Not only is sourdough challah bread beautiful, but it also is one of the most delicious. With a soft, fluffy texture on the inside and a beautiful, golden, braided crust on the outside, it’s the perfect recipe to grace your table for a holiday feast or an average weekday.
This recipe is almost exactly like my absolute favorite sourdough brioche, except challah is a traditional Jewish bread made for certain holidays.
It is a kosher loaf, so it doesn’t contain any dairy products. Instead of butter and milk, I swapped it out for oil and water. And it is so good.
While still a rich bread, challah has a slightly different flavor and texture than brioche. You can eat it as is or use it for sandwiches, French toast, bread puddings, breakfast strata, stuffing, or French toast casserole.
I took the classic recipe and made into a healthier, fermented, sourdough version. Light and pillowy, this will easily become one of your favorite recipes. Plus, it is so stinking easy.
Why you will love this recipe:
Light and fluffy. What is not to love about that?
Healthier and easier to digest. This is because it contains fermented grains. The anti-nutrients are broken down, making the vitamins and minerals easier for our bodies to absorb. The fermentation process also breaks down the gluten, making it easier to digest.
Flavor. Compared to regular yeast-risen bread, the sourdough adds a delicious but subtle tang to the bread.
Tips For Making Sourdough Challah
- This recipe makes a very wet dough, which will cause you to question whether you have added enough flour to it. With enough patience (and kneading), the dough will come together. We’re talking a ridiculously long time (like 20 minutes in the kitchen aid mixer), but it will eventually pull from the sides of the bowl and be a smooth and elastic dough.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose. The bread won’t be as soft, but it will still be delicious.
- New to sourdough? Check out how to make a sourdough starter here and over a hundred sourdough recipes here.
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Tools you may need:
Baking dish or cookie sheet
Bench scraper (optional, but handy)
Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
Sourdough starter – This needs to be active and bubbly so it rises really nicely.
Bread flour – Bread flour gives this bread a light and fluffy texture because it has a high protein and gluten content compared to all-purpose.
Unbleached all-purpose flour – Freshly milled or store-bought. I love the mixture of all-purpose flour and bread flour for the best texture.
Honey – I love to use local honey.
Eggs – Preferably pasture-raised, but use the best quality you can find.
Salt – I always choose sea salt.
Water
Oil – Use a neutral tasting oil, like avocado or melted coconut oil. Other oils will do, but we try to avoid unhealthy, overly processed oils like canola, corn and vegetable.
FAQ:
Is Sourdough challah a thing?
100%. You can make just about any type of bread, dessert, and baked good with sourdough starter. And if sourdough challah wasn’t a thing before, I hope it is now.
What makes a challah different from bread?
It is an enriched bread, meaning it is a richer bread that contains eggs. The main difference between challah and brioche is that brioche contains eggs, butter and milk, whereas challah is made with oil rather than butter and water in place of milk.
Can you braid sourdough bread?
Yes. This dough is perfect for braiding and making those beautiful braided loaves of bread while also getting the benefits of the sourdough.
What is the best flour for making challah?
I like to use a mixture of all-purpose and bread flour. This gives it a fluffier texture. If you don’t have bread flour, you can just use all-purpose, but the bread will be more dense.
Can I let challah rise overnight?
Yes. I like to start my dough the night before and allow the dough to rise overnight, then shape in the morning, allow to rise one more time and bake.
This type of recipe is my favorite, since the bulk of the work is done the night before, making it super easy the next day to get bread on the table.
How To Make Sourdough Challah
Feed your sourdough starter at least 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. It should be nice and bubbly before starting the dough. I will usually do this around lunch time.
The night before, add all ingredients in a mixer and knead until the dough is smooth, glossy, and pulls away from the stand mixer bowl.
*This is a very wet dough, but after about 20 minutes in the stand mixer (or kneaded by hand), it will come together and form a nice dough. Even though it is tempting, don’t add more flour.
Cover with plastic wrap, a damp towel, or a tight lid and allow to rise at room temperature for about 10 hours (or until doubled in size).
Braiding Challah
In the morning, take the dough and cut into four equal portions.
Take each dough ball and roll it into a long rectangle, approximately 18-20 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. Then roll it into a skinny rope. I find this easiest with a bench scraper.
Place all four pieces of formed dough on the counter and pinch the ends together.
Starting from the right side, cross the second piece of dough directly under the piece to the left and then over the dough piece all the way on the left.
Then, take the portion all the way on the right and put it over the dough piece directly to the left of it, under the piece in the middle, and lastly, over the piece all the way on the left.
Continue with this pattern until it is completely braided. Pinch the ends together and tuck the ends under the loaf.
Place in a greased baking dish. A 9×13 will work. You can also bake it on a cookie sheet.
Allow the dough to rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Brush an egg wash over the loaf. You can make the wash by beating an egg with water. This gives it that beautiful color and shine.
Bake for 25 minutes until the challah starts to turn golden.
Baking For Dinner
Feed starter before bed.
Mix up dough in the morning, per instructions above.
Allow for the first rise – 6 to 8 hours in a warm place until doubled – covered with plastic wrap, tight lid, or damp towel.
Shape. Place into parchment-lined loaf pans.
Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour, and bake for dinner.
Find more of my favorite sourdough bread:
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Sourdough Zucchini Bread
- 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Banana Bread
- No-Knead Sourdough Bread
If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone with your delicious creation.
Sourdough Challah Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter, active and bubbly
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose
- 6 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons oil, any neutral tasting oil will do. I did coconut oil melted
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup water
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Feed your sourdough starter at least 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. It should be nice and bubbly before starting the dough.
- The night before, add all ingredients in a mixer and knead until the dough is smooth, glossy, and pulls away from the stand mixer bowl. This takes about 20 minutes.
- Cover with plastic wrap, a damp towel, or a tight lid and allow to rise at room temperature for about 10 hours (or until doubled in size).
- In the morning, take the dough and cut into four equal portions.
- Take each dough ball and roll it into a long rectangle, approximately 18-20 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. Then roll it into a skinny rope
- Place all four pieces of formed dough on the counter and pinch the ends together.
- Starting from the right side, cross the second piece of dough directly under the piece to the left and then over the dough piece all the way on the left.
- Then, take the portion all the way on the right and put it over the dough piece directly to the left of it, under the piece in the middle, and lastly, over the piece all the way on the left.
- Continue with this pattern until it is completely braided. Pinch the ends together and tuck the ends under the loaf.
- Place in a greased baking dish. A 9×13 will work. You can also bake it on a cookie sheet.
- Allow the dough to rise for another hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Brush an egg wash over the loaf. You can make the wash by beating an egg with water.
- Bake for 25 minutes until the challah starts to turn golden.
Notes
- This recipe makes a very wet dough, which will cause you to question whether you have added enough flour to it. With enough patience (and kneading), the dough will come together. We’re talking a ridiculously long time (like 20 minutes in the kitchen aid mixer), but it will eventually pull from the sides of the bowl and be a smooth and elastic dough.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose. The bread won’t be as soft, but it will still be delicious.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
It makes the best French toast!
Is it possible to knead this in a bread machine?
Finally a gluten free challah that braids. Everyone loved it and asked for more
Okay I must have done something wrong.. I woke up to my dough still VERY sticky and wet. I couldnt separate without losing a ton of dough. Even lost my ring at one point 😂
What did I do wrong?
It sounds like your dough may have over fermented. It becomes a sticky, unworkable mess!
What speed do you use to knead in the kitchen aid?
I usually keep mine on a lower speed like 2 or 3.
Do you think I could make this and let it do the bulk rise and then keep it in my fridge for 3 days before I do the shaping and baking?
Yes, that shoudl be fine.
I’m curious! I make sourdough all the time, typically around 75%-85% hydration, so pretty high hydration loaves. I’ve now made this twice and both times I’ve done it, I’ve been confused cause the dough is not a particularly wet dough at all. In fact it’s been dry enough that I’ve added slightly more water both times. And both times I really made sure I was following to a T. And my eggs are the right size. So I’m not sure if I’m just used to super wet doughs because of sourdough baking? Or if I’m doing something wrong? Basically when I start mixing together it’s VERY dry and shaggy, and then I’ve added some additional water to try to bring it together.
The only thing I can think of is that I didn’t have all purpose flour on hand, just King Arthur bread flour. So I did the full four cups with bread flour instead of 3.5 with bread flour and 0.5 with all purpose. I wonder if it being all bread flour makes it too absorbant? Any help troubleshooting would be appreciated!
The bread flour could be the cause of that!
I had the same issue! I have used the recipe a few times and it’s never been a watery dough. I have been using bread flour and all purpose. My only guess is that measuring cups are inaccurate and it shows more in this recipe than in others…
This is a wetter dough in general!
This bread turned out amazing! Such a beautiful and tasty piece of artwork! Definitely read Lisa’s notes – she mentions how gooey the dough will be. She was right but it makes for such a light, and fluffy bread.
This is one of my kids favorites. Thank you
Wonderful.
The recipe is brilliant, no dairy but the taste is silky and fluffy. I have never found any replacement “milk” or “butter” giving the right taste, so thanks a lot!
The only annoying thing is the cups and spoons as measurements. I never seem to use them right in baking, so my last attempt was to watery and was unable to braid 🙁 Can you please, give metric too? (I know, I know my silly European brain…) Thanks! 🙂
Oh no! I’m glad you stuck with it and it did work out for you. I’m trying to include grams for all my recipes, it’s just a slow process.
has this been converted to gms?
Here’s a conversion chart.