Challah (Jewish Cardamom Cinnamon Braided Bread)

 ⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.


 ⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. I John 2


Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom seed
1 tbsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
~ 3 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg beaten (for wash)
2 tbsp whole sesame seeds

Directions:
1. mix milk, honey, egg, oil, cinnamon, yeast, cardamom, and salt in a bowl

2. knead in the flour (adding more if necessary) to achieve a soft ball of dough

3. leave to rise for 2 hours
4. divide into three portions and roll each portion into a rope
5. seal the ends of the three ropes and braid; seal the other end

6. brush with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top

7. bake for ~45 minutes including the preheat time at 350 degees F (put bread inside at the time you turn the oven on; the preheating time helps the bread rise)