My Quest for the Best Challah ♥

Challah is one of my favourite egg breads ~ the aroma of the loaves baking is sublime, and the rich dough is incredibly tender whith just a hint of sweetness! With cold butter, and perhaps some wild berry preserves, I could easily eat a whole loaf when it’s still warm from the oven (I actually did this a few years ago!).  But I’d never tried baking one until last year. After researching recipes for this delicious Jewish specialty in my cookbooks and on the web, I had chosen the recipe I’d found in the Fleischmann’s Yeast “Best Ever Breads”cookbook (using Fleischmann’s traditional active dry yeast). The proportion of butter and eggs seemed the most promising for what I wanted to achieve.

My first Challah, prepared using the Fleischmann's Yeast recipe.

I have to admit that I was very pleased with the results. The baked loaves looked gorgeous, and had a wonderful flavour and texture. But the bread just wasn’t as rich tasting ~ and the dough not as golden ~ as I’d hoped! So I went back to my research, but still could not find a recipe that seemed better. Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I decided I’d have to create my own recipe!

Rich, golden loaves of challah, prepared from my own recipe.

The result was, to say the least, fabulous! But this assessment is not only my own! Several friends and family members, including my sister, who are excellent bakers and foodies, all agreed. My parents are probably the most critical bread eaters I know, and for good cause! One of my aunts on my mother’s side and my grandmother on my father’s side made the most exquisite breads! I’ve had bread that tasted as good as my aunt’s, but never tasted better, even in Europe where I lived for 21 years! And my parent’s verdict was also that my recipe for challah produced the best egg bread they had ever tasted.

Slices of my rich, golden egg bread, still warm from the oven, with a jar of my home-made golden-amber caramel ~ ambrosia!

The bread cooks to a gorgeous golden brown, and the dough is wonderfully tender, and has the colour of pale yellow beaten eggs. The aroma while it’s baking and once it’s out of the oven is quite simply impossible to resist! Perfection! I had several pieces of it while it was warm, with cold butter and some of my golden amber home-made caramel ~ sheer delight!

After having tasted literally dozens upon dozens of challahs in Montreal, England, and New York, only one baker I knew of made a richer tasting loaf that was as lovely in texture ~ and I’ve tasted hundreds of different Challah!!! He is based in London, in Mill Hill East, where I lived for several years. But now, to my delight, I can say I have created a challah recipe that beats his hands down ! I do hope you will give it a try and let me know what you think ♥

Oh, and I must also tell you that the second time I baked some of this bread, I had an extra yolk, so I added that as well (i.e. for a total of 4 large eggs and 5 large egg yolks). Oh my! It was almost like brioche, but I liked this more ♥

Epi’s Rich Challah Bread

Preparation

NOTE: I used a powerful KitchenAid® mixer to make this dough, but any heavy duty mixer can be used, or prepare it according to the traditional method for making bread which I describe in detail in my How-to section on making great bread.

• Warm the large bowl of your stand mixer with hot water. Empty this then dissolve the sugar in the warm water specified in my recipe above. Sprinkle in the yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Add honey and the beaten eggs and yolks to dissolved yeast. Beat with paddle attachment for 10 seconds on speed 2.
• Add melted butter and salt, and beat on speed 2 for 10 seconds.

NOTE: For the following steps always start at the “stir” setting and never use a setting higher than 2.

• Add 500 ml flour to yeast mixture and beat 15 seconds or until well blended, using paddle attachment. Scrape down the bowl once.
• Add another 500 ml flour and beat 15 seconds or until well blended, using paddle attachment. Scrape down bowl once.
• Switch to dough hook, cleaning paddle well and add any bits of dough to mixture in bowl.
• Add another 500 ml flour and knead 30 seconds or until well blended, using dough hook. Scrape down bowl once.
• Add the last 250 ml flour and knead 15 to 30 seconds or until well blended, using dough hook. Scrape down bowl once or twice. Knead another 30 seconds.
• Touch dough. If it feels sticky, add about 30 ml flour and knead in well, about 60 seconds. If dough is really sticky, add another 30 ml and knead, but make sure dough is not too dry!
• Knead for another 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Note: A more moist dough is tougher to handle but once baked will yield a more delicate texture.
• Gather into a ball and place in a clean, lightly greased bowl (I use butter), turning dough so that it is completely covered. Cover the bowl loosely with cling film and place in a draft free area – allow to rest for 50 – 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• Once the dough has doubled in size and an indentation remains when dough is poked with 2 fingers (then it’s ready!), punch it down lightly and turn out on a floured surface. Knead lightly just a few times, kneading in raisins at this time if you wish (don’t knead more than 3 or 4 times). Let dough rest for 5 minutes or so.
• Line a large baking sheet with a wide sheet of baking parchment, or grease the sheet lightly.

Shaping the partially raised dough into attractive braided loaves.

The following technique for making beautiful, double braided loaves is from the Fleischmann’s Yeast cookbook, but you can shape the dough into any shapes you prefer, including individual loaves.

• Divide the dough into two. Gather half of the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl, leaving it covered.
• Meanwhile, take the other half and divide into two parts, one equal to 1/3 and the other 2/3 of the dough. Take the larger part, cut into three equal pieces, and roll each into a long 30.5 cm (12 inch) strand. Braid, pinch ends to seal, and place on baking sheet. Now do the same with the smaller piece of dough, rolling each 1/3 into 25.4 cm (10 inch strands). Braid, pinch the ends to seal, and place on top of larger braid.
• Repeat with remaining dough.

Alternatively, make a single 4-strand braid like so:

• Divide dough into quarters; roll each into 18-inch 45 cm long ropes. Place side by side on greased rimmed baking sheet; pinch together at one end. Starting at pinched end, move second rope from left over rope on its right. Move far right rope over two ropes on left. Move far left rope over 2 ropes on right. Repeat until braid is complete; tuck ends under braid.
• Cover with cling film or a clean tea towel and allow to rise for 40 – 60 min until doubled in size.

Baking

• Once the loaves have risen, preheat the oven to 180C (350F), and place rack in bottom third of oven.
• Glaze the challahs with the beaten egg and water, and sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.
• Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes (or 35 to 45 minutes for large braid) until golden and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Don’t underbake!