Challah is one of my all-time favorite breads. In fact it is one of the reasons I started baking bread because a good loaf of challah has been hard to find in some of the military communities we’ve lived in. My dad’s family is Jewish and I grew up and lived near strong Jewish communities throughout childhood and college. So it wasn’t until I moved away from these places that I came to appreciate being able to find challah anytime I wanted it.
In Western Washington I could only find it around major Jewish holidays in the stores near me or drive an hour or so to a store that had it on the regular. So I made it from time to time.
I have a few go-to recipes, one of my favorites is from Smitten Kitchen but I also love the one in my Bread Illustrated cookbook. Normally I make a 3 strand braid but the one I made from the cookbook was 6 strands – 3 on top of another 3. It pushed my bread baking limits and I was so afraid that it would not be cooked all the way through. But miraculously it was perfect!
Why do I love challah so much? It’s so versatile! It makes great toast, French Toast, sandwiches, and snack bread. Next time I make it I may experiment with different things in it. My favorites to eat are raisin and chocolate (separate, not together), so I definitely need to make those.
Challah
A classic Challah loaf.
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup water room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup sugar
Topping
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon poppy or sesame seeds optional
Instructions
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Whisk together flour, yeast, and salt in bowl of stand mixer.
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In a 4 cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk water, oil, eggs, and sugar until sugar has dissolved.
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Slowly add liquid ingredients to flour mixture using dough hook on low speed, until cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl as needed.
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Increase speed to medium-low and knead dough until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. The dough should pull away from sides of bowl but stick to bottom.
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Transfer dough to lightly greased large bowl or container, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until increased in size by about half, 1.5 to 2 hours.
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Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Transfer dough to clean counter and divide into 2 equal pieces. Divide each piece into thirds and cover loosely with greased plastic.
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Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, strech and roll into 12-inch ropes (for a total of 6).
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Arrange 3 ropes side by side and pinch end together. Braid ropes into loaf and pinch remaining ends together. Repeat with other 3 ropes.
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Transfer each loaf to a prepared sheet. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until loaf increases in size by about half, 1 to 1.5 hours.
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Make egg wash by beating egg with water and pinch of salt.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Brush loaves with remaining egg mixture and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds (if desired).
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Bake for 25 minutes until deep golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Bread Illustrated and Smitten Kitchen.
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