| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 3 hr |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 1 loaf |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons water (warm but not boiling)
- 2 cups bread flour (scoop and sweep method, un-sifted), plus more for dusting
- 2 cups semolina flour (scoop and sweep method, un-sifted)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more to drizzle
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 large whole egg
- 3/4 cup raisins, optional
- 1 yolk
- 1 tablespoon cream or milk
- Sesame seeds, for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- For the sponge starter: Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water. Mix to dissolve. Add about 1/2 cup of the bread flour and mix vigorously with a wire whisk. The mixture should look like a thick pancake batter. Cover with plastic or a plate and leave to ferment in a warm room temperature place for about an hour. This sponge will give the challah a rich flavor and will extend its shelf life.
- Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups bread flour, the semolina flour and salt into a mixer bowl. Add the sponge starter, oil, honey, yolks and egg. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the ingredients seem to come together. Then switch to medium speed and knead to develop the gluten, 5 to 7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and satiny, and have a nice stretch.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the mixer bowl. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil and turn the dough so it’s lightly coated. Cover with plastic or a plate and let rise in a warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. To test, lightly poke a finger in the dough. It should be relaxed and not pull back to shape immediately.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and fold it over upon itself few times to redistribute the yeast. If using, sprinkle the raisins onto the dough and press them into it.
- Divide into desired number of braids (3, 4 or 6) and roll each braid to elongate. Braid the strands to a long loaf or a round shape and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the braided loaf with the egg wash and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F as the challah rises.
- Reapply the egg wash and, if using, sprinkle the seeds before placing the tray with the challah in the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. The challah will develop a deep brown and shiny crust, and will sound hollow when tapped on the underside. Cool on a rack.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 283 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 48 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 48 mg |
| Sodium | 181 mg |
Reviews
Easy to make. I did have to add a bit more liquid but have made twice and it turned out wonderful both times.
Came out great
Tried recipe today and the bread came out beautiful. I did it all by hand following the steps. Its only 3 1/2 cups of flour after yeast mixture, a nice batch to be successfully kneaded by hand. Pleased with results and highly recommend.
Who made that beautiful long loaf of Challah bread on your program? It looks divine!
This was an epic fail for me. I normally don’t have trouble baking but this recipe simply didn’t work for me at all. The texture was unpleasant. I will probably try this one more time to see if I can get it to come together but right now, I’m looking for another recipe and feeding the birds with this one.
This recipe is not anything that the kosher and kosher style bakeries haven’t been making for centuries. At least this guy didn’t bastardize it too much. Semolina or Olive oil in the back of a Jewish Bakery? I don’t think so.These chefs and cooks (hardly original) are simply taking the standard recipes the bakeries have been and are still using and substituting semolina for all purpose flour. Olive oil for veg/canola/ sometimes shortening. Tweaking small changes to the proven standard recipes long before they were even born. They do it to try and take credit and claim ownership to it themselves that I find laughable. Yes it’s a great recipe. I know I made it in volume (passed on from my Father) for over 40 years before I retired. R. Klein Retired Professional Master Baker Specialty Breads. Just a follow up note to Juliet’s Kitchen. Honey if your Challah dough ever came out dry and wasn’t consistently rich and velvety your weren’t making it right.
I too have tried MANY challah recipes. This recipe is PERFECT in size for a family gathering but unfortunately unless I can convince my husband to purchase a stand mixer like the one used at Fudruckers, there is little chance I could work this dough (containing semolina by hand in order to make loaves big enough for our Shabbat Services at my Temple. That said, it’s wonderful. I agree with the previous review and I doubled the honey and I replaced the milk in the wash with water (for Shabbat but this is definitely the recipe I will use when I want a single loaf at home!!! I’m taking leftovers at the moment and making bread pudding! YUM!
I have tried many different recipes for Challah, including ones from a few famous chefs and some very popular cookbooks. They all left me a little disappointed. I knew this recipe was going to be much different when I began to knead the dough. It had a rich, velvety texture and wasn’t dry. The only thing I changed was that I doubled the honey, which is just a personal preference. You can also use vegetable oil, if you prefer, and it still turns out wonderful. This is hands-down one of the best Challah recipes out there!