Challah

Why this recipe works Beautifully braided, rich, and lightly sweet, freshly baked challah is delicious on its own or smeared with softened butter. After a few days, it’s great dunked in custard and made into French toast for a decadent breakfast. The best challah is rich with eggs, and it has a dark, shiny crust and a firm but light and tender texture. For our recipe, we tried using bread flour, but it made no significant improvement to loaves we made with the typical all-purpose, so we stuck with that. We tested many different egg combinations (challah is known as egg bread, after all); for a tender texture and a rich but not overwhelmingly eggy flavor, we found two whole eggs and an additional yolk to be optimal. We kept with tradition and made the bread dairy-free, using water and oil to hydrate and enrich the crumb instead of the milk and butter found in less authentic versions. (Happily, we found that the challah made with water had a lighter and more appealing texture.) Just ¼ cup of sugar sweetened the loaf and also contributed to its browned exterior. The recommended shape for challah in most recipes is a simple three-rope braid. Shaped this way, however, our eggy dough rose out instead of up. Some recipes call for braiding six strands for a higher loaf, but this can get complicated—unless you have skills in origami. Our solution was to make two three-strand braids, one large and one small, and place the smaller braid on top of the larger one. We brushed the loaf with an egg water mixture before putting it in the oven to produce an evenly brown, shiny crust—the finishing touch to our handsome challah.

MAKES: 1 loaf

RISING TIME: 2½ to 3½ hours

BAKING TIME: 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 3¾ to 4¾ hours, plus 3 hours cooling time

KEY EQUIPMENT: 2 rimmed baking sheets, pastry brush, instant-read thermometer

INGREDIENTS:

• 3¼ cups (16¼ ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• ½ cup (4 ounces) water, room temperature
• ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk, room temperature
• ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water and pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt together in a bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk water, oil, eggs and yolk, and sugar in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Using the dough hook on low speed, slowly add the water mixture to the flour mixture and mix until a cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead it by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds. Place the dough seam side down in a lightly greased large bowl or container, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise until increased in size by about half, for 1½ to 2 hours.
4. Stack 2 rimmed baking sheets, line them with aluminum foil, and spray with vegetable oil spray. Transfer the dough to a clean counter and divide it into 2 pieces, one twice as large as the other (the smaller piece will weigh about 9 ounces, and the larger piece about 18 ounces). Divide each piece into thirds and cover them loosely with greased plastic.
5. Working with one piece of dough at a time (keep the remaining pieces covered), stretch and roll it into a 16-inch rope (the three ropes will be much thicker).
6. Arrange the 3 thicker ropes side by side, perpendicular to the counter edge, and pinch the far ends together. Braid the ropes into a 10-inch loaf and pinch the remaining ends together. Repeat the braiding process with the remaining ropes to form a second 10-inch loaf.
7. Transfer the larger loaf to the prepared sheet, brush the top with the egg mixture, and place the smaller loaf on top. Tuck the ends underneath. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let it rise until the loaf increases in size by about half and the dough springs back minimally when gently poked with your knuckle, for 1 to 1½ hours.
8. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush the loaf with the remaining egg mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds, if using. Bake until deep golden brown and the loaf registers 190 to 195 degrees, for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through baking. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool completely, for about 3 hours, before serving.