Sourdough twist!

I woke up early again in a coughing fit (with this darn cold), made a cup of hot tea, took a steaming shower to help the breathing a little.....and then....I came out on the couch with Doozey and started reading a Sept. issue of Martha Stewarts magazine, Living. I almost quit turning pages at the end, but for some reason just turned those last 2-3 pages, and lo and behold, on the VERY LAST PAGE, was something that caught my eye!!!

A recipe and lovely picture of an Apple-Honey Challah bread! It looked so delicious, I knew I must get up and make it! I decided to twist it up a little by using a cup of my sourdough starter in it. I added the other ingredients, and then just added flour as I needed to get the perfect ball of dough. You add sliced apples into the dough for the second rise, and if I had been a little smarter at that time of day, I would have thought to add some cinnamon into the mixture!

The third rise was done after shaping it into a rope 2 ft. long, and then twirling it into a 9 inch baking pan. I was a little worried because the first two risings did not show much rising activity...but then the last one, and during cooking...it did real well!!! It looked very pretty when it came out of the oven. I was supposed to add more honey butter to the top when it came out, but I didn't because I used all my honey up! Oh well...it just didn't end up with that lovely sheen like a challah normally has.

Here it is:

Can you see all the chunks of apple popping out? Beautiful!!!
You can see the pic of Marthas loaf, and the recipe HERE, at her magazine. This bread was delicious...a big improvement over my first sourdough breads...I think it was the honey and the eggs additions that made it so good. I did add cinnamon sprinkled on top after buttering the slice, and it was heavenly right out of the oven all warm and yummy!

This was fun...but my bread baking days are over for now. I already feel myself getting a few pounds heavier!!! ;0