Challah Bread

This is one bread I’ve been wanting to make for ages! The desire peaked when I saw the epic Challah Bread of Katharina Arrigoni of Besonders Gut. But alongwith the desire came the feeling that it’s crazy difficult , as I don’t even know to do a 4 braid for the hair, where am I going to do a 6 strand! Somewhere in November during our casual conversation I told my friend Vinee about my wish to bake a Challah Bread. She was like, “Then let’s bake it in December with our Christmas bakes!” When you have someone alongwith you to do a task that intimidates you, you suddenly feel all confident, thank you so much Vinee!!!

Vinee told me that she used the recipe of TheKitchn. The recipe is a very simple one. Before starting the bread I saw the video of Joshua Weissman. Everything seemed similar, except the egg wash. So I have adapted the recipe using TheKitchns recipe and Joshua Weissmans recipe. The egg wash does change the way the bread looks. It’s a brilliant orangish brown bread. The video of Northwest Sourdough helped me learn the 6 strand braid. If you do not want to do a 6 strand braid, you can always do a 3 strand braid as well. Do not let the appearance of the bread intimidate you, it’s a relatively easy bread to bake. And the most delicious bread I’ve ever baked. We had it just as it is on the first day, with butter and jam on the second and made a French toast on the third. And then my husband says, please keep making this bread, it’s delicious!

Challah Bread

Lejna

The famous Jewish bread Challah is easy to make is absolutely delicious. Make a beautiful Challah bread with this recipe.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

proofing 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 45 mins

Course Breads, Breakfast

Cuisine European, Jewish

Servings 1 Big Challah

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup Lukewarm water
• 2 tsp Active dry yeast
• 4-4½ cups All-purpose flour
• ¼ cup Granulated sugar
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 nos Large eggs
• 1 no Egg yolk
• 1 no Egg for egg wash
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil
• ½ tsp Poppy seeds optional

Instructions

 

• Dissolve the yeast in a cup of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar, set it aside to activate. If it froths then the yeast is active!
• Seive flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the 2 eggs and the yolk to this and gently mix. To this add the activated yeast and gently bring it all together.
• Place the mixture on a floured countertop and start kneading it for 10 minutes till it becomes a soft smooth dough. Resist the urge to add more flour. The more you knead the dough will stop being sticky.
• Once the dough holds a round shape place it in a well oiled bowl . Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and allow it to proof for an hour.
• After an hour, remove the cling wrap and gently pull the dough from the bottom and fold over the top. Repeat it on all the sides. Now gently take the dough and flip it and place in the bowl. Wrap it with a cling wrap and allow it to double in size for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• You can choose to either make two small loaves or 1 huge loaf.
• If making a 3 strand Challah then divide the dough into 3 equal parts. The weight of my proofed dough was 1 kg. You can eyeball the measurement or can weigh it and divide.
• There are many videos of how to do a 6 strand braided Challah bread. Place your dough on a parchment paper and braid as it's easier to transfer. Braid you bread as per your interest. After braiding place the bread on a baking tray.
• After braiding we need to give one coat of egg wash before proofing. For that take one egg, add 1 teaspoon of water to it and mix well. Gently brush the egg wash on the bread.
• Keep the bread for proofing. I kept 4 cookie tins around the baking tray and placed a damp muslin cloth on it like a tent, so that the bread doesn't dry and the muslin cloth doesn't touch the bread.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
• Once the bread has doubled in volume give the final egg wash.
• Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes if it's 1 huge loaf. And 20-25 minutes if it's 2 small loaves.
• Midway of the baking take the tray out, rotate and place back to get even colour on all sides.
• If you feel the top is getting too dark then place an aluminium foil sheet on the bread during the last 10 minutes of baking.
• Take the bread out of the oven and give a generous brush of butter.
• Let the bread cool for atleast 20 minutes before slicing it.

Keyword Challah, Challah Bread, Jewish Bread, Jewish Festival Bread