Vegan Egg Twist or Challah for Spring

Growing up, my Grandma provided a bevy of kitchen certainties. Among them was bread from the Baltic Bakery. She kept us stocked with a loaf of Lithuanian dark rye (which she would slice into impressively thin and consistent slices) and a raisin egg twist (which she would cut if fat chunks and slather with butter). 

Now that I am an adult and responsible for stocking my own kitchen, I maintain the rye bread with a certain regularity – either homemade or more likely store bought. (I even found a loaf that is flown in from Lithuania at our local Polish grocery store.)

BUT, I have been missing the raisin egg twist! We do not have eggs or egg products at our house because of an egg allergy, and I was delighted to hear from a former Polish colleague that she and her vegan daughter made a vegan loaf for Easter last year. 

It was a lightbulb moment for me. How can you make an egg twist, which is akin to brioche, without eggs? Impossible! Well, it turns out there is a hot water Challah recipe that will get you there without cracking a single shell. 

So, for this Easter, I attempted a recipe provided by Domestic Gothess. I added the raisins (I regret not having more appropriate golden ones) because I wanted to get as close to home as possible. At any rate, it was surprisingly really delicious. It might even be better than the Baltic Bakery one. I will definitely be remaking this even though a six stranded braid breaks my post-covid brain a little.

Hooray for finding those childhood flavors that also satisfy critical dietary requirements!