Simple Challah Bread

A sweet bread originally a Jewish bread which looks amazing

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Course: bread, Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Jewish

Keyword: bread, challah, challah bread recipe, sweetbread

Prep Time: 1 30

Cook Time: 30

Proving time: 30

Total Time: 2 30

Servings: loaf

Calories: 2697kcal

Author: Martin (Dad What Cooks)

Cost: £2

Equipment

1 Dough scraper
1 Baking stone

Ingredients

Main dough

500 g Strong bread flour
230 g Water luke warm
50 g Sugar Caster sugar or cane sugar
8 g Yeast or 1.5 tsp
50 g Sunflower oil
8 g Salt

Topping

1 Egg For egg wash
10 g Sesame seeds optional
10 g Black onion seeds also known as nigella seeds - optional
10 g Mixed seeds optional

Instructions

Mix the ingredients

Mix up the yeast, water, flour, sugar, salt and oil.
Once loosely mixed, turn it out into a bowl and knead for around 10 minutes. Alternatively you can use a stand mixer and mix for 5 mins on fast and 5 minutes on slow. The dough should be stretchy and when pulled it shouldn't rip.
500 g Strong bread flour, 230 g Water, 50 g Sugar, 8 g Yeast, 8 g Salt, 50 g Sunflower oil

First rise

Cover the dough with cling film (or a shower cap) and leave it to rise. This will take around an hour but could be more or less depending on the ambient temperature of the room. Ideally the dough needs to rise to just under double in size.

Shaping and proving

Once risen, split the dough into 3 equal size pieces. Weigh them out for accurate measurements. Then roll them each into equal length sausage shapes around 30cm long.
Now you need to plait the three pieces into a braid, starting at one end (as you would if doing your child's hair). Tuck the ends in once complete, move to a piece of baking paper and leave to prove for a further 30 to 40 minutes.

Baking

Beat the egg and give the whole loaf an egg wash before covering in the seeds of your choice and leave to rise again for around 45 minutes to an hour.
When ready, slide the baking paper onto a preheated tray and cook in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes at 180°C/350℉ until beautifully golden. Leave it to cool on a rack before slicing.
1 Egg, 10 g Sesame seeds, 10 g Black onion seeds, 10 g Mixed seeds

Notes

Getting 3 pieces of smooth equal dough will mean you have a neat plait and an even bake. For ease, weigh the proved dough in one go and divide by 3. Then eyeball an equal split and divide into 3 weighing each of the 3 to get to the even amount.

Nutrition