Homemade Challah
One of the most important Jewish foods, challah is eaten on Shabbat and holidays. I’ve always loved the smell of fresh baked bread at home, but before I started making my own I thought it was very complicated and difficult. Then I started trying lots of recipes and have come up with this one, which produces a satisfying challah every time. Now that I make my own bread often, I think it’s easy.
- Duration
- Cook Time
- Prep Time
- 2 challah loaves ServingsServings
Ingredients
- 320 g (1 1/2 cups) water
- 80 g (1/4 cup) sugar
- 30 g (3 Tbs.) fresh yeast or 15 g (1 1/2 Tbs.) dry yeast
- 800 g (6 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 12 g (1 Tbs.) salt
- 60 g (1/4 cups) oil
For the coating:
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2-3 Tbs. sesame/poppy/sunflower seeds
Preparation
- Pour the water, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Add the flour, eggs, salt and oil.
- Mix on low for 4 minutes. Increase the speed and mix for another 5 minutes.
- Take the dough from the bowl and put it on a floured surface. Knead with your hands a few times and roll it into a ball. Don’t worry if the dough looks a little moist; do not be tempted to add more flour!
- Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Allow to rise for about 40 minutes, until doubled in volume.
- Divide the dough in half. Divide each half into three portions, and roll them into a thick snake. Pinch together the tops of three pieces of dough and braid, pinching at the end. Repeat with the remaining dough to make two loaves.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Allow the dough to rise once more on the baking sheet. Check with your finger to see if it’s ready: push the dough gently with your finger; if it bounces back quickly, then it’s ready to bake.
- Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame, poppy or sunflower seeds.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
- Put the challah in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 170C (340F). Bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Variation:
Instead of braiding the challah dough, divide it into 19 even pieces and roll them into balls. Arrange them next to each other in a tight circle to form 3 round challah loaves. Brush with egg and bake as directed above.
TIP: When making challah, babka, and other recipes with yeast dough,
press lightly on the dough with your finger until it makes a slight dent. If the dent vanishes immediately it's a sign that the dough has risen and is ready to the next step of baking. If the dent remains unchanged, then the dough hasn't risen sufficiently.
