. These were really easy and good - we ate so many that we couldn't fit our main course in. I also had success putting the leftovers in the freezer, just pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds or so and you can re-live the experience again :)

Soft Pretzel Bites (from Beantown Baker, originally from Bobby Flay)
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1pkg active dry yeast
6 Tbsp butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 – 5 cups flour
2 quarts water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten plus 1 tbsp water
course sea salt for topping

 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or dough hook, combine brown sugar, yeast, melted butter and water. Give a quick mix, then let sit for 5 minutes or until slightly puffy.

Add salt and flour to wet mixture. Mix on low speed, gradually increasing the speed to medium. Continue mixing until all flour is incorporated and the dough is pulling away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add additional flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is no longer super sticky. Transfer dough to a clean work area, knead by hand for 3-5 minutes, shaping into a ball.

Grease a medium bowl with oil. Toss dough into bowl, then flip to coat all sides with oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm location for an hour or until dough is doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large stockpot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Carefully and quickly, add baking soda.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and cut into 1 inch pieces. Repeat process with all of the dough. Make sure to keep the dough that you aren't working with covered with plastic wrap until you're ready to roll and cut it.

Take out one or two nonstick baking sheets. Whisk one egg together with 1 tbsp water, set aside. Boil 10-15 pieces of cut dough at a time for 30-45 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on your baking sheet. Repeat until all of your dough pieces are boiled .Brush egg wash over dough pieces and sprinkle with course sea salt.

(I want to note that the original recipe calls for parchment paper covered baking sheets. My pretzels stuck to them and I lost the bottoms of the first batch, so the nonstick sheet worked best for me as they just slid off)

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and continue with the rest of the dough.

Quick Donuts

Now that the holidays are over, work has started and so has school. You're probably starting to run around like a crazy person again and looking for shortcuts to your meals, especially on the weekends with sports, errands and general hysteria. When your child has that sleepover that leaves you responsible for too many kids stomachs, or when you just want to be lazy (or if yo uare pregnant, or not!, and crave a quick sweet treat) just grab a few cans of grands biscuits and kick up your heels!

We actually used to make these when I was younger and pinterest reminded me of them. They are warm and soft and sugary - all things that are good! They also freeze pretty well if you put them in right after they have cooled.

Grands Biscuit Donuts
Grands Bisuits, as many cans as you'd like!
Cinnamon
Sugar
Vegetable Oil, for frying

Add about a 1/2 inch of oil to a deep frying pan and turn to medium low.

Using a bottle cap, or cocktail shaker top like me, punch a hole in the middle of each biscuit and separate the 2 parts.

Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow bowl (add more sugar than cinnamon)

When the oil begins to bubble on the bottom, stick a dough ball in the oil - if it starts to sizzle then the oil is ready.

Place donuts and holes in the oil and fry for about a minute, then use a slatted spoon to flip and cook the other side. Take out of oil and place on a paper towel, then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mix. Bask in the warm deliciousness before they get cold and go on with the rest of your day :)

*it is best to do these in batches of 3 donuts at a time, so that when you take them out of the oil you can roll them in the sugar before they get too dry*

Pinspirtion: Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

I mentioned my Pinterest obsession in previous posts, and this weekend I got to bringing some of those things to life in my home. For one, I made this bread that I had been thinking about ever since I pinned it. It comes from Cookies and Cups and I had high hopes for it. I have to say that if I make it again I would omit the peanut butter and replace with 2 more bananas. The peanut butter taste was just too overwhelming for me but I did like the addition of the mini cups. I also suggest eating this after it has completely cooled - much tastier than when warm.


Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread (from Cookies and Cups)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz bag of Reese’s Mini cups

Preheat oven to 350
Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter or shortening.

In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.

Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy.

Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

The Last Pumpkin Recipe You Need

Really. Do not go looking for another pumpkin bread recipe. You don't need it. I saw this Downeast Maine Pumpkin bread recipe last year but failed to ever make it. After Dunkin Donuts released their fall pumpkin flavors on Monday, I got back to perusing the web for something pumpkin-y to bake. I came back to this and since I had all of the ingredients, I went for it. I did make a few changes, which were noted in the comments section of this recipe, and those are reflected below.

This made one loaf, 12 muffins and one mini donuts pans worth of batter for me and I love the variety of items I have to chose from, I am taking most of the muffins into my new office (I like to win my coworkers over with treats) and froze the donuts. Ill freeze most of the bread as well after it cools and I slice it. I think you could up this a bit with a crumb topping - melted butter, cinnamon sugar and a bit of flour. Either way, its nice and firm but extremely moist and pumpkin-y. If you like the Starbucks pumpkin loaf, give this a whirl for some money saving during the fall months.

Pumpkin Bread (from allrecipes.com)
1, 15oz, can Pumpkin Puree
4 Eggs
1c Vegetable Oil
2/3c Water
2c White Sugar
1c Brown Sugar
3 1/2c Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1.4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine ingredients from Pumpkin through Sugars and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. In 3 batches, add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is combined.

Spray your pans or put liners in your muffin tins and aluminum foil in your loaf pan. Add batter to your pans and bake: 70 minutes for a loaf, 20 minutes for muffins and 12 minutes for mini donuts.

Pretzel Rolls

These pretzel rolls were one of the first things that I ever logged into my google reader as a must make. Obviously time got away from me and I just ended up making them yesterday. I was really surprised at how simple they were! I really recommend eating them fresh out of the oven, and if not you should warm them again in the oven before serving. They are pretty tasty and I will make them again for sandwiches!


Pretzel Rolls (from Homemade by Holman, originally Three Square)
This recipe made 8 rolls for the other bakers, but only 6 for me

2 3/4 cups bread flour

1 envelope quick-rising yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 c. plus 2 tbsp hot water (approx. 125F)

8 cups water

1/4 c. baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg white, beaten to blend

Coarse salt

Combine bread flour, 1 envelope yeast, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar and blend. Gradually pour hot water, adding enough water to form smooth elastic dough. Knead for 1 minute. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.

Flour clear area of counter. Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 8 pieces. Form each dough piece into ball. Place dough balls on prepared surface, flattening each slightly. Using serrated knife, cut X in top center of each dough ball. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar. Add 4 rolls and cook 30 seconds per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer rolls to prepared sheet, arranging X side up. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Brush rolls with egg white glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Serve rolls warm or room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Challah Bread

Anything that has chocolate chips in it is ok by me, and I have always preferred my bread that way also. My mom and sister Meaghy have baked this before and it came out really great, so I decided to give it a shot. It was a very easy bread to make, and I halved the recipe so that I didn't have to fit too much into my freezer that is already overtaken by ice cream, cookies, muffins and meat!

The dense and chocolatey taste makes this perfect to eat plain for a snack or breakfast on the run. You could also easily make it for guests or brunch.

Chocolate Chip Challah Bread (from food network)
2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup sugar, plus a pinch
7 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (i used mini, regular and chunk chocolate chips)

Mix the yeast, a pinch of sugar and 1 cup warm water in a small bowl. Set aside while you measure out the other dry ingredients, or until frothy.

Whisk 3 1/2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.

Add 1 egg, the vegetable oil and 1 cup warm water; stir until combined. Gradually stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups flour until the dough starts to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Knead in the chocolate chips.

Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a ball, then roll each ball into a 1 1/2-to-2-inch-wide strand, about 16 inches long. Lay the strands side by side on a sheet of parchment paper and pinch them together at one end.

Braid the 3 strands: Cross the right strand over the middle strand. Then cross the left strand over the middle strand. Repeat, crossing the right strand over the middle strand, then the left over the middle, until all of the dough is braided. Pinch the dough together at the end.

Slide the loaf (with the parchment paper) onto a baking sheet. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl, then brush the egg wash all over the loaf. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.