Brynie's No-Fail Challah Dough

Brynie Greisman Brynie Greisman
5.0 (8 reviews)

There is a minhag the Shabbos after Pesach to bake shlissel challah as a segulah for parnassah. The dough presented below is an absolute pleasure to work with, and even if you decide to use it just for challah, you will be extremely pleased with the results. The challos come out light and fluffy and have the taam of Gan Eden! I also give the option of dividing the dough in four and making some sweet (Glazed Cinnamon Danish, Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake) or savory (Garlic Knots, Onion Board) treats without investing too much extra time. They all freeze well, too. You can take challah with a brachah according to all opinions, as the dough uses over 6 pounds (3 kg) of flour. Thanks, HDG.

Remember to also check out our full guide to making challah, which includes instructions on 3-, 4-, and 6-strand braiding.

2h 15m 32
Medium Vegetarian Parve

Contains: Wheat, Egg, Gluten

Directions

Make the Challah

  1. Place yeast, warm water, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Cover and proof for 15 minutes.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients except for egg wash in order, adding the oil slowly after the 15th cup of flour, until incorporated into the dough.

  3. Add remainder of the flour and knead until a soft dough forms. Continue kneading for 10 minutes. If necessary, add an additional 1/4 cup oil at the very end.

  4. Oil the top of the dough, then cover with a clean dishcloth and let rise in a warm corner of the kitchen for 45 minutes.

  5. Punch dough down, take challah and divide evenly in four. For challah, shape into large challahs and/or small bilkelech and let rise 30–45 minutes. For other ways to use this dough, follow the directions for these sweet (Glazed Cinnamon Danish, Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake) or savory (Garlic Knots, Onion Board) treats.

  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius), brush challahs with egg wash, and bake 35–40 minutes for challah and 25 minutes for bilkelech.

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14 Comments

bl •

if you make the recipe by hand, not machine would one need to change the order of ingredients or or the method ?

m p •

how many pounds / kilos? I'm seeing some mixed reviews as to the pounds of flour for this recipe - 5 or 6? In Israel the bags come in 1 kilo. I buy the sifted ones so cups are very confusing (pounds and cups weren't adding up). Does 3 bags of 1 kilo each make sense?

Nicole Oved •
Reply to m p

Should be about 5.5 lbs - says about 2.5 kg of flour. for sifted it might be best to buy 3 bags as you mentioned :)

Nechama •

Super sticky I just put up my dough to rise, so I don't know how the challah will turn out, but I do know that this was the stickiest dough I have ever worked with! I added at least an extra cup of flour and it was still impossibly sticky :(

Tiferet Greenberg •
Reply to Nechama

You most likely over-proofed the yeast.

mindy •

Sticky Dough... I make this challah all the time, and it comes out yum, but why is it always so sticky? i am using white (bleached) spelt flour, which i substitute in every recipe for regular white wheat flour and it works beautifully. Is that what's making it so sticky?

Raquel Malul Kosher.com Team •
Reply to mindy

It could be, sometimes recipes come out stickier than other times. I also recommend slowly adding more flour until it is at the consistency that you like.

Miriam D. Feiner •

Question about the yeast I would like to try this recipe I have made many recipes and none have asked for more than 4 ounces of yeast is this a typo or is it really supposed to be 6 1/2 ounces

Raquel Malul Kosher.com Team •
Reply to Miriam D. Feiner

Yes, it is correct :)