Sourdough Challah
It takes 3 days to make this sourdough challah, but it’s so worth it! The sweetness of the dough hides the sour flavor quite well.
Makes: 2 loaves (easiest to use a food processor with dough blade or stand mixer with dough hook attachment). I find this recipe easiest to make using a scale for grams and milliliters vs. cups.
Day 1 (8:00am) Refresh & feed sourdough starter:
1/2 cup (50g) flour
1/4 cup (25ml) filtered water
Day 1 (8:00pm) Pre-ferment:
1/3 cup (80g) sourdough starter
3.3 ounces (100ml) warm water
1 3/4 cups + 1 Tablespoon (220g) white bread flour
Day 2 (8:00am) Making dough:
1/2 cup (120ml) warm water
6 large eggs
1 Tablespoon sea salt
scant 1/2 cup (110ml) sunflower oil
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
4 1/6 cups (500g) bread flour
1 2/3 cups (205g) all-purpose flour
7/8 cup (100g) whole wheat flour flour
Day 3 (8:00am) Baking Day & Egg Wash:
1 egg 1 Tablespoon water
Day 1 Method:
8:00am: Mix the the flour and water to feed your starter and set aside in a warm spot in your kitchen.
8:00pm: Mix the ingredients for the pre-ferment and leave in an airtight container, in a warm spot. *I prefer to do this in my food processor, leave overnight and continue mixing the dough in the food processor in the morning. It should at least double in volume by morning.
Day 2 Method:
8:00am: Combine the pre-ferment with all of the dough ingredients above. Mix the dough until smooth (by hand: 10 minutes, food processor: 3 minutes, stand mixer: 5 minutes). The dough will form a ball and be firm to touch, but not too sticky. If using the food processor leave the dough and allow to double at room temperature (approximately 4 hours, depending on room temperature). Otherwise, transfer dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth to prevent the dough from drying out.
10:00-12:00pm: After 1st rise, refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
12:00pm-2:00pm: Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (each will be 1 loaf). Then divide each into 3 equal pieces and roll into 3 equal length ropes of 18" and braid the ropes together.
Decide how you would like the dough to reach a 2nd rise and determining your ideal baking time. If it's very warm, your bread may rise faster and overnight maybe too long for rising. I found 4 hours of rising time to be sufficient for warm days and 8-10 hours of rising time for colder days since we're using sourdough starter vs. commercial yeast which would take <2 hours to double in size.
Option 1: For baking at roughly 8:00am Day 3 - Refrigerate braided loaves until bedtime, then leave overnight on counter covered with oiled parchment paper and a towel allowing to double in size between 10:00pm-8:00am or until doubled in size and braid ropes are still definded (depends on room temperature)
Option 2: For baking any time on Day 3 - Cover the braided loaves with oiled parchment paper and a towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size on your countertop (roughly between 2:00pm-10:00pm), then refrigerate loaves and allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour before baking in the morning.
Day 3 Method:
*If your loaves have been refrigerated allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven 350F/180C. Beat together the 1 egg with water and brush on top of loaves. Uncover the braided bread and brush with the egg wash. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown and sounds hallow when knocked on the bottom. Most importantly, allow it to cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before cutting. The bread is still baking and if you slice it too early it may be gummy inside.