French's® Mustard Challah Bread

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 PLACE warm water in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Stir in yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Let stand 5 minutes or until foamy. Mix flour, dry milk and baking powder in separate large bowl; set aside.
  
  TIP: The ratio of flour to water and yeast is important when baking leavened breads. When measuring flour, make sure to stir and then gently scoop flour into your measuring cup—avoid using your measuring cup to scoop flour right out of the container. Measuring flour by weight is more accurate than by the cup, though we realize not everyone has a food scale at home! To measure by weight, we recommend this conversion: 1 cup all-purpose flour = 120 grams.
• 2 ADD remaining 1/2 cup sugar, Mustard, oil, salt and food color to bowl with yeast mixture. Mix on low speed just until combined. With machine running, gradually add flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed 4 to 5 minutes, until dough pulls away from bowl and forms soft ball, scraping down bottom and sides of bowl as needed. (If dough is too dry and does not come together, add an additional 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until smooth ball forms). Place dough in large lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 30 minutes in warm, draft-free area.
• 3 TRANSFER dough to clean work surface. Cut into 6 even pieces. Roll and stretch each piece of dough into ropes, about 18 inches long. Pinch 3 of the ropes together at one end. Braid into one larger rope, pinching tail-end to secure. Repeat with remaining 3 small ropes to form two loaves. Arrange loaves about 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pan
• 4 PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Beat egg and remaining 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash. Let rise, uncovered, 30 minutes.
• 5 BAKE 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely.
  
  TIP: Sprinkle top of Challah loaves with poppy seed, sesame seed or even McCormick® Everything Bagel Seasoning just before baking for a flavorful twist.