Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Challah
I am feeling kind of nostalgic. For the past three years, I have “had” to bake a challah every Thursday so that my daughter could bring some to preschool on Friday. (Okay, so some weeks I cheated by using frozen challah from the previous week — but this transgression was always duly noted.)
Though yesterday was her last Friday at preschool — I have a feeling I will be baking challah on a nearly weekly basis for a long time to come. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve gone through until I found one that we all love. I hope you and your family enjoy it as well.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons yeast
- 4 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons veg. oil
Glaze
- maple syrup (optional)
Directions
- Dissolve sugar in 1/2 cup water in bowl of mixer.
- Sprinkle yeast over water and mix, let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
- Add remaining ingredients into mixing bowl.
- Mix with dough hook for 6 minutes. The dough should form a satiny, smooth ball. If it is sticky — add more flour.
- Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in bulk. (I wait 45 minutes - 1 hour.)
- Punch down dough. Wait ten minutes.
- Braid challah. For those of you who have never done this before, it can be daunting. Hopefully, the diagram below –handed down by a family friend– will help. (Click on it to enlarge.) If you need more help — try this video.
- Place on greased cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise until doubles in bulk. (Wait 1 hour.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Glaze with maple syrup. (Wipe up any excess from around challah — cause it burns.)
- Bake at 400 F for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- The challah is done when it sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Thanks so much for this recipe. Our son was recently diagnosed with milk/egg/nut allergies and I just found your blog. I usually make egg/dairy free “challah” in the bread machine but this will more authentic.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Thank you for this recipe. My son who is egg, milk and nut allergic is attending a wonderful Jewish preschool. They bake challah every Friday and he was playing with playdough instead. I brought in some of the challah dough from your recipe so he could also participate in the braiding. The wonderful teachers at his school have decided that everyone can use your recipe in order to be inclusive. Yeah! Thanks again. It is really wonderful challah.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
My grandson is egg/dairy/nut allergic also-so I am eager to try this recipe.