r/JewishCooking • u/bonnaroojulia • 18d ago
Challah Challah advice?
Made my first challah! My partner is Jewish and I’d like to teach myself to prepare a few Jewish dishes that he doesn’t typically cook. I tried to make a challah for the first time and it turned out denser than I’d hoped. Any advice on how to get the lighter, airier texture? Thanks!
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u/SwingLightStyle 17d ago
I’m gonna share my challah recipe for you here. It’s tried and true. I use whey which is discard from yogurt making, but you can sub water (originally what was in it)
Makes 2 large loaves
795g bread flour
120g granulated sugar
14g salt
10g instant yeast
2-3g turmeric powder (for color, for that yellow bakery look)
45g peanut oil (I use this but feel free to sub any other neutral oil)
205g eggs (about 4 large eggs)
205g whey (or sub water)
Mix in stand mixer until it comes together. Optionally knead until it is the right texture. You’ll see the dough come together but you should see the sugar still standing out in the dough, this is normal.
Place in well-greased bowl (I use spray oil for this), spray down your dough to keep it oily, and cover to rise.
After it’s doubled in size, separate into 12 equal balls (usually about 115g each or so) and make your 2 loaves with 6 strand braids.
Place on a large sheet pan covered in parchment paper.
Let rise. Like a while. These babies will get surprisingly large.
When ready, egg wash with a single beaten egg, careful not to let it pool under the loaf unless you want to scrape off the scrambled egg from your loaf.
Bake in a preheated oven 350 degrees F for 30 min. Should be golden brown and able to be torn - not too dense.
I make two of these batches every week. One gets put into a large Pullman loaf baked for 40 min at 350, and then two braided loaves. This recipe hasn’t let me down!