While I’m not making a homemade challah every Friday, I believe it is one of my favorite Shabbat rituals and it is special to share with family and friends. If you’ve never made challah before, don’t be afraid! It’s actually very simple though it takes many hours to rise and reach its highest, yummiest potential. Making challah is a wonderful activity to do alone or with your loved ones. And though the ritual is predominately reserved for the women in a Jewish household, anyone and everyone can make a challah.
Recipe Tips
Kneading: This is one of the most important parts in developing a soft and airy challah bread. It helps create the bread’s elasticity, but the process of kneading is also a directly spiritual task.
Rising: Without a double rise, or a single long rise, the challah will not double in size and will therefore end up very dense and doughy in taste.
Serving: I think challah is best served hot, right out of the oven, if possible.
More Challah Recipes:
Ingredients
Method
- Mix yeast, sugar and warm water. Add in 1 c all purpose flour. Let dough rest for 1 hour with a towel covering the bowl as the flour hydrates.
- Add in the eggs and oil until uniform in color and texture.
- Add in the salt, remaining 1.5 c all purpose flour as well as the 1-1.5 c bread flour. Knead the dough in bowl with gloves by hand and add in extra flour if needed.
- Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl, cover with a paper towel and kitchen towel to allow rising process for about 2 hours.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Form flat triangles by pushing down each section of the dough. Then, roll up each until you have uniform strands. Elongate them into 16-inch long strands.
- Braid 4 over 2, 1 over 3, 2 over 3. Rinse, repeat.
- Allow second rise for about 1 hour.
- Egg wash and add everything seed bagel seasoning. Bake for 35-40 minutes at about 350 degrees.