Saffitz's Sesame Tahini Challah

From Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person.

Yooooooo - this was DELICIOUS. Probably even better than the Saffitz challah from the NYTimes, which I've made once or twice and is excellent.

Doubled the book recipe. Shaping needs work and pay attention baking time, but might use this to work on my braiding/shaping skills. It's exceptional.

Notes for the future:

• Ran out of olive oil, probably lacked ~ 1/3 of the olive oil but didn't miss it at all.
• First rise took longer than planned - probably about 4 hours.
• Proofed overnight, then let sit for probably 45 minutes before putting into the oven.
• Made two braids and one round. Shaping just needs practice.
  • Braids could probably have been a bit shorter (maybe thicker strands?).
  • The round could have maybe been tighter and less tall (see next note). This was definitely the ugly duckling of the bunch.
• The round was so big that it took quite some time to bake through -- maybe close to 45/50 min. Didn't catch it right away, so it got very dark. (Still delicious.) So maybe tent early, then remove tent to finish browning.
• The only real note here is watch these because they dark quick, including on the bottom.