Yes-Knead Challah
I’ve made the challah no-knead recipe, and I’ve also made the challah recipe in The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden. I usually cut them both down to 2 loaves for convenience. In the latter I also altered the flour (for reasons that were not penciled in) and found an actual poppy measurement, as follows.
Makes 2 braided or round loaves.
Ingredients
- 1 T. yeast
- 1 ⅛ c. bread-temperature water
- ¼ c. sugar or honey
- 2 eggs
- ½ T. salt
- ¼ c. oil
- 4 c. (4 ⅝ c.) flour
- ⅜ c. (50 g.) raisins (optional, see instructions)
Toppings
- ½ egg
- ½ T. poppy or sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
- Mix everything but the flour, raisins, and toppings well.
- Add flour gradually, or all at once with a stand mixer and dough hook.
- Knead 15 minutes or until smooth. (You may need extra flour if you chose the honey option.)
- Put in an oiled bowl and flip to coat with oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size (2–3 hours).
- Punch down.
- Optionally spread and knead in raisins, or just knead.
- Divide dough in two.
- To shape each loaf, roll out that portion of dough into ropes (about 1 ¼" in diameter): three ropes for a braided loaf or one for a round loaf.
- Braid from the middle, flip, and braid the rest. (For a round loaf, coil around the thicker end.)
- Let the shaped loaves rise another hour on an oiled cookie sheet or on parchment paper.
- Brush with the half egg and sprinkle with optional seeds.
- Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.
Variants
For Rosh Hashana, include the optional raisins and make the loaves round. You can braid a round loaf by starting with four or six strands woven together and then braiding the ends a bit and tucking them under. There are several options in this video, while this one goes into detail for a triaxial weave (star of David).
