Challah
CategoryBread recipes
Yield4 loaves
Time5 hours

Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Equipment | Techniques | Cookbook Disambiguation Pages | Recipes

Ingredients

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Ingredient Count Volume

[note 1]

Weight Baker's %
Bread flour 9 cups 1233 g 100%
White granulated sugar ½ cup plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) 112.6 g 9.13%
Warm water 1 ½ cups plus 1 cup 593 g 48.05%
Active dry yeast 6 ¾ teaspoons[note 2] 27 g 2.19%
Salt 1 tbsp 18 g 1.46%
Eggs 4 ea. 200 g 16.22%
Vegetable oil ½ cup 109 g 8.84%
Egg wash
Sesame seeds
Total n/a n/a 2292 g 186%

Procedure

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Dough

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  1. Put bread flour in a bowl. Mix in the ½ cup of sugar and the salt.
  2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, add the 1 ½ cups of warm water. Mix in the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and wait 8 minutes. The yeast mixture should be foamy.
  3. Briefly mix the yeast mixture, then mix it into the flour mixture.
  4. Mix in the eggs and oil.
  5. Add the remaining 1 cup warm water, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
  6. Let the dough rise, covered, for two-four hours.

Braiding

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  1. Divide the dough into four parts. These will make 4 challahs.
  2. Take one part. Separate it into four pieces. Take each piece and roll it between your hands until it is a long strand. Attach the four strands together at one end by squeezing the ends together (see picture).
  3. Place on a piece of foil or a pan.
  4. Take the strand at the far left and braid by putting it over two strands to the right and then put it back under one strand to the left.
  5. Take the strand at the far right and put it over two strands to the left and then put it back under one strand to the right.
  6. Repeat the last two steps until you reach the end of the strands.
  7. Do the same thing with the other three parts.

Finish

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  1. Brush each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  2. Allow to rise for two hours.
  3. Bake in preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes.

Conversion notes

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  1. Weight conversions from USDA National Nutrient Database. Original recipe text and ingredient order preserved. Used "1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp" for sugar conversion. Active dry yeast, large eggs, and soybean oil presumed. Density adjustment not applied to warm water.
  2. This excessive amount of yeast will result in a strong yeast flavor. To reduce this flavor, it is recommend to use no more than 0.75% instant dry yeast which means about 9.24 g, or about 2 1/4 teaspoons, although you can expect fermentation time to increase slightly. Osmotolerant yeast may be desired for optimum results.