The Best Challah Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use bread flour or all-purpose flour for challah? ›

While both substitutions are possible, the preferable swap is the use of all-purpose in place of bread flour. Substituting active dry yeast for instant yeast: For the purposes of this exact method/recipe, I don't recommend it.

Oil: Vegetable oil, generally used in making challah, is fine—and produces neutral-tasting bread. I prefer olive oil and love the slightly herbal note it imparts to my bread. If using raisins: Make sure the raisins are plump and not desiccated, if using.

The Second Rise, Known as Proofing

Again, the slower the rise, the more flavor your dough will develop. Be careful not to over proof your loaves; if they proof too much, the air bubbles get too big, causing them to pop and then deflate in the oven.

Brush the loaf generously with about 2-3 tablespoons of the egg whites you reserved earlier. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Bake in the 350 degrees F heated-oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the challah bread cool before slicing.

Amount of flour: The key to a soft loaf that isn't dense is to use as little flour as possible. I start with 930 grams of flour and add up to 70 more grams based on what the dough needs. The amount of liquid in the dough will vary from loaf to loaf because “large” eggs are similar but not uniform in volume.

Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with a thin layer of oil and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest and rise for 8–10 hours—overnight is perfect!

Jewish bakeries use oil so the challah can be eaten with a dairy or meat meal, but we use butter because it tastes so much better. To make a traditional loaf, you can substitute a neutral vegetable oil like canola, corn or sunflower oil.

Does olive oil make dough softer? Yes - adding olive oil to sourdough bread will result in a softer crust and crumb. The oil as a lipid coats the flour and inhibits the gluten network resulting in a softer, tighter crumb and softer crust. This can be a desirable outcome if you do not like tough, chewy sourdough crusts.

Best Oils for Baking

Choosing vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor. It allows your cake's flavor will shine through while still achieving a moist texture.

TIP: You may need to sprinkle on a small amount of flour to the outside of the dough to keep your mixer working well also. If you have to, turn the mixer off and use your hands to work the dough a bit. By now the dough should have softened considerably. Total kneading time should not exceed 10-12 minutes.

How to tell when challah is done? ›

Completely baked-through challahs should have browned tops AND, equally important, baked-through and browned bottoms. To check this, take a long flat spatula and pick up the challahs before your take them off of the tray to cool. If they are firm and browned through on the bottoms as well, they should be done.

If the dough contains at least 1.666 kilo (a little more than 7 cups) of flour, one should take challah with a blessing. If the amount of flour in the dough is more than 1.2 kilo but less than 1.666 (5-7 cups), challah should be taken without a blessing.

If your challahs are not rising, your yeast is old. It is no longer active. Once the package of yeast has been opened, it does not last in the cabinet AT ALL. To avoid this problem, throw out your old yeast.

Knead on medium-low speed until you have a sticky dough that clings to the bottom of the bowl, 5 to 7 minutes. The dough may seem too wet but have faith—it's supposed to be. Dust your hands generously with flour, then scrape the sticky, elastic dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Bread flour produces baked goods with more structure and chew than all-purpose flour, as all-purpose only has a protein content of 10 to 12 percent, versus the 12 to 14 percent of bread. All-purpose flour produces tender baked goods (as opposed to chewy ones) and is ideal for cakes, muffins, biscuits, piecrust, etc.

Substitution Note: Since bread flour absorbs more water than all purpose flour, I always recommend reducing water/liquid slightly when substituting. Be aware that the dough may be stickier and less elastic by nature, and won't hold its structure or rise quite as well.

We do traditional milling of wheat flour, spelt, rye and also other grains.” Anything that can be made into flour, Thon said, can be milled at Stybel Flour Mill. “Afterwards, we use it for bakeries,” Thon said.

Once it looks like a smooth and elastic dough, STOP adding flour; too much flour will dry out the dough! Add a bit more OIL instead and your dough will be great!