A baker posted Maggie Glezer’s Sourdough Challah in his blog and raved about it so I decided that I needed to give it a go. I’ve always loved challah but have never had a sourdough one. This is my first time plaiting dough and my first time making a challah of any sort. I followed his posted recipe except for a few minor changes and one mistake. I don’t keep a firm starter so just used my 100% hydration rye starter. I also made this as one larger loaf rather than his two smaller ones. I also accidentally used olive oil instead of a neutral oil for more than half of the oil component. We’ll see if that has a negative effect on the flavour.
Ingredients
The starter
Amount (gms)
Active sourdough starter
35
Warm water
80
Bread flour
135
The final dough
Warm water
60
Large Eggs
3 eggs + 1 egg for glazing the loaves.
Salt
8
Vegetable oil
55
Mild honey
65
Or Granulated sugar
60
Bread flour
400
Sourdough levain
200
Procedures
The night before baking, mix the starter and ferment it at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
In the morning, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the starter in the water, then mix in the 3 eggs, salt, honey and oil until completely combined.
Mix in all the bread flour until it forms a shaggy mass.
Knead the dough on the bench or in a stand mixer until it is smooth and there is moderate gluten development. (Add small amounts of water or flour to achieve the desired consistency, better if you do not have to) The dough should be quite firm.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it tightly. Ferment for about 2 hours. It may not rise much.
To make one loaf, divide the dough into two equal portions, and divide each portion into the number of pieces needed for the type of braiding you plan to do, so divid each by 3 to make 1 six strand braided loaf.
Form each piece into a ball and allow them to rest, covered, for 10-20 minutes to relax the gluten.
Form each piece into a strand about 14” long. (I like Glezer’s technique for this. On an un-floured board, flatten each piece with the palm of your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece to about ¼ inch thickness. Then roll up each piece into a tight tube. Using the palms of your hands, lengthen each piece by rolling each tube back and forth on the bench with light pressure. Start with your hands together in the middle of the tube and, as you roll it, move your hands gradually outward. Taper the ends of the tube by rotating your wrists slightly so that the thumb side of your hand is slightly elevated, as you near the ends of the tube.)
Braid the loaves. Braiding somewhat loosely, not too tight. Photos below are braided a bit too tight.
Place each loaf on parchment paper in half-sheet pans (I used a quarter-sheet pan for each loaf.) Cover well with plastic wrap or place the pans in a food grade plastic bag, and proof at room temperature until the loaves have tripled in volume. (Glezer says this will take “about 5 hours.” I proofed in the oven with the light on and it took about 4 hours.)
If it’s almost tripled and when poked the dough only springs back a little, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Gauge the dough again. Stick a finger lightly in the dough. If it makes an indentation that doesn’t spring back, the dough is ready to be baked. If not, wait a bit more.
Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF with the rack in the upper third of the oven about 30 mins before final proof is complete.
Brush each loaf with an egg lightly beaten with a pinch of salt.
Optionally, sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds.
Bake until done – 25-40 minutes rotating half way. If baking as one large loaf may take a bit longer, bake until sounds hollow or reaches 190ºF in the middle.
I feel like a broken record, but another outstanding loaf, Benny. I love the way the braided loaf looks after it’s proofed, and the baked loaf is gorgeous. This is a loaf to be really proud of. Congratulations.
Richard
Thanks so much Richard, I appreciate your kind words. The plaiting was surprisingly fun and not too hard. The the practice I had making baguettes this past summer was super helpful as it made rolling the strands out to be so easy. The dough isn’t very fermented at the time of rolling them out so it is easier than baguettes.
Now the most important thing is how does it taste? I was really worried that I’d find the olive oil flavour a negative, but in fact I’m not sure that I can taste it which is surprising. This is a really delicious challah for those who like challah. I doubt I’ll be buying challah ever again. Really tender moist crumb and loads of flavour.
Thank you Abe, I can’t believe I waited so long to finally make a challah. Since I was a young child I’ve loved it but have only had supermarket challah and never even a good bakery challah. Now that I’ve realized that this is relatively easy to make, I’ll be making it much more often, assuming my partner likes it as much as I do. The plaiting was always something I thought would be difficult, but the dough at that point is just a bit tacky so you don’t even need any flour on the counter. As I said earlier, I guess my practice in shaping baguettes was helpful too as rolling the strands out was super easy. This was fun and surprisingly fast. Levain overnight, mixed at 5 am, out of the oven by 1 pm or so. In my tummy at 4 pm.
I’m just so impressed by the perfect crumb you have gotten. That is challah. Crumb should be fluffy cloud with a nice dark contrasting crust and topped with sesame seeds (poppy seeds are also traditional but sesame seeds have more taste). The plaiting is really impressive. Enjoy your Friday night challah. Now all you need is chicken soup.
I’m impressed with your perfect plaiting! The last time I made challah, my loaf was very lopsided But, my eldest son is obsessed with this bread so I must try again! Thanks again for the inspiration. Great bake, Benny!
Why thank you Melissa, that video I watched certainly helped me with the plaiting. Also I did weight each dough ball to get them within 1-2 gm of each other. Then my baguette shaping helped with the rolling out and stretching of the strands.
This is the video I watched, plaiting is almost mesmerizing to watch.
My plaiting got very thin towards the end of the loaf. I need to practice a little more finesse when handling the strands Thanks for the video! I’ll have it handy for my next attempt
That is an absolutely bombing challah, Benny. It’s like, perfect. I feel like I can taste it looking at the pictures and it takes me back to dinner at my bubie’s house when I was a kid.
Wow Paul that it takes you back to dinner at your bubie’s house when you were a kid is the biggest compliment for a challah, thank you very much. I was quite surprised that I was able to pull it off on my first try. I did really love the flavour and texture of this and it has always been one of my favourite breads of all time.
Benny
@homebreadbaker and @Benito Paul and Benny, it reminds me of watching my mom make challah when I was a child. Mom braiding the bread was as fascinating to me as could be. My younger sister doesn’t remember this as well as I do but I would literally sit in front of the oven watching it bake. When it was done, Mom would take it out of the oven to cool and very sternly tell us NOT to touch that bread; that it had to cool first. Well, I would let it cool…for a bit…before ripping those braided tops off the loaf and eating them! The scolding I would get was SO worth those bread tops! It’s one of my cherished childhood memories.
I wish my mom was a baker so I could have memories like this, but my baking memories as a child consist of my sister and me making boxed chocolate cake on weekends.
Lovely memory Leah, I guess you love challah like I do.
I hate to admit it, but I’d never had Challah and felt it was about time. I recently purchased Maggie Glezer’s books, and followed her recipe using ADY. Thanks to Benny for the above video, I managed the six strand braiding. The flavor is wonderful, and I’m looking forward to baking many other breads from her books.
What a gorgeous challah you baked Richard!! Beautiful shiny mahogany crust and golden yellow crumb. Excellent bake. You need to try the sourdough version of this bread for a slightly more complex flavour next.
Benny
Thanks, Abe. I have a lot of catching up to do. The sourdough version is the next Challah in her book, with over 30 Challahs. I also am planning on baking a whole wheat Challah, and one with high extraction flour and spelt. There is never enough time to bake all the breads that I’d like to bake.
Richard
But, my eldest son is obsessed with this bread so I must try again! Thanks again for the inspiration. Great bake, Benny!
Thanks for the video! I’ll have it handy for my next attempt 
