I’ve never felt the need to try other challah recipes besides this one.
This is my father-in-law’s challah recipe and to me, it falls into the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” category. With a rich golden brown crust and fluffy interior, this loaf usually doesn’t last more than 24 hours in my house. It can easily be turned into french toast or other breakfast yummies, but I usually just rip off a piece and eat it as is each time I pass by the kitchen counter.
A few notes:
- Get a kitchen scale: They’re cheap, they last forever, and they will really up your baking game!
- The dough: It is better for the challah dough to be on the wet side than the dry side. If it’s too dry the loaf will come out dense so if your dough is not coming together at the beginning add a few extra tablespoons of water.
- Shaping the strands: This is one of the few situations in baking where you don’t want to flour your work station when rolling out the strands of dough. Having the dough stick to your work station provides the tension needed to get the dough super thin. Also, keep a tape measure next to you as you shape your strands to make sure they are all the same length.
- Practice makes perfect: Practice the braid! I recommend using string to get the motion down before attempting it with dough. I always watch this video at least once to refresh my memory when I do this bake (or check out my video below starting at 1:53). If you lose the pattern at any point, just go with it. If you try to undo the braid and start over you may overwork the dough.
- The bake: Let your loaf get dark… but not burnt. If you’re worried about it catching in the oven, tent your loaf for the last 5 minutes of the bake with aluminum foil.
Challah
This is my husband's family's challah recipe and it's so good, I frankly haven't ever felt the need to try another. With a rich golden brown crust and fluffy interior, this loaf usually doesn't last more than 24 hours in my house.
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
Ingredients
Sponge
- 53 g Bread flour sifted
- 1 ½ tsp Active dry yeast
- 57 ml Water 110℉
Dough
- 3 Eggs
- ¼ Cup Neutral Oil canola or vegetable
- ¼ Cup Honey
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 343 g Bread flour sifted
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg beaten
Instructions
Make the sponge:
- For the sponge, mix the yeast with the 53 grams of flour in a large bowl. Add the warm water and stir. It should be thick but not dry.53 g Bread flour, 1 ½ tsp Active dry yeast, 57 ml Water
- Let prove for 30-40 minutes. It should grow in size and you should see bubbles rising to the surface.
For the dough:
- Add 3 of the eggs, oil, honey, and salt to the sponge and stir until well combined. The mixture will remain lumpy.3 Eggs, ¼ Cup Neutral Oil, ¼ Cup Honey, 1 ½ tsp Salt
- Add the remaining flour and mix the dough in the bowl until all the ingredients are combined.343 g Bread flour
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until fairly smooth, about 5 minutes. The dough will be slightly sticky. Keep adding flour as you knead until dough firms up and the outside is smooth.
- Let dough prove until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and cut into 6 equal pieces
- Roll each piece of dough with a rolling pin into a very thin sheet, between ⅛-¼ inches thick. Don’t worry about making a perfect rectangle, but the sheet will be longer than it is wide.
- Tightly roll up the sheet lengthwise to form a strand. Roll the stand back and forth between your hands until it’s thin, even and 12-15 inches long. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough.
- Arrange the strands parallel to one another on a parchment covered baking sheet. Look at the notes section above or below to see how to braid a 6 strand loaf (or check out my video below starting at 1:53).
- Once braided, cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap and let prove until it’s doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- About 15 minutes before the end of the prove heat the oven to 350℉.
- Make an egg wash by whisking the last egg in a bowl with a fork. Lightly brush the dough with the egg wash before putting the loaf in the oven.1 Egg
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and bake until the bread is a nice shiny dark brown, about another 15 minutes. Check the loaf after 10 minutes and tent the loaf with aluminum foil if it’s getting too dark too fast.
- Let cool on rack for 20 minutes before tearing into it!
Notes
-
- Get a kitchen scale: They’re cheap, they last forever, and they will really up your baking game!
-
- The dough: It is better for the challah dough to be on the wet side than the dry side. If it’s too dry the loaf will come out dense so if your dough is not coming together at the beginning add a few extra tablespoons of water.
-
- Shaping the strands: This is one of the few situations in baking where you don’t want to flour your work station when rolling out the strands of dough. Having the dough stick to your work station provides the tension needed to get the dough super thin. Also, keep a tape measure next to you as you shape your strands to make sure they are all the same length.
-
- Practice makes perfect: Practice the braid! I recommend using string to get the motion down before attempting it with dough. I always watch this video at least once to refresh my memory when I do this bake (or check out my video below starting at 1:53). If you lose the pattern at any point, just go with it. If you try to undo the braid and start over you may overwork the dough.
-
- The bake: Let your loaf get dark… but not burnt. If you’re worried about it catching in the oven, tent your loaf for the last 5 minutes of the bake with aluminum foil.
