Feeling lazy? Make challah bread in a bag.
We’ve made some updates to the preparation. The recipe is now officially foolproof. The easiest no mess challah on the planet, anyone can do it.
This Jewish challah recipe just happens to have no eggs, so its vegan too!
Learn more about Challah and get shaping ideas here.
The Lazy Cook’s Challah In A Bag Recipe Is So Easy and Delicious
Servings
1 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons of active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour + ¼ cup
- 1 egg for basting Optional. For vegan challah, substitute olive oil
- Sesame seeds for topping
Instructions
- In a 1 gallon plastic ziplock bag, add the yeast, water, sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups of flour.
- Give the bag a little shake. Don’t work too hard- remember, it’s a lazy challah!
- Place the bag in a bowl of warm water for 30 mins.
- Remove from bowl, shake, release air from bag, and place on the table for 1 hour. Flip bag every 20 mins. The dough should be very wet. It will start to bubble and self-knead. WHOA.
- After the 1 hour, add ¼ cup flour and give the bag another shake. This makes the dough not stick to the bag.
- Leave the bag for 1 hour and 30 mins to rise. It should still be a wet dough. If it’s not rising, flip it over and knock it down. If the dough is wet, the recipe will turn out amazing.
- Preheat oven to 300℉/150°C.
- On a well-floured surface, separate the dough and stretch out 3 strands. Braid.
- Baste with egg and sprinkle sesame seeds (optional for vegan challah, substitute olive oil). Leave to rise for 15 mins before it goes in the oven.
- Bake on a non stick tray for 40 mins or until golden on top.
Sorry, you could always just put in a loaf pan.
Being careful not to overmix in the bag as advised. Resulted in hard lumps of unmixed dough. Is it possible to continue to mix it in the bag so that the flour disappears into the dough?
The dough is too wet for me to form strands. Any advice?
I don’t know, I would err on the side of less and add more as needed
Nice easy recipe but a Challah is all about having the egg flavor. In addition an egg wash is what gives it the glossy look of Challah. I'm sure this will be delicious but not Challah.
Do I need to adjust quantities if I’m using sprouted spelt flour?
Do I need to adjust quantities if using sprouted spelt?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f030ad69bb94b6aa7e0112bc0ac65554e209aad8f0b33747ec73e9a9ca6015f.jpg I make this bread in a loaf pan. It’s fantastic!
Sorry for the delay yes you can
Can you use this method to make a round challah for Rosh Hashanah?
I believe it would be okay to keep in the fridge overnight and bake the next day.
Does this have to be baked the same day or can it be stored overnight
Does this need to be baked the same day or could it be in the fridge over night and then baked the next day?
That works
What about rapid dry yeast?
1/4 cup before 1hr rise in video, after in instructions… aarrrrgghh!
Would this work with gluten-free flour??? I have Celiac Disease and must be gluten-free. I soooo miss good bread and challah but I’m afraid to waste money and time making something that won’t word for my dietary restrictions. Have you ever tried to make it with gluten-free flour?
I would recommend you try one of our gluten free challah recipes https://jamiegeller.com/search?query=gluten+free+challah
Challah is yellow and contains eggs. Braiding it doesn’t make it challah.
However, it looks too good as a white bread and easy to not try it. I AM going to try it! I AM too lazy to bake my own bread.😁
This tasted delicious but without the kneading, the dough was a bit stringy and porous as it rose and during baking, the surface had a lot of edges and bumps, couldn’t figure out how to make it smoother. Is this all b/c this is no-knead?
Stringy and porous is a bit strange, not sure why that would be.
Can you bake this in a challah mold?
Yes, for sure.
On the packet it says, “1 packet = 1/4 oz = 2 1/4 teaspoons”
Yes and 3 teaspoons are in 1 tablespoon.
The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp active dry yeast. Would that be 3 of the packets that are sold in the supermarkets?
Usually the packets are about 3/4 tablespoon so it would be more than 1 pack and less than 2
Super simple! Worked like a charm. Not as sweet as regular challah, though. But great taste and great texture. I used challah roll molds instead of braiding. Max laziness!!!
Tips:
Use the written recipe NOT the video (which skips a step).
Bake a few minutes longer for a darker color.
Result score: 8/10
Thanks, Jamie.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c999a81badc52dd1a98079c81de80445ccd39c639e21c6c466051405899d1a4f.jpg
Thank you. I used self rise yeast and I am not sure if I put the right amount of flour in. I will try again and let you know how it goes.
I tried to make the challah and it did not work out. The dough was hard instead of soft. Can you tell me what I did wrong? I got rid of the dough instead of making the challah since I was frustrated. oye vey!
So sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work for you. It is very hard to know what you did wrong, could be the yeast wasn’t good, could be you added too much flour.
Is there any reason eggs can’t be added to this recipe to make it more challah like?
This recipe is great as is, but we can’t say how it will work with the addition of eggs, I would be afraid it would be too sticky.
Thank you. That makes sense. I’m not much of a baker so the easier the better.