This is my favorite recipe for Challah. I love making Challah once every other week for Shabbat. It can also yield three smaller challahs so you can even eat one and freeze the other two. I make my bread half whole wheat and with a little sugar and lots of honey so its sweet and yummy. The bread may not look absolutely perfect but it tastes amazing. It is great by itself, as a sandwich bread or with a jam or my latest favorite, Biscoff Spread. This spread tastes like graham crackers in a spread and is just absolutely delicious. This recipe makes two challahs so I usually freeze one challah and then use the other one that day. It’s still good the next day but will start to lose its moistness by day three, which is why its so good for french toast.
Making a yeast bread is a bit tricky until you have done it a bunch of times. You have to make sure your yeast is good and proofs well. You also have to make sure that the water is warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast. The other trick is making sure that the dough is the right consistency. The dough should not feel sticky but soft. After a while of making this bread, I felt when the dough was right. It is a lot of work but well worth it! The difference in taste from store bought is truly significant. This recipe was originally given to me when I took a Challah class at the JCC in Manhattan. The original recipe was adapted by Shoshana Ohriner. She has a great website and great ideas on how to bake all different types of challahs, even ones with sprinkles, which I thought looked amazing.
If you are interested in learning more about making yeast breads, I really recommend taking a class either at your community center or at a culinary institute. I took an excellent class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. Also please note that I wrote approximations such as 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of honey. I do love sweet so I add a bit more sweetness to my bread because I love the sweet taste. If you don’t want it that sweet you can cut back to 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 cup of honey.
This is how I made it:
3 packages of dry yeast (about 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
3/4 warm water
3 cups of white flour (may need more when mixing)
3 cups of whole wheat flour (may need more when mixing)
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2-3/4 cup of honey
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Mix yeast, brown sugar and warm water in a bowl. Let stand for five minutes until mixtures bubbles a bit. If it doesn’t bubble you need to start over. I keep my yeast in the fridge and it stays for a long time. Just a tip!
In one large bowl, mix flour and salt. Use a whisk to mix. In another large bowl mix eggs, oil, water and honey.
When yeast has proofed (bubbles a bit), add the yeast mixture to flour and salt mixture and mix well. Add egg mixture and continue mixing until dough comes together. Add flour if necessary.The dough will remain soft but shouldn’t be sticky.
Since I use my stand mixer for this recipe, I switch over to my dough hook at this point. I mix with the dough hook for about 2 minutes or so. The dough will come together as a ball. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead by hand for a couple of minutes. Feel it intermittently to see if you need to add more flour. Don’t add too much flour or it will get too dry. Add a little bit at a time. Place the ball in a well oiled bowl and turn the ball over so dough is well coated with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise for about two hours or until doubles in size.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Punch down dough. Divide dough into two large pieces. For each ball of dough further separate into three pieces. Form three ropes per challah and braid accordingly. Place on lightly greased sheet and brush with egg wash.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. They are done when the challah is browned nicely on top and makes a hollow sound when tapped.
Let cool and eat!
