Challah Bread
Challah is a special Jewish braided bread traditionally eaten on Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Unlike other kinds of breads, Challah has a distinct dark brown crust which features an intricate braid. This bread is a bit sweet due to the addition of sugar and it has a soft and fluffy crumb structure. Challah gets its richness from the addition of eggs and oil and can be used to make a lot of other dishes like bread pudding and French toast. Though traditionally consumed during Jewish holidays, this enriched bread can be enjoyed on a regular basis like any other bread.
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 552 Grams All Purpose Flour (4-1/4 Cups) (See note 1)
(2) 2 Teaspoons Active Dried Yeast
(3) 1 Cup Warm Water (See Note 2)
(4) 50 Grams Granulated White Sugar (1/4 Cup or 4 Tablespoons)
(5) 2 Teaspoons Salt
(6) 1/4 Cup Neutral Oil (See Note 3)
(7) 2 Large Eggs and 1 Egg Yolk (See Note 4)
NOTES:
(1) You can use bread flour instead. You might however find braiding the dough a bit more difficult if you use bread flour. A good compromise is to use 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 all purpose flour.
(2) I used 1/2 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup warm water for extra richness.
(3) Oils like canola, peanut, sunflower or vegetable can be used. Avoid oils like olive oil.
(4) Save the egg white for the egg wash.
PROCEDURE:
Mixing Dough and Proofing:
(1) Put the yeast in the warm water along with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix and leave the mixture to sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast foams on top of the water. If using both water and milk, put the yeast and sugar in the water and add the milk to the dough along with the other wet ingredients.
(2) In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour, salt and remaining sugar and mix at low speed until combined.
(3) With the mixer running at low speed, add the yeast mixture, eggs, egg yolk, milk (if using) and oil. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and mix at medium speed for about 8-10 minutes or until a smooth dough forms.
NOTE: This process can also be done by hand. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in all the wet ingredients. Mix until a dough forms in the bowl. Turn the mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth dough forms.
(4) After kneading the dough in the stand mixer, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Its always good to feel your dough with your hands even after kneading with a stand mixer. This would help you ensure that the dough is the right texture.
(5) Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and place in a warm place until it doubles in size. This takes 2 hours.
Braiding Dough and Second Proofing:
(6) After the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a lightly floured work surface and deflate.
(7) One essential feature of Challah bread is that it is braided. There are several types of braids depending on the number of bread strands used. They range from the simple 3 stands braid to a more elaborate 6 or 8 strands braid. The type of braid you intend to make will determine how you portion your dough. I will be making an easy 6 strand braid here and so I will be dividing my dough into 6 parts. Using a scale, each part should weigh about 170 grams (The whole dough should weigh about 1,020 grams). You do not need to use a scale when dividing your dough, just try to get the portions as even as possible.
(8) After dividing your dough, form each portion into a ball and allow them rest for about 5 minutes before rolling into strands. This relaxes the gluten.
(9) Shape each portion into stands of about 15 inches long by rolling them on your floured work surface or between your palms.
(10) Braiding: like I mentioned earlier, I will be making an easy 6 strands braid. To do this, pinch the ends of 3 strands together and braid each group of 3 the way you would braid hair or twine. Tuck the ends underneath the braided dough. Using a rolling pin, make a cavity in the middle of one of the braided dough and place the other braided dough in that cavity. Its that simple. Transfer the dough to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
TIP: If you feel like it, you can leave each braid as a separate loaf and bake two loaves. The baking time would however reduce.
NOTE: For tutorials on how to make a proper 6 stands braid as well as other types of braids, check YouTube for instructional videos.
(11) Cover the dough lightly with cling film and leave it to double in size. This takes an hour.
Baking:
(12) 20 minutes to the end of the proofing period, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
(13) Brush the risen dough with the remaining egg white and bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 35 minutes. After 20 minutes of baking, take the bread out of the oven and brush it with some more egg white. Place the bread back in the oven making sure to rotate the pan while doing so. The bread is brushed a second time because as it rises during baking, white areas become exposed on the bread and you want the bread to be brown all over.
(14) When the bread is ready, take it out of the oven and cool it for about 15 minutes on a cooling rack before serving.
Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Wonderful teachings as usual.
Thank you Terry
You are welcome Chinyere.
This I am making on Friday, my son would love it!
I can’t wait for your feedback.
Wowwwww
Am trying this tomorrow.
Thanks for the post. Kudos
Do give it a go. You will love it.
Tnx Terry for this insightful teaching. I will replicate it soon.
You are welcome Kay.
Lovely! I’ll definitely try this. Great job Terry
Thanks.
Love how u made it look easy. Though I bake bread, never got around making a challah.it good to know that bread flour alone will make the braiding difficult. Thanks for that very important detail. Hod bless u.
You are welcome Hauwa.
wonderful work you did terry gonna try mine soon
Thanks Amy.
this is nice and I know the bread will be sweet
It does taste lovely Michelle.
I made it today, it’s soooooooooo yummy, though it took much time but it’s definitely worth the waiting! Thanks again Terry.
Awesome! I’m glad you loved it. I just finished eating mine and I’m tempted to bake another loaf. Compared to some other breads, this does not take so much time. You can have fresh bread in 4 hours from start to finish.
Hi Terry! I’m in Nigeria. I started baking the bread around 6 pm, hoping last last, bread will be ready by 10 pm. Followed instructions to the letter, my yeast sef over foam. Na the first proofing o, I left it 2 hours, it did not rise, I heated my oven a bit and turned off the gas, then left the dough there, no show. I just vex, I left it and went to bed! (lol) I woke at almost 3 am, it rose! It rose o! LOL. Is it that my kitchen is too cold? No regular baking? Anyway, I’m waiting for the 2nd proofing, I’m in bed, need to leave my house by 5.30 am, hopefully, it would rise when I wake up next, but I refuse to give up!
Hahaha, that’s funny. It might have something to do with the type of yeast you used since you said you kept it in the oven. Good luck with it.
Thanks a lot for sharing Mr Terry. To make it worthwhile, I’ll try my hands on the challah bread nd send a pix. Tnx again.
Awesome. I’d look forward to your picture.
Hi terry, I tried the challah bread and am so excited as it turned out perfectly well though it took longer time to raise but it worth the wait. Thanks for the recipe,
You are welcome Mutiat. Weather conditions affect the rising speed.
The colour looks wow! I love it, I love your illustrations, easy to understand. Thank you Terry for sharing.
You are welcome. Hope you try it out.
Any tips on how to keep the second braid on top from ‘slipping’ out of position when baking? This is the second time I’ve made your recipe…it’s fabulous but I need help with this issue. Many thanks
Making sure the groove in the middle of the bottom braid is deep enough to house the top braid might help. Brushing the groove with a bit of egg wash before placing the top braid in it might also help hold it in place.
Hello Terry, I’ll try my hands on this bread tonight and wish to upload the pic for you to see, how can I do that? God bless you for your good work.
Hi Dupsy. Please send it to me was an inbox msg on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks
Thanks terry Gid bless you will try it out
Do give it a go!
Thanks Terry. I’ll definitely try this.
You are welcome Jennifer.
Wow😃
I really appreciate d fact dat u are a good teacher. Hope u would produce a recipe book one day👏
Thanks Beam. Fingers crossed on the book.
You are just one person that share knowledge for free,and always detailed,God bless u richly it shall be well with you all the days of your life.
Thanks Suzzy.
Thanks Terry, will definitely try it this weekend
You are welcome Gift.
Tnx Terry for your well explained recipe, pls will additional sugar affect the recipe?