This Sweet Challah with Streusel Topping is one of my favorite challah recipes and I make it almost every week—to rave reviews! It also looks great made in muffin tins when you need individual challettes. My kids love the sweet crumble topping, but feel free to omit it if you prefer a sweet challah that is not too babka-like.
Sweet Challah with Streusel Topping
Servings
60 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 rounded teaspoons or 3 1/4-ounce packets active dry yeast
- 4 cups warm water
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons canola oil divided
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 14 to 15 cups high-gluten flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup 1 stick margarine, cut into pieces, or canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon optional
Instructions
- To prepare the dough: Place the lukewarm water in a large bowl. (Note: For the yeast to proof, the water must truly be lukewarm. Dip your finger in the water. If it’s too hot for your fingers, it’s too hot for the yeast as well. If it’s cool, it won’t work either. Lukewarm is just right.) Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Wait 5 to 10 minutes to allow the yeast to proof. It will appear foamy.
- In a separate large bowl (or a large 6-quart mixer fitted with dough hook), mix remaining 2 cups sugar, eggs, 1 1/2 cups of the oil, and salt. Add proofed yeast and mix. Add flour, 4 cups at a time, mixing after each addition until fully incorporated. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes by hand or mixer, adding additional flour if dough is too sticky.
- Drizzle remaining 2 teaspoons oil in mixing bowl; roll dough in oil to coat. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising, prepare the topping.
- To prepare the topping: Combine sugar, flour, margarine, vanilla, and cinnamon, if using, in a small bowl; mix with a fork until coarse crumbs form.
- Grease six loaf or challah pans. Punch down the risen dough. Divide into six pieces; divide each piece into at least three, and roll into long ropes about 12 inches long. Braid and place in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle reserved topping over loaves. Bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then remove the challahs to wire racks to cool.
- Note: This recipe can be made by hand, in a large 6-quart stand mixer with a dough hook, or in a large capacity bread mixer from Bosch or Magic Mill fitted with a dough hook.
- Make Ahead: The breads in Celebrate beautifully. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then again in foil. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter.
- Recipes from CELEBRATE: Food Family Shabbos By Elizabeth Kurtz, Emunah of America, distributed by Feldheim Publishers, October 2015
You might lose some of it but it shouldn’t be soggy.
Can the baked challah be frozen with the streusel topping? Or will the streusel be soggy when defrosted?
I would try it at 20 minutes and check, it will depend on the kind of muffin tin you are using.
I made these for the holidays this year and they were a huge success! We deemed them “cake challah”! If I wanted to try making them next time as small rolls in muffin tins, how long should I bake them?
I have not, but usually, I find challah can be halved as you said.
Has anyone tried to half the recipe? If so, did you simply reduce each ingredient by half?
I would take out some water. The challah recipes I write have 8
Cups of flour per 1 1/2 cups of water. Try removing 1/2-1 cup of water and
See if that is better.
I tried making this challah today and found the dough to be very sticky (even after adding a lot of extra flour). It rose nicely but when I took it out of the bowl it spread all over the place and I couldn’t work with it at all. Would love some input on how to make this better!
I was board and I’m cold and needed to bake, so decided to experiment with the Sweet Challah with Streusel Topping. I made the recipe the same again with the rice dream, but I decided to try and shape it into danishes. What I did was I pulled off a large peice(about a 6th) rolled it out as thin as I could. Then I sprinkled a handful or two of the topping on it and rolled it up. Then I cut it into 1-2 fingers width. Then pressed some more of the topping on top. I did have to double the topping. I let it rise again then baked it. The picture doesn’t do it justice.
So glad the apple juice worked, I’m going to try it too. I don’t like to use oil for a crumble topping, I prefer margarine because it makes it more “crumbly” but I always use Earth Balance canola oil “margarine” sticks, which are made from canola oil but act like margarine. That way you get the best of both, a crumbly top made from oil and no trans fat.
I didn’t use apple juice in the end I used rice dream original flavor
I made it with original rice milk instead of the apple juice beinging like you said aplle nuice is sweet. It came out really good. I used yhe oil instead of marg wasn’t that happy with the consistency next time will try marg. But thank you for the sweet rolls they were all in all really good and a big hit.
Sure! I love the vanilla because it adds depth and sweetness to it but it’s not essential to the recipe so you can omit it.
Yeast is best activated by
some water. I have used apple juice in smaller quantities in breads but have
not tried it as a complete substitution. I would activate the yeast in warm
water and a sprinkle of sugar, and then proceed with the remaining amount in
apple juice. It should work just fine. The dough will be denser though and I’d
reduce the sugar so that its not too sweet from the natural sugar in the juice
too. Let me know how it comes out!
Do you think I could use apple juice or something else instead if water this way I could serve it as a mizonos for a breakfast ir brunch
i never did a streusel topped challah before & want to do this. can i omit the vanila from the streusel topping?