Turns out, the best way to make Challah is to use a Japanese bread making technique called Tangzhong where you cook some of the flour, like a roux, before adding to the rest of the dough for the pillowy, soft, airy dough of your dreams. The benefits of cooking flour this way are three-fold. By gelatinizing the starch, you transform the flour in such a way that it can hold more water (no more sad, dry bread!), the dough feels less tacky and is easier to handle, and the bread tastes sweeter without adding an excess of refined sugar (bonus!).
For the Flour Paste:
- ½ cup (118 ml) water
- 3 tablespoons (24 grams) bread flour
For the Dough:
- 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil
- 2 ¾ cups (344 grams) bread flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons (4 grams) instant or rapid rise yeast
- ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) kosher salt
- Oil spray
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg
- Pinch of kosher salt
- Make the Flour Paste: Whisk water and flour in a saucepan until no lumps remain. Cook over medium heat, whisking regularly, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency that forms a mound when dropped from the end of a whisk into the bowl, about 2-3 minutes.
- Make the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour paste from above, egg and yolks, water, and oil until well combined. Add flour and yeast. Fit mixer with dough hook and mix on low speed until all flour is moistened, 3 to 4 minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes
- Add the sugar and salt to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 9 minutes (dough will be quite firm and dry). Transfer dough to counter and lightly spray now-empty mixer bowl with vegetable oil spray. Knead the dough briefly to form a ball and return it to the oiled bowl. Lightly spray the dough with vegetable oil spray and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until about doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and nest in a second rimmed baking sheet to prevent the bottom of the bread from getting too browned or burnt. Transfer the dough to a clean counter and press into an 8-inch square, expelling as much air as possible. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll strips of dough into a 18-inch ropes.
- Braid Dough: Braid the dough by pinching all 4 ends together at one end and then following the “over 1, over 2” pattern (see instagram post). Repeat until you can no longer braid. Pinch the ends of the rope together and tuck both ends under the braid. Carefully transfer the braid to the prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until the dough does not spring back fully when gently pressed with your knuckle, about 2-3 hours
- Make the Egg Wash: Thirty Minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together egg and salt. Brush the loaf with egg wash.
- Bake: Bake until the loaf is deep golden brown and registers at least 195 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes. Transfer baked loaf to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing, about 2 hours.
notes
- Bread can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
- For the freshest bread, I recommend slicing before freezing and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in freezer for up to 3 months and thaw or toast individual slices as wanted.
- Recipe modified from Cook’s illustrated Magazine, May & June 2019
