A straightforward guide to making bakery-worthy challah bread: soft and pillowy on the inside, shiny and golden on the outside – and if you’re feeling adventurous, a six-strand loaf.
When flour, water, yeast, and salt are worked together in the right proportions for the right amount of time and at the right temperature, something magical happens: gluten structure develops, bread is made! But add fat, milk, sugar, and you have something even better: an enriched dough! You have challah bread! And you know what that means, right? The beginning of many wonderful things: grilled cheese sandwiches, French toasts, bread puddings, or the beauty of its purest form: a humble slice of soft, tender bread smeared with creamy butter.
I love making bread. I love watching the ingredients come together and go from a dry, flourey mess to a shaggy dough to something smooth and pillowy, to finally transform into something you can eat. I enjoy the process just as much as love the final product – so much so, I usually do it by hand! People tend to find this an extremely odd choice, but they just don’t get it).
Making challah is a very simple and straightforward process. There’s equal active parts and resting parts, so you and your dough work in tandem: you move together and then take a little rest together. Everything is smooth sailing right up until the time to start braiding your loaf.
From there, things can either go extremely fine and quick (if you choose to do a two, three or even a four-strand braid) or the road to your challah bread can get a little bit more treacherous (if you’re an overachiever who insists on producing a six-strand brand). So it’s really up to you. Technically, there’s no need to make a six-strand loaf and honestly, it can be quite maddening, but what is life without a little challenge every now and then?
Ingredients You’ll Need for Challah Bread
Like I mentioned previously, challah bread is an enriched dough. Bread doughs usually fall into one of two categories: lean or enriched. And that’s based on the ingredients they call for. Lean breads call for minimal ingredients: typically just flour, water, salt, and yeast. They usually have a chewy, crusty texture with an open crumb structure. Examples include baguettes, ciabatta, and sourdough.
Enriched doughs call for those same basic ingredients plus additional ones: fat, milk, and sugar. Those ingredients literally enrich the dough, making it more flavorful and fluffy, providing more color, sweetness and fat. Some examples are brioche, challah, and milk buns.
The flour provides structure and crumb in breads. It contains protein and starches that when in contact with a liquid (water or milk), produce gluten. For delicate, rich breads, with a softer crust and crumb, fat and sugars in the form of butter, oil, and eggs affect how well the gluten develops and how long and elastic the gluten strands become.
Most enriched doughs, like brioche, rely on butter for its soft, tender crumb. Challah, on the other hand, is typically made without dairy, so for this recipe we’re using vegetable oil. It’s neutral and boring, but works really well here. If you want a more flavorful dough, with some fruity or bitter notes, you can substitute for olive oil. But I like how the neutral oil keeps all the tones balanced.
Most challah recipes call for honey, but this recipe uses sugar – again, we’re keeping things neutral here. But then again, feel free to use honey. The eggs provide richness and tenderness to the dough. Brushing your challah with egg wash before baking gives the loaf that beautiful deep amber color and glossy crust – or like some people described my loaf, “almost burnt.”
Mixing Challah Dough
When making bread, proper execution of mixing is crucial to the quality of the final product, but it’s all very easy. Think of it as four stages, where the dough will get to develop its structure. I’m assuming you’ll be using a stand mixer for this, but if you’re kneading your bread by hand, it’s the same idea, except you’ll want to knead the dough on a working surface for 15-20 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Start mixing the ingredients in a bowl until shaggy, then dump it on a clean, working surface and start kneading. Don’t stop until your arm is on fire and you’re in a trance and your dough is soft and smooth.
- The ingredients are mixed and blended on low speed just until combined. The dough will be wet and sticky at this point.
- The next stage is the preliminary development of the dough. Mix it at medium-low speed until it appears somewhat rough. This will take about three minutes.
- Now gluten is beginning to develop and the dough will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. At this point the mixer should be running at medium speed. It will take a few minutes, anywhere from three to five or even seven. Keep going and don’t despair.
- Finally, the gluten is fully developed. The dough is smooth and elastic and leaves the side of the bowl completely clean as the mixer is running.
Then it’s time to let your dough rest. In the meantime, you can learn how to make a six-strand loaf. Follow this video or these instructions and trust me, you’ll do great!
Ingredients
5.7g (about 1 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
182g (3/4 cup) lukewarm water
480g (4 cups) bread flour
2 eggs
45g (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
45g (3 tbsp) sugar
8.7g (about 1/2 tbsp) salt
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Directions
Bloom the yeast: add the lukewarm water to a bowl or measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast and 1 tbsp of the sugar over the water and stir to dissolve. Allow the mixture to sit for about 5-10 minutes, until foaming.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, remaining sugar, and salt. Mix on low just until combined.
Add the bloomed yeast, eggs, and oil, and continue mixing on low speed for 4 minutes. Turn the speed to medium and keep mixing for another 4-7 minutes, or until the dough is slightly firm and smooth, but not sticky.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl lightly greased with oil or non-stick spray. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm environment until double in size, about 1 hour.
Invert the dough onto a lightly floured surface - it will deflate. Weigh your dough and cut it into even pieces (3, 4 or 6, depending on how many strands your want your loaf to be).
Pre-shape the dough into small oblongs: stretch the dough into a rectangle 3 in/8 cm long. Fold the left and right edges of the rectangle into the center of the dough, pressing the dough lightly with your fingertips. Fold the top edge of the dough down to the center of the dough, pressing lightly with your fingertips. Fold the top of the dough down to the bottom edge. Seal the two edges together, using the heel of your hand. Roll the dough into an even cylinder 3 in/8 cm long.
Allow the dough to rest, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. The dough will relax and it'll be easier to finish shaping.
Finish shaping your dough: starting at the center of the dough, roll each piece outward, applying gentle pressure with your palms. Apply very little pressure at the center of the dough, but increase the pressure as you roll toward the ends of the dough. Roll each piece of dough into an evenly tapered strand 12 in/30 cm long.
For a six-strand challah: Dust the top of the strands very lightly with flour. (This will keep the dough dry as you braid, and help maintain the overall definition of the braid.) Lay six strands of dough vertically parallel to each other and pinch the tops of the strands together.
For braiding, follow these instructions.
When finished, pinch the ends together. Carefully transfer the braided loaf to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush the dough lightly with the egg wash. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap or kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, environment until the dough springs back halfway slowly to the touch but does not collapse, about 1 hour. (There should be a small indentation left in the dough.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F/177C and set an oven rack in the middle position. Egg wash the dough, very gently, once again before baking.
Bake until dark golden brown and shiny, 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place it on a rack to cool.
@heythereannao It starts out as a wonderful way to release frustration but then comes the braiding and it drives you crazy
♬ original sound - Jo3y
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