Heavenly Challah

Preparation

1. Place the flour, yeast, sugar, water and oil in a large bowl and mix together. Knead the dough. When a ball is formed add the salt. Place the dough on a floured surface and continue kneading for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and soft and not sticky.
2. Coat the bowl and dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil. Cover the bowl and set it in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume (1 to 2 hours).
3. Knead risen dough for a few minutes. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a strand to be braided, approximately 10" to 12" in length.
4. Braid 3 of the rolled dough strips together to form the challah. Repeat with remaining dough strips to make 4 challahs.
5. Place challahs on a baking sheet or in a baking pan, cover and let the dough rise again, approximately 40 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350º F. Brush each challah with beaten egg. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the challahs turn golden brown. Remove challahs from the oven and from baking pan and cool on a wire rack.