Recipe: Challah

Revised October 2022

This is my adaptation of the challah recipe from The New Best Recipe. I’ve made it pareve, because a dairy challah isn’t useful for us. I’ve adjusted it to make 3 medium-sized loaves with a simple, 4-strand braid. Finally, I’ve worked on the flavor, texture, and bake time so it’s tasty the next day, too.

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Makes 3 medium loaves.

Equipment

• Stand mixer with dough hook
• Baking sheet with parchment paper
• Digital scale
• Brush for egg wash
• Bench scraper to cut dough

Dough

• 910g King Arthur Organic Bread Flour
• 5 tsp. yeast
• 100g honey granules or sugar (2/3 C)
• 3 tsp. fine salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 105g vegetable oil (1/2 C)
• 245g warm water

Egg wash

• 1 egg white (reserved from above)
• Pinch salt
• 1 Tbsp cold water
• Optional topping like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or “everything” mix

1. In bowl of 6-quart stand mixer, combine sugar, yeast, and water, stirring to dissolve.
2. Add eggs, yolks, and oil.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt, then pour flour mixture over liquid mixture.
4. Using dough hook, mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Dough should clear the sides, but will stick to the bottom.
5. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces (about 540 grams each). Place each piece in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
6. With each piece of dough, remove from bowl, divide into 4 pieces, and roll pieces into 10-inch ropes. Braid ropes tightly (see below). Pinch ends and tuck under to neaten.
7. Place the 3 braided loaves onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour (until increased by one-third).
8. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle and preheat oven to 325°F convection.
9. Whisk egg white with salt and water. Brush egg mixture onto loaves. Coat thoroughly with seed topping if using.
10. Bake 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Note: If you don’t have a convection oven, you can bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, but the loaf in the middle may be a little under-baked.

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Braiding technique

A simple three-strand braid works fine, but the loaves are a bit flat. I’ve learned a four-strand braid that’s easy for me and gives the loaves more height.

• Pinch your four strands together at one end, and fan the strands out. Number the strand positions in your mind: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
• Whenever you move a strand it assumes the number of its new position.
• Braid in this pattern: 4-over-2, 1-over-3, 2-over-3
• Repeat until you can’t anymore, then pinch the ends together and fold under a bit to neaten.

For the fall holidays, use this four-strand circular braid.

• Place two strands perpendicularly over two other strands, weaving the alternate strands.
• Rotating around each of the four quandrants, place the lower strand over the higher strand.
• Reverse direction and repeat.
• Twist remaining dought into a coil, then tuck coils underneath to give the loaf some added height.