Holly’s Challah Bread Recipe

This challah is perfection: golden-crusted with a light, airy crumb. My friend, Holly, learned this recipe from the wife of a rabbi, and one day she taught me how to make it. I am forever grateful because it’s so delicious, so easy, and every time I make it, my children think I’m a hero. Also: It makes the BEST French toast.

When my friend Holly, one of the most reliable cooks I know, told me she had a great challah bread recipe, one she learned from a wife of a rabbi, and offered to show me how to make it, I nearly leapt into her arms.

Shortly thereafter on a Friday morning, after dropping the kids off at school, I joined Holly at her house for coffee and a challah bread lesson. When I arrived, Holly had already made the sponges — 1 cup water, 1 cup flour, 1 packet yeast — which looked alive and ready for action. This is her Friday ritual: make the sponge before dropping her kids off at school; finish the process when she returns.

What I loved about Holly’s challah bread recipe and process is that it is so simple, so unfussy, so unlike the challah bread I had been making.

Into each bowl we cracked two eggs, then added the honey, salt, oil and finally the remaining flour. After a brief kneading by hand, the dough was ready to rise. At this point I left, bowl of dough in hand, and completed the process on my own, guidance provided by Holly via text.

The dough rose beautifully and baked into a perfectly golden, light and airy, tangle of braids. Nearly every week since, I have made Holly’s challah bread, a treat aside any soup (lots of this one and this one these days), a treasure for weekend brunch.

Incidentally, while I was in VT for Thanksgiving, my aunt mentioned she had made a breakthrough with her koulourakia (a twisted Greek cookie): after burning the bottom of several batches, she layered one cookie sheet on top of another, which provided enough insulation to prevent the bottoms from burning. Genius! The conversation immediately made me think of my challah bread-making trials, a burnt underside almost always a constant.

And so, the day after Thanksgiving, I made a loaf of Holly’s challah bread for my family, baked the bread on two layers of sheetpans, and for the first time, the bottom of my challah bread cooked evenly without the slightest sign of overbrowning — a miracle! The Greeks raved! The abstemious indulged! What can I say, Holly’s challah makes me wanna holla holla!

PS: Overnight Refrigerator Focaccia = The Best Focaccia

This is what the sponge — 1 cup water, 1 cup flour, 1 packet yeast — looks like after about an hour:

Then, you add the eggs, honey, salt and oil right into the bowl:

Work in the flour:

Mix until sticky:

Knead briefly until smooth:

Transfer to an oiled bowl to rise:

Then wait an hour or two:

I made a double batch this time, so I divided the dough into 8 portions:

But with a single batch, divide the dough into three or four portions. Be sure to have a helper by your side:

Time to shape! Here’s a quick video on how to shape a round loaf of challah.

And the basic steps:

Holly’s is much prettier:

I actually prefer the shape of the more traditional 3 or 4 braid challah bread for purposes of toast and French toast, but the circular shape is so pretty.

Baking the challah bread on two sheet pans prevents a burnt bottom:

This is day-old challah bread:

The benefit of making a double batch?

French toast of course.

I like to dry out slices overnight:

And I love the Tartine recipe, which calls for lots of lemon zest and no cinnamon, but traditional pan-fried recipes work just fine, too. I bet the overnight method would be delicious with challah bread, too. 

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