Challah

This challah is worth all the praise I can give it. It’s similar to brioche; light and moist, subtly rich and subtly sweet. Best of all, it’s easy to make. The bread yields an exterior with a smooth, shiny appearance, thanks to the egg and sugar wash generously brushed on its surface.

The soft texture of the bread made it easy to guide a bread knife through it. Each slice had a strong crumb, holding its shape in toast form and heartier tasks like French toast. Even after the slices soaked up the egg batter, they still retained their shape without breaking apart or falling limp. Make at least two loaves at a time. That’s what I did—and it’s a good thing because there isn’t a crumb left.

I made this bread by hand (not in a mixer), and used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour (therefore, using a total of 6 cups of flour). The dough mixed, proofed, and baked off without a hitch—but braiding six strands of dough together, on the other hand, proved to be a bit tricky.

Don’t braid the strands too tightly or they will stretch while baking, which will cause the bread to loose some of its artistic definition. Here’s a video that shows how to braid a loaf of challah.

I baked the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 40 minutes. In this time, the bread developed a delicious golden-brown color, with deep yellow accents in each braided section. I suggest rotating the pan midway through baking to achieve uniform browning. If the bread browns too quickly, don’t hesitate to cover the loaf with a piece of tinfoil during the final 10 minutes of baking.

This is a great challah recipe that’s extremely easy to make. Mixing the ingredients in a stand mixer works well. The dough turned out perfect, and I didn’t need to add any extra flour. In fact, it was a lot less sticky than some of the other bread doughs that I make.

Make sure to stop the mixer once or twice as needed to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. When you restart the mixer, the dough will come together again almost immediately. I let it rise the first time for the full two hours, and that was just right. After making the six pieces for the braid, there is a second rise, and the 30-minute timing for that was also spot-on. My kitchen temperature was running about 70°F.

The end result is one of the most beautiful challah I’ve seen. The exterior is a rich, dark golden brown and the crumb is light, moist, and flavorful. It would be very easy for a beginner to make this loaf.

The part that gets a little tricky is the braiding. I think I missed one of the moves because I was in a hurry, but I didn’t take it apart to redo (which the recipe suggests), and it still looked fantastic. I took the liberty of adding sesame seeds after egg washing.

If you find the six-strand braid too complicated, then try using three strands, which is done like braiding someone’s hair. I was concerned about not having an additional rise after braiding, as other recipes for challah instruct, but judging from the way my loaf turned out, it was not at all necessary.

You’re on your own to figure out how to bake the challah after it’s braided. Do you use a pan, a sheet pan, a cookie sheet, or a baking stone? I used my baking stone brushed with a little oil, but a cookie sheet or sheet pan oiled or lined with a Silpat or parchment paper would also work fine.

Be sure to brush the egg wash into the crevices between the braids so your loaf will have an even shine after baking. If I’m making challah for a special occasion, I’ll add a little more egg wash to the crevices midway thought baking, after the loaf has started to rise. You should be able to serve more than six with this recipe—it makes a fairly large loaf.

I love challah, and this recipe is so easy and really tasty. I wouldn’t change a thing. This isn’t your supermarket yellow “white bread” version. It’s dense and flavorful; just sweet enough, with a nice crust and crumb. A slice of this bread with some butter is heavenly.

The braiding was a bit tricky, as the braids tended to shrink, but I was quite happy with the results. Next time, I may just make it in a loaf pan, as suggested. The only instruction missing was whether the baking sheet should be oiled or not. I did oil the baking sheet. I’m hoping there will be some stale bread leftover to make a bread pudding, but I may not be so lucky.

Having never made challah before, I was a little nervous—mostly about the time and effort involved. But I was pleasantly surprised, the actual hands-on time was minimal. Mixing the ingredients (and letting the KitchenAid knead them) and forming the braid were the only real active portions of prep. The rest of the time involved was simply waiting for the dough to rise, and then to bake.

The most difficult part was making the braid. I unwound and re-braided the dough twice before giving up and putting it in the oven, even though I knew the pattern was wrong. (It was a day or two later when I realized exactly what I’d done wrong and how I could’ve fixed it.)

Despite my imperfect form, the challah came out beautifully, but it was a little darker than I would’ve liked. Next time, I’ll experiment with shorter baking times. I did manage to eke out challah French toast, however, and it was magnifique.

This challah recipe recipe resulted in an excellent loaf of bread—good enough to earn a Testers’ Choice designation despite a few quibbles with the directions. The bread was simple to make; it was pretty, tasty, and had a lovely, light crumb that was sturdy enough to withstand a spread of cool butter.

I wasn’t successful in using the dough hook for the initial mixing of ingredients in steps 1 through 3. In recipes like this, I normally use the paddle attachment or stir with a spoon before switching to the dough hook, and I’d suggest doing the same here. Also, there’s no mention of what to bake the bread on, though it’s easy enough to figure out that a cookie sheet will work.