In season 2, episode 8 of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network my mom and I meet Morgan Dachis and her lovely family to learn about her business, Morgan’s Broth and Buns. She also taught us a thing or two about making beautiful loaves of challah.
The recipe I share below is a no-knead challah bread adapted from my book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I have changed the recipe slightly to make 2 loaves (instead of 4), so you can bake one for yourself and gift the other to a friend or loved one. For more fast and easy bread recipes check out my series of Breadin5 books.
And don’t forget, you can get signed copies of all my books in my brand new ZoëBakes Shop!
Looking for the equipment I use to bake bread? Check out my Amazon Influencer Shop.
Be sure to check out my mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, which is a perfect accompaniment to this challah. Other recipes from this episode include rugelach and sufganiyot. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) lukewarm water 100°F or below
- 1 1/2 tsp (10g) granulated yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp (17g) kosher salt
- 2 (113g) large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (85g) honey
- 1/4 cup (57g) melted unsalted butter, or oil
- 3 2/3 cups (500g) bread flour
- egg wash
- poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling the top crust
Instructions
- Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter, with the water in a 4-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
- Mix in the flour using a spoon, Danish dough whisk, or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
- Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises, approximately 2 hours.
- The dough can be used immediately after the rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate the container of dough and use over the next 48 hours. Or freeze in 1-pound for up to 3 weeks.
- To bake: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Dust the pieces of dough with more flour and gently roll and stretch the dough until you have a long rope about 3⁄4 inch thick. If the dough resists your efforts, let it sit, covered in plastic, for several minutes.
- Braiding: Line up the three strands and connect them at the top. Pull the left strand over the center strand and lay it down, so it becomes the one in the center. Pull the right strand over the center strand and lay it down, so it now becomes the center. Repeat left and right until you get to the bottom. Pinch the ends together.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet, cover with plastic and allow to rest for 90 minutes. It should rise slightly, but don’t worry if it doesn’t double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown, and the center of the loaf is set.
I was delighted to get this recipe. Just the right size for two people and another for friends. Then I looked more carefully at the ingredients because I always bake using weight measurements as I have done since I purchased three of your books. If I were to make this recipe that way, I would have about 2/3 c. more flour than the volume amount and twice as much yeast and salt. The bread would probably turn out too dense and certainly much too salty. Disappointing!!
This is amazingly easy and despite my fears of failure , it came out remarkably fabulous. I made braided round challah to practice for the upcoming Rosh HaShanah celebration. These are so good, I will need to make at least 4. They look beautiful and the aroma is heavenly thank you Zoe for another great recipe and making me a baking success.
Challah bread was very easy to make.
Need to work on my braiding.
Much easier to handle when you
Chill the dough, very sticky.
Best bread I’ve ever made. Kirk
This recipe is a keeper! My first braided loaf and it was gorgeous. I did as you suggested by making two loaves and sharing with a friend. Perfect in every way.
I have made this a number of times. For this recipe I do not measure by weight. For me it didn’t seem to match the cup amounts, not sure why. It always tastes wonderful. But for some reason I can’t seem to figure out how to prevent the braid from pulling apart at the middle. Any tips or tricks to prevent that? Thank you!
Easy recipe. friendly instructions and very delicious. I followed the instructions. I put a little less water. After two hours to the fridge overnight. The dough was smooth, easy to work with and the challah is delicious . save it as a a weekend recipe.
I follow the recipe exactly (using weight measurement only for the flour) and it always comes out great. Thanks for an easy bread recipe.