Challah Bread

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ Cups warm water (Warm to 110 degrees, I recommend using out of the tap and you want it barely warm 

  • 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast

  • ½ cup local honey

  • ¼ cup avocado or olive oil 

  • 2 eggs

  • 8 cups of flour (you may need more or less depending on humidity) 

    • Use all purpose flour for a softer bread, use bread flour for a tougher chewier bread. 

  • 1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to brush on before baking

Directions:


  1. Place warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast in mix with a small whisk, then whisk in honey. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to let the yeast jump start

  2. Beat in the eggs and oil. You can use a whip attachment to make this easier or just use the dough hook.   (room temperature is better so that the temp of the yeast doesn’t get too cold. 

  3. Switch to the dough hook if you haven’t already.Add in ¾ of the flour and mix until well combined. Then add the rest 1 cup at a time until it is fully incorporated. You have added enough flour when the dough cleans the bowl. This includes the little sticky bit that gathers at the bottom of the bowl. 

  4. Once the bowl is “cleaned” by the dough, leave the mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes. This takes the place of kneading by hand. 

  5. Take out of the mixer and knead a few times until it becomes smooth. Sometimes, if the dough is climbing the hook too much, I will knead by hand. This is also a great way to get an upper body workout. 

  6. Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and coat with oil. Cover with a towel and let sit until doubled in size. This could take longer if your house is colder. 

  7. Once it has doubled in size, take out of the bowl and divide in half. 

  8. Makeup: (This is a term describing forming dough into its final shape.

    1. Divide each half into thirds and roll the thirds into ropes. Braid the ropes and pinch the ends together really tightly and fold under. 

    2. You can also roll a half into one log, cut off small even pieces and make mini braided loaves to be dinner rolls. 

    3. You can also roll into regular dinner rolls. 

  9. Let rise until they have grown by ⅓ to doubled.

  10. Mix the 3rd egg with 2 Tablespoons of water and brush onto loaves or rolls. 

  11. Bake at 375°F  until golden brown. Bread should sound hollow when tapped. You can also check the internal temperature and it should be around 200°F

    1. Loaves take 20-30 minutes

    2. Braided rolls take 15-20 minutes

    3. Regular dinner rolls take 10-15 minutes

Honey butter

  1. Soften some salted butter. (if you can’t leave it at room temperature, place in the wrapper in the microwave for 5-10 seconds on 2 sides until it leaves a dent when pressed. 

  2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of honey per stick of butter and about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon per stick. Whip with the paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy. 




Challah is one of my favorite things to make. It tastes amazing and makes a table look so pretty. It has its roots in the Jewish faith, so it is excellent to make for Sabbath meals. I love making it at Thanksgiving because it has that cornucopia look that suits Thanksgiving so well. Since I have been making it so long, I have some definite preferences when it comes to making it. Here are some hints: 

  • Let this rise for as long as you can. The more it rises, the softer it becomes. 

  • Don’t skip the egg wash. It holds moisture in the bread and it will not turn brown without it. Be careful about it spilling over onto the sheet pan because the egg wash will burn on the pan and make the bread taste burned. 

  • Use parchment paper to protect your pan. It saves so much cleaning time and you don’t have to worry about the bread sticking. 

  • Use the bread within 2-3 days, after that, it will be dried out. At that point (Before it molds of course) it makes excellent garlic bread or bread pudding

  • Homemade bread doesn’t have the preservatives that store bought packaged bread has, so it doesn’t last as long. 

  • When storing, let cool completely before putting in an airtight bag. If it goes into a bag warm, the condensation will make it mold more quickly. 

  • The loaves are super pretty, but the rolls are more approachable and are usually enjoyed more. 

  • You can make this a two day process if you need to. ( I do this for classes since we have 90 minute class periods. You would just make the bread up to the makeup stage (the loaves or rolls being formed) and then cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight. This helps with timing, but also with flavor development. Let it come to room temperature before baking. This timing also helps if you are making a large meal like thanksgiving dinner. You are able to do the major prep the day before and then just bake fresh the day of. 

    • You can also do this as a 3 day process to really develop flavor. 

  • You can warm this up by placing it in the oven covered with a very lightly damp towel for about 10 minutes at 250°F.


Watch the video for super helpful visuals that will guide you through the process. It’s most definitely worth it and if you don’t get it right 


There are nine steps to making yeast breads, so you can follow this process with any yeast bread and end up with a good product. 

  1. Scaling (this is the measuring process) In the food service industry, weights are almost exclusively used to ensure a consistent product. When you measure things like flour by volume, you can have a wide variety of amounts depending on who measures when. Weights ensure consistency and an easier to manage recipe. 

  2. Mixing: This stage is exactly what you think. You are mixing together your ingredients. You usually want to use the dough hook for this. You can also use the whip attachment to do your initial mix and then once you add all the flour, switch to the hook.  Like I mentioned earlier, I always mix the warm water, yeast, and sugar before adding flour and other ingredients. This helps you jump start the recipe. You can use a mini whisk to mix together. Sometimes the sugar in a recipe is not actual granulated sugar. It can be honey, syrup, or any other sweet ingredient. Artificial sweeteners can’t be substituted for sugar since the yeast need actual calories to eat and then expel alcohol and CO2. 

  3. Kneading: You can do this by hand, but you can also do most of it in the stand mixer by leaving the mixer on medium with the dough hook attachment. This is designed to knead the dough so that you don’t have to work as hard. 

  4. Bench Proofing: This is letting the dough sit until doubled in size in one big ball. You can do this on the counter or cutting board covered in a towel or in the mixing bowl. 

  5. Makeup: This is where you form the loaves or rolls into the desired shape. 

  6. Proofing: This is letting the bread rise in its final form. You are looking for it to go up in size by ⅓ to double. 

  7. Baking: Baking is baking the bread. You want most of your rise to occur before it is baked, because your yeast will die when the internal temp of the bread gets over about 120°F. It will rise a bit in the oven, and this is called oven spring. 

  8. Cooling: Cooling before cutting and storing keeps the bread from collapsing when you cut it and also means that when you store it, condensation will not form in the bag causing your bread to go bad more quickly. 

  9. Storage: If storing more than a day, keep in an airtight container or bag.

Erin Mercs