Challah bread is a great bread for ending the week. Slightly sweet and easy to digest, I also love it for a Friday night carbo load before a big weekend (and then spread with almond butter for ride or run fuel). I like adding a ½ cup rye flour sometimes–I feel it gives it some depth–but it’s super good with straight white flour!
Challah Bread
Servings: 1 large crown loaf
Ingredients
- 8 grams active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk
- 4 tbsp oil (any)
- 4 eggs
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 720 grams bread and/or all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- (optional) sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine yeast with warm water to activate for 5-10 minutes. Whisk eggs in a small bowl.
- Add warm milk, all but a drip of eggs (the leftover is for glazing the loaf at the end), oil, and sugar to yeast.
- Add flour and salt and knead for a few minutes until dough comes together (it's ok if it's a bit sticky).
- Oil the bottom of the bowl, toss the ball of dough around until it is covered in oil, then let the dough sit, covered, in a warm place for 2-3 hours to rise. (I have not tried this but one could try, alternatively, allowing the dough to rise for 8 hours or overnight in the fridge, then bringing it to room temperature 1 hour before continuing.)
- Braid the dough onto a flat baking sheet. (There is an excellent tutorial here from blogger Tori Avey on all the different types of braiding.) Let rise 30 minutes while the oven pre-heats to 350˚F. Paint with leftover egg and decorate with sesame seeds, if desired.
- Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the top is browned. Optional to paint again with egg halfway through the baking.