The Best Challah Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour to use for challah? ›

Myrna's original recipe calls for all-purpose flour, and you can substitute that here. But I find bread flour gives the challah a nice chew without making it tough, and also helps the braided loaf maintain its shape after baking. For some novice challah makers, that braid can seem like the hardest part.

Translation: Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to separate challah. Separate a small piece of dough, approximately one ounce, and say: "This is challah."

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.

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.

This recipe uses loads of eggs (7 yolks to be exact) and I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil when I make challah for an extra rich and intense flavor.

Separate challah without a brocha when using flour weighing between 1.23kg and 1.67kg (between approximately 8 to 12 cups of unsifted flour or 9 and 15 cups of sifted flour). Separate challah with a brocha when using flour weighing more than 1.67kg (approximately 12cups of unsifted flour or 15 cups of sifted flour) .

The best baking temperature for *most* challahs is about 190°C / 365-375°F.

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.

The technique may seem strange but it is very forgiving which is great for everyone: especially people who aren't as comfortable baking bread. The process involves two long room temperature rises: the first, 8-10 hours and the second, 4-5 hours.

When dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it over in your bowl. At this point, you can either let it rise again on the counter or let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. I ALWAYS do one rise overnight in the fridge, no matter what kind of bread I'm baking.

What happens if you overproof challah? ›

You'll end up with a loaf that doesn't expand or bake well, and that is also misshapen and very sour. While some people (including us) like that biting flavor, others may find it too sour. Mistakes are inevitable when it comes to proofing bread, but there's no need to throw out dough if it proofs too long.

If the area is too warm, bread will rise too fast and begin cooking before the yeast has finished acting. This will impart a "yeasty" taste to the dough that will be transferred to the finished baked loaf. Using old ingredients (rancid nuts, "old" shortening) will cause yeast breads to taste old or have an "off" taste.

Substituting butter: If you don't need to keep a kosher table, you can substitute melted butter for the oil in this recipe. Storage: Wrap cooled challah tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Canola oil is the most popular baking oil as it's stable at high temperatures, is cost-effective and has a very natural flavour. It also has only 7% saturated fat and contains omega-3s. Choose organic where possible even if it's a little more pricey.

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.

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.

Strong white bread flour

As it's got more gluten development, it will be very elastic.

So, if you're wondering how to make sourdough bread, you'll probably find most recipes recommend a strong white bread flour over an all-purpose flour. This is because the higher protein content of bread flour will help you create the high rise and rustic crust of an artisan style loaf.

No. Self-raising flour is effectively plain (all-purpose) flour that comes pre-mixed with baking powder. Strong (bread) flour is flour that contains more gluten than plain (all-purpose) flour. This makes it particularly suitable for making bread, which depends on developing gluten chains within the dough.