Basic Pull-Apart Challah
![Image may contain Food Seasoning Sesame Bread and Bun](https://assets.epicurious.com/photos/54ca60b71f13bb9b2edf6130/1:1/w_2560%2Cc_limit/51206820_basic-pull-apart-challah_hires.jpg)
Kosher Status: Pareve
Prep: 35 Minutes
Rise: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes
Bake: 45 to 55 Minutes
Cool: 15 Minutes
Total: About 4 Hours
Ingredients
10 Pounds 6 Ounces Dough, 5 Challahs
Step 1
1. Bloom the yeast: Dissolve the yeast and 3 tablespoons sugar in 2 cups of the warm water in a medium bowl; set aside to bloom. If the yeast doesn't bloom after 5 minutes discard the mixture and start over.
Step 2
2. Place the salt, flour, and the remaining 2 cups sugar together in a very large bowl and stir together. Add the 4 egg yolks. Make a well in the middle and add the yeast mixture and the remaining 4 cups water. Start kneading together; add 1/2 cup canola oil. Knead for 10 minutes, adding 1/2 cup canola oil, a small amount at a time, to create a workable dough. The dough will become a cohesive mass yet be a bit sticky. Rub a little of the remaining 1/4 cup canola oil over the top and sides of the dough. Loosely cover the dough with a kitchen towel and place the bowl in a warm spot for 15 minutes.
Step 3
3. After 15 minutes, the dough will have relaxed a bit and should be easier to work with. Lightly oil your hands and knead the dough again until smooth and satiny, 2 to 3 minutes. Rub a little oil over the top and sides of the dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and place the bowl in a medium garbage bag. Place the open end loosely underneath the bowl to trap air. Let the dough rise in a warm dark corner of your kitchen until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Step 4
4. Uncover the dough. With lightly oiled hands, punch the dough down to release air. Cover again with the bag, loosely tucked under, and let rise for 1 hour.
Step 5
5. Divide the dough into five equal parts, about 2 pounds each. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray five 9-inch round baking pans with cooking spray.
Step 6
6. Place one piece of dough on a smooth work surface. Squeeze out any air bubbles from the dough and roll in into a 12-inch rope. If the dough is sticking, lightly spray your work surface with cooking spray. Cut the rope into eight equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Place one ball in the center of the prepared pan and surround it with the remaining balls. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough so you have five pans of challah. Loosely cover each pan with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise 15 minutes. (If you can't fit all the pans in your oven at once and you want your challahs to be as beautiful as possible, shape the remaining dough while the first round of challahs are in the oven so they don't see rise for too much longer than 15 minutes before baking.)
Step 7
7. Beat the egg whites with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl and brush the challahs. Sprinkle each with sesame or poppy seeds or a combination of the two.
Step 8
8.烤10分钟。降低温度350°F and bake until tops are dark golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes more. Let cool 15 minutes before serving warm, or cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe fromJoy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes, by Jamie Geller, Copyright © 2013, published by William Morrow Cookbooks.
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Reviews (9)
Back to TopI cut the recipe in half using approx. 3 pound of bread flour. Also used 2 packages of Active Dry yeast (not rapid rise). May have not quite been the 2 TBSP (1/8 cup), but worked out just fine. Used my kitchenaide Mixer ( you need to have one of the bigger models) for most of the kneading with the bread hook. Texture was great. Family loved it. Would definitely make this again.
jps338
A cook from Wilmington, Delaware
3/29/2015
Is this recipe designed to feed an army?! 6 lbs flour, 5 challahs? Not exactly home cooking-friendly quantities here.
lenotchka1
3/27/2015
This was pretty good but a lot of work!
jfo123
Newport, RI
3/26/2015
One quick note: often in baking recipes the amount of ingredients is not just evenly dividable, eg you can't just use a 1 lbs of flours and then use 1/6 less of everything. If you want to make less, I suggest finding a recipe with the same mass of flour and then adjusting the rest of the ingredients in a similar way.
alicialh
3/25/2015
Thank you - that was so nicely explained. What at first seemed bizarre now has cultural meaning. :)
Ama1
3/24/2015
Oh, one other thing. Orthodox Jews that observe the Sabbath, especially those with large families, and guests at their meals, may very well go through four or five loaves over the course of Sabbath.
Anonymous
Queens, New York
3/24/2015
Probably because (in Orthodox Judaism) there's a special blessing you can make when you make a bread which uses over 5 pounds of flour. Some bakers like to make this special blessing, so they go out of their way to use that much flour. I'm sure it would work just as well if you divided the recipe up evenly, only using about a pound of flour.
Anonymous
Queens, New York
3/24/2015
Yes - why is this recipe so big?!
Ama1
3/23/2015
Does this really use 6 pounds of flour?
jangardner
Oceanside, Ca.
11/27/2013