Made by: Nicki

Challah is the traditional bread for the Jewish celebration of Shabbat. I started making it as a kid with my family every week. While it’s a lot of work, the payoff is definitely worth it. The bread is sweet and can taste like a dessert. It’s one of my favourite breads, delicious year-round.

Recipe

Challah

Servings: 1 loaf

Prep time: 15 minutes plus 1½–2 hours for the dough to rise

Cook time: 30–35 minutes

Total time: 2½ hours

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
Pinch of sugar
4 to 4½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk (reserve the white for the egg wash)
¼ cup neutral-flavoured vegetable oil
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a small bowl and add a healthy pinch of sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast and let stand until you see a thin frothy layer across the top. This means the yeast is active and ready to use. (If you don’t see this or if your yeast won’t dissolve, it has likely expired and you’ll need to purchase new yeast.)
Whisk together 4 cups of the flour, the honey and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand).
Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs, egg yolk and oil. Whisk together to form a slurry, pulling in a little flour from the sides of the bowl.
Pour the yeast mixture over the egg slurry. Mix the yeast, eggs and flour with a long-handled spoon until you form a shaggy dough that’s difficult to mix.
With a dough hook attachment, knead the dough on low speed for 6 to 8 minutes. (Alternatively, turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes.) If the dough seems very sticky, add flour a teaspoon at a time until it feels tacky but no longer like bubble gum. You’ve finished kneading when it’s soft, smooth and holds a ball shape.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it somewhere warm. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1½ to 2 hours.
Separate the dough into three or six equal pieces, depending on the type of braid you’d like to do. Roll each piece into a long rope roughly 1 inch thick and 16 inches long. If the ropes shrink as you roll them, let them rest for 5 minutes to relax the gluten, then try again.
Gather the ropes and squeeze them together at the very top. Braid them and squeeze the ends together when finished.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and set the loaf on top. Sprinkle the loaf with a little flour and drape it with a clean tea towel. Place the pan somewhere warm and away from drafts and let dough rise until puffed and pillowy, about an hour.
About 20 minutes before baking, heat the oven to 350˚F. When ready to bake, whisk the reserved egg white with a tablespoon of water and brush it all over the challah. Be sure to get in the cracks and down the sides of the loaf.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking. The challah is done when it’s deeply browned and registers 190˚F in the very middle with an instant-read thermometer.
Let the challah cool on a rack until just barely warm. Slice and eat.

Beverage pairing

Traditionally served at Shabbat dinners with red wine (or Manischewitz if you want to be traditional – but beware, it’s very sweet.)

A tip from a real Jew:

Up the sweetness factor by adding chocolate chips or Nutella at the end of Step 8.