Challah Bread
This is a bread that we’ve been making regularly – especially this time of year – for a while. It’s one of my favorite breads in general – full of flavor and versatile – and I love making it! The braiding looks impressive, but if you follow the diagram I included below, it’s really not as hard as it looks – try it out!
Challah Bread
This is a great bread for a week night, special event, or any time of year!
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup oil
- 5-6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 egg, beaten for egg wash
Instructions
- Add warm water, active dry yeast, and a pinch of sugar to the large bowl. Stir to combine, and let sit for 10-15 minutes, until mixture becomes foamy or slightly bubbly.
- When ready, add sugar, oil, and egg. Mix until well combined.
- Add salt and 3 cups of the flour, mix well with spoon.
- Add remaining flour, about 1 cup at a time, or until the dough starts to pull away from the bowl. You will need to start using your hands, as the spoon won’t work well towards the end of mixing.
- Lightly flour a clean, dry, flat surface, and put the dough onto this surface. Sprinkle the dough with a bit more flour, and knead by hand until a soft, less sticky dough it formed. You should be able to form it into a ball, and press on it without your finger sticking too much.
- Lightly oil the large bowl, and place the dough ball back in the bowl. Lightly oil the top of the dough ball, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise about 1 hour, until doubled in size. Keep the plastic wrap tightly covering the bowl the whole time.
- Once it has doubled in size, punch down the dough to release the air. Now you will shape the dough, and you have a couple options.
- Option 1: Shape the dough into 3 equally sized balls. Prepare the sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the dough balls, spread out, on the sheet pan. If they don’t fit well, use two sheet pans, as these will expand when baking. You will place the balls on the sheet pan, seam side down.
- Option 2: If you’re feeling more adventurous, you can braid the dough into one large loaf. I have included a diagram to explain how to do this. It is easiest if you do this directly on the prepared sheet pan, so you don’t have to try to move it.
- Once the shapes are prepared and on the sheet pan, use the 2 beaten eggs (egg wash), and brush this onto the top of the dough. Egg whites give shine and egg yolks give the darker colors, so it’s up to you how much of each you use in the egg wash. Traditionally, it’s just 2 eggs, beaten, so there’s a mixture of both shine and color.
- Let the bread rise again, for about 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake the dough for about 20-30 minutes for the small loaves, or 40-45 minutes for the large loaf. Keep an eye on the dough – you want it to get a good color without burning. When it’s done, the dough should have a nice golden color, and it poked with a toothpick – it shouldn’t be raw inside.
Notes
SERVING: Cut as serve on it’s own, the bread for a sandwich, use for french toast, and so many more options. This is a delicious and slightly sweet bread – it goes well with a lot.
STORAGE: Store securely in plastic wrap, or in a sealed plastic bag. Enjoy within 1-2 days for the freshest taste and texture.
STORAGE: Store securely in plastic wrap, or in a sealed plastic bag. Enjoy within 1-2 days for the freshest taste and texture.