The ballpark meets the Shabbos table! Hot pretzel taste in challah form, it does take a bit of care to get this large challah boiled, but it is worth it. Or go ahead and make small loaves or rolls.
Hot Pretzel Challah
Servings
2 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons bread machine yeast or active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 6 cups bread flour
- 8 cups water at room temperature
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- Pretzel salt kosher salt, or sesame seeds
- Mustard optional for dipping
Instructions
- In a medium glass or Pyrex bowl or measuring cup, place the yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ½ cup lukewarm water. Proof the yeast: it should show signs of life by expanding, slightly bubbling, or moving. If none of these things happened, your yeast is dead. Spill it out and start again.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, on medium-low speed, mix the 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 cups water, fine sea salt, and oil. This can also be done by hand with a whisk.
- When the yeast has been “proofed” and shows signs that it is alive, beat the yeast mixture into the mixing bowl. With the mixer at a low speed, add the flour. Raise speed to medium and knead for 4–5 minutes until a nice, smooth, satiny dough forms. It will have almost a matte finish. If you are kneading in the flour by hand, it may take a few minutes longer to get a good smooth texture. Cover the bowl of dough with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 11/2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface. If the dough is sticky, knead in flour, a little bit at a time, until the dough is easy to roll. Divide the dough in half. Divide each half into 3 balls and roll each into a long strand. Braid each challah using 3 strands of dough. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Set aside to rise while you prepare the next step.
- Bring the 8 cups water and baking soda to a boil in a pot with the widest opening. Gently and carefully, lower one challah into the baking soda solution. Using 2 wooden spoons, carefully turn the challah so both sides get a good exposure to the water or bathe the top of the challah with spoonfuls of the solution. After 30 seconds remove the challah to the parchment-lined pan, using the 2 spoons to support it. Repeat with the second challah.
- Once both challahs are back on the pan, brush with the water from the pot and sprinkle with salt or sesame seeds.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Best served warm or rewarmed. Serve with mustard.
- Tips
- Unlike most challah recipes, this one can’t be frozen because the challah will get soggy when it is defrosted and reheated. In fact, it is best made fresh or at most one day ahead, but cool completely before putting in a plastic bag and rewarm before serving. You can order pretzel salt from the internet or save the packets from boxes of store-bought frozen hot pretzels. A selection of mustards, such as spicy brown, coarse grain, and honey-mustard, will make this a home run.
Thank you so much for the feedback, love this detailed comment and so happy you are enjoying.
I’m on week on 7 of making this challah that I am ready to sue for my 5lb weight gain lol! I triple the recipe to make 6 large challah with 5lb bag of flour. I’ve experimented different versions. Biggest vote came in for the loaf version. I use a challah loaf pan and line it with parchment paper. After the dough rises I braid it and then let it grow some more in the pan (lined with parchment paper for easy removal and reuse it after boiling for baking, again for easy removal) so it takes that shape. It is always a challenge to boil big challah but it works great using 2 flat metal spatulas. I’ve used high gluten flour, organic flour, canadian flour, and all purpose. I think all purpose from king arthur is best. Before baking on 350, i preheat the oven to 175, put in the challah and leave the oven door open for 15 min. This helps it force grow a bit. Then i close the door and turn the oven on 350 as instructed, to bake. We like it crunchy so after baking I take it out of the pan. Preheat the oven to 500. Put the challah in and shut the oven. I do this before shabbos so the challah is warm and crunchy in time for the meal. I have no issue freezing it and rewarming it the same way straight from the freezer. It isnt as soft inside as fresh but still very good (not soggy or water logged). I can’t thank you enough for this life changing recipe! Serve with some sesame dip with it and you don’t need more food lol!
I am sorry you had trouble, I have made this a few times and I have found that the large size of the challah can make it harder to keep shape, when I make smaller loaves or rolls it works better. Maybe that will help.
Ohsweetmercy. This was such a fail for me. I clearly did things wrong. In addition to loosey-goosey dough, I guess it overproofed in the oven or something, as the loaves were flat and puddle-like. And I’ve never seen bread stick to parchment, but mine did! Good googly. Mama’s gonna need some pointers before trying this again.
I didn’t expect the dough to be as loose as it was. Is the water quantity right? I found the loaves very flippy floppy as I tried removing them from the baking soda bath — parts of them squoodged off the spatulas and my loaves got quite deformed. I trust they’ll taste delicious, but it’s just much looser than other pretzel dough I’ve made … and my loaves are sad looking. Ha!
Yes, you can wash hamotzei on it.
yes, just store the dough, covered in a reusable bag in the refrigerator.
Can the dough be made (without boiling/baking until next day) a day beforehand?
You can, you might want to add some vital wheat gluten if you do.
can I use regular flour for this?
Thanks again. I hope I have time to make this Friday, it looks so good.
Thanks Tamar, so you think the part about the jelly pan was a typo? Because I see no use for it and wondered if I missed something.
Yes, either a typo or maybe it doesn’t matter which type of pan, jelly roll or cookie sheet.
I have made this recipe a few times and always use a parchment lined sheet tray with 1/2 inch sides with great results.
I have a question. You use a parchment lined jelly roll pan, but use a cookie sheet. I am confused and want to make this next week.
Pretzel Challah recipe looks great! Thank you.
Of course, I do. It is best on Friday night when still fresh, but I have served on Saturday to guests who didn’t know how it was fresh and they loved it.
This sounds great! can’t wait to try the recipe out! can i use this at the shabbos table?
This sounds delicious! I saw this in Susie’s cookbook! I was wondering if it was permissible to wash “Hamotzei” on this kind of challah. If anyone knows and could let me know, that would be awesome! Thanks!