Challah Recipe
Servings
4 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 ounces active dry yeast + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 6 cups warm water divided
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 6-pound bag high-gluten flour
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups canola oil divided
- 2 whole eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup poppy seeds
Instructions
Preparation:
- In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar in 2 cups of warm water, cover loosely with a towel and set aside.
- Place salt in a huge plastic bowl. Add flour to bowl. Add sugar and egg yolks.
- Yeast should now have bubbled/foamed and doubled in size, if yeast has not bubbled or does not seem active repeat the process again.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour yeast and sugar water mixture into the well. Then add the remaining 4 cups of warm water into the well.
- Make sure the water is not too hot. It should be no warmer than you would use for a baby’s bath. Start kneading ingredients together and add a 1/2 cup of oil.
- For the next 10-15 minutes, knead, adding another 1/2 cup of oil slowly during that time as needed to create a workable dough. Dough shouldn’t be too sticky and also should not be dry. It should become one cohesive mass.
- Loosely cover dough with a large kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, lightly oil your hand and knead again for another 5 minutes adding a touch more oil to the dough if necessary. The dough should now be easier to work with and will become smooth and satiny.
- Rub a little oil over the top and around the dough. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel. Place covered bowl in a medium plastic garbage bag and place open ends of the bag loosely underneath the bowl, trapping in air.
- Place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and knead (lightly oil your hands if necessary), flipping it and releasing any air bubbles. Cover again, using the towel and the bag, and let rise 1 more hour.
- Lightly oil your hands, and punch down again. With a sharp knife divide dough into 4 equal parts. Liberally spray 4 (9-inch) round baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- For Round Challah
- With lightly oiled hands, place 1 piece of dough on a smooth work surface. Play with the dough a bit, squeezing out any air bubbles. Then roll the dough into a long, thick rope, adding oil as needed to keep it from being too sticky.
- Don’t use too much oil; a little sticky is fine. Place one end of the rope up against the edge of the prepared pan and coil it, ending in the middle. Set aside.
- For Pull-Apart Challah
- With lightly oiled hands, place 1 piece of dough on a smooth work surface. Play with the dough a bit, squeezing out any air bubbles. Separate into 8 equal parts. Roll each part into a round ball, adding oil as needed to keep it from being too sticky.
- Don’t use too much oil; a little sticky is fine. Place one ball in the middle of the prepared pan and surround with remaining balls. Don’t worry if they don’t touch. They will rise into each other while baking. Set aside.
- Repeat either method with remaining dough so that you have 4 challahs. Brush challahs with beaten egg and sprinkle with a combination of poppy and sesame seeds.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes and then lower your oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, until challah tops are dark golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before slicing.
- Serve while still warm. Once the challah has been sliced, you can store the slices in sealable plastic bags for about 4-5 days. For all challah variations below do not sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.
Tips:
- Chocolate Chip Challah: At step 3, add 2 cups chocolate chips.
- Maple Syrup and Craisin Challah: At step 3, add 2 cups Craisins and 1/3 cup maple syrup.
- Cinnamon Raisin Challah: At step 3, add 2 cups raisins and 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar. At step 18, after brushing with egg, sprinkle 1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar over tops of challahs.
- Challah freezes well. After cooling completely, seal your challah tightly in a freezer zipper lock bag and store for up to 1 month.
- When you’re ready to use a loaf, remove it from the bag and let it defrost at room temperature for a few hours. Once fully defrosted, wrap it in foil and just pop it, into a preheated 325 degree F oven for about 10-20 minutes, or until you can squeeze it and feel that it’s soft. Keep the challah warm until it’s time for the meal and when you slice into it, it will taste delightfully fresh-baked.
YAY!!!!! I am so so so happy!!! Guess what, you don’t have to let it rise at all before putting in the fridge. I do it all the time b/c it makes life so much easier. EnJOY!
This is the most delicious challah recipe I’ve ever tried! If I want to make the dough on Thursday and bake on Friday, how many risings should I let the dough have before I refrigerate it?
yes but use half the amount so 2 TBS table/fine grain salt.
can i use regular table salt instead of kosher salt?
if so, is it the same amount?
Hey Michelle
1 oz = 2 TBS
enJOY!
Why not fresh yeast?
you can use fresh. I sometimes find I can actually taste it so I prefer dry (it’s a personal thing).
I thought 2 ounces of yeast= about 6 tablespoons,not 4. Which is correct?
thankee thankee thankee!!!!!!!!
This is the best challah in the universe!! I tried many recipes
but none of them even came close. Challah always started to dry out the next day. During my search for the perfect recipe for challah I came across Jamie’s video on YouTube. I cut down my recipe to one challah since it’s for only me and my husband and it came out perfect and also it stayed soft for almost a week wrapped in a plastic bag, after my husband tasted it he told me that this is the best one he ever tasted. Thank you Jamie for sharing this amazing recipe, I am glad my search has ended.
Hi Haidee – so my sister-in-law always uses whole wheat flour in place of white and it comes out great – just a little heavier/more dense. You can also consider doing half WW and half White. I have not tried honey in place of sugar but I have a friend who uses a mixture of honey and maple syrup in her whole wheat challah and it’s fantastic. Honey is ever so slightly sweeter than sugar so in small amounts (if you are simply substituting a tablespoon or two or even 3 🙂 you can use a 1:1 ratio but for larger amounts use slightly less than 1:1. So 1 cup sugar is equal to about 3/4 cup honey. So if you are making the full recipe above you can substitute the 2 cups of sugar for about 1 1/2 cups of honey. At step one, to proof the yeast, replace the 3 TBS sugar for 3 TBS honey. At step 4 add 1 1/2 cups honey in place of the sugar. Good luck and let us know how it comes out.
a few things are possible here — 1. did you proof your yeast? did it bubble and double in size before using it? 2. over kneading/ over working the dough can cause it to be dense 3. rising in a warm place in your kitchen — over the dishwasher or in a dark corner by the oven — it should have lots of air bubbles – should be fluffy and light but again the warmth is important for this (did you keep it covered with a towel and in a large loose bag (dark, cozy and warm) for it to rise? With each rising it should be doubling in size. 4. High gluten or bread flour also make for a lighter chewier challah-like consistency.
As for the amount of yeast — I am unsure what size your packets are so just measure out 4 TBS of yeast.
Any tips on what I did wrong? It tasted great but was very dense, not fluffy like challah should be. Also if the yeast comes in 3 packet strips, how many packets do I need? Your comment to someone else said 8 of those single packets? Thank you!
I just made your Challah last Saturday & I loved it , but will like to know if I can switch sugar for honey at the yeast mix and amount of honey. Then if it’s possible to use wheat flour and amount if different . Thank you so much.
if you have 1/4 ounce yeast packets then 8 or 2 ounces equals 4 tbs
its slightly sweet – if you want it less so pull back the sugar to 1 3/4 cups
how many packets of yeast is equivalent to the 2 ounces??
is it really sweet or normal?