The Best Challah
This recipe comes from my sister-in-law. She bakes a large amount of challah every week for Shabbat. Since I don’t need 5 challahs every week I halved the recipe and it comes out just as perfect! This bread is great for serving at your Friday night Shabbat dinner, brunch, dessert or just to have during the week! It’s better than any store-bought challah, I promise. And there’s no weird ingredients like I’ve seen on the back of some commercial brands.
This recipe makes 2 large challahs. Use leftover challah to make French toast for breakfast, a sandwich or even a bread pudding for dessert. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
I N G R E D I E N T S (makes 2 large loaves)
2 tbsp dry active yeast or instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar + 1/2 cup sugar (divided)
1/2 cup warm water + 2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs + 1 egg for egg wash
1 1/4 tbsp pink salt
9 cups of all purpose flour
I N S T R U C T I O N S
Mix together yeast, sugar and warm water in a large bowl and let bubble up while you prepare the next step.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups water in a measuring cup and warm in the microwave to melt the sugar into water. Let sit until cool, then mix into the bowl with the yeast mixture.
Whisk in the oil, eggs and salt into the yeast sugar water mixture. I used a combo of liquid coconut oil & olive oil, it worked fine. Avocado oil would also work.
Slowly incorporate the 9 cups of all purpose flour. I used a combo of bread flour & all purpose flour.
Mix together then knead the dough with hands on the counter for 8-10 minutes.
Place dough ball back into the bowl. Cover with Saran Wrap and a towel. Let rise in the bowl for 1.5 hours.
After the first rise, knead for another 5-10 minutes. Split dough in half and make two balls and then make your strands to braid challah.
Let braided Challah rise anywhere from 2-6 hours (you want it to double in size).
When you are ready to bake, be sure to preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brush on Egg wash (1 egg and 1 tbsp water) and sprinkle topping, (optional).
Bake 1 challah for about 35 minutes 2 challahs about 45 minutes – 1 hour. Rotate the challah halfway through baking time.
***You can freeze the challah after you are done braiding. When ready to bake Let it defrost and come to room temp. Let the dough rise for 1-6 hours then bake.
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment and don’t forget to tag a photo using #feedyoursister on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
