Challah is a Jewish plaited bread that is eaten with the first course on the sabbath eve. It’s also eaten the next day at breakfast and lunch. When we saw all social media grids flooded with all kinds of freshly baked bread, we knew that this was something I wanted to try. All the staying at home during the pandemic made us excited to lay our hands on yeast baking. We loved the soft soft pillowy texture and this could stay perfect for almost 5 days…that is if you manage to not eat it for that long!

Ingredients:

3.5 cups (500g) Flour

1 tbsp (10g) instant dry yeast

3.5 tbsp (42g) white sugar

1 Egg for Baking

1 Egg for brushing

¼ cup (50g) canola oil

1 cup – 2 tbsp (200ml) warm water

1 tsp (6g) salt

Directions:

1.In a large mixing bowl sift all-purpose flour, add yeast, sugar and mix. Add 1 egg, warm water and oil.

2.With a dough hook attachment, knead the dough on low speed for 2 minutes, then add the salt and knead 5-6 minutes more.

3.Shape a ball from the dough and place in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise about an hour (until double in size) in a warm place. (This is Rise 1)

4.Cut the dough into 3 pieces (if you want 1 large challah).

5.Roll each piece of dough into a long rope roughly 1-inch thick and start braiding the dough

6.Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully life and put the loaf on top, cover with towel and let rise about an hour. (This is Rise 2)

7.Preheat oven to 360F / 180c .

8.Brush with beaten egg or warm milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).

9.Bake 20-30 minutes until the top browns to a rich golden color (depends on loaf size/ Oven Capabiliy/ Humidity).

10.Let cool at least 30 minutes.

Notes:

Please document rising times/ baking times in your location as there are various small factors that might cause differences.

I used king Arthur unbleached All Purpose Flour. Please try recipe as is and make modifications and substitutions.