Sourdough challah

2 challahs or one gigantic one

Experience

02/2024: I’ve made this a few times for the microbakery, for Josh & Laura, for the soldiers. The dough stays very sticky, it’s hard to roll, braid, and it doesn’t keep its shape. It needs more flour, or less oil, or simply a floured counter when rolling, I’m not sure yet. The flavors are tip top.

Ingredients

• 185 g water 
• 100 g levain
• 2 eggs 
• 40 g honey
• 500 g bread flour
• 10 g salt
• 40 g neutral oil (sunflower)
• 1 egg yolk + water for egg wash

Recipe

• Stand mixer: 185g water, 100g levain, 2 eggs, 40g honey, 500g bread flour. Mix for 2 min until dough comes together. Cover and autolyse for 30 min.
• Add the 10g salt and the 40g oil by quarters. Mix until the dough comes together before adding the next bit of oil.
• Once you have added all the oil, knead for 5-10 minutes on low-medium until the dough passes the windowpane test.
• Rest covered for 5 hours, then in the fridge for overnight.
• Divide the dough into 3-6 equal pieces depending on the braiding you want, using a scale to have equally sized pieces.
• Roll them into a ball, rest 10 min.
• Roll each ball into a rectangle, then roll that rectangle on one of its long edges to make a strand. Rest 10 min.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Use your scale for accuracy so that each strand ends up being the same size. Then roll each piece into seamless rounds. Cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes.
• Extend each strand to double the length of the challah you want.
• Braid! look up tutorials.
• Divide the braid in the center and pinch the ends if you want to make 2 normal size challahs.
• Proof covered for 4-6 hours.
• Egg wash, sprinkle sesame seeds (you can also do this on one strand when braiding)
• Bake at 180C for 25-35min (it should be 95C inside)

adapted from breadbyelise