Challah buns for shabbat
What a great and easy recipe – the buns are gorgeous and so soft and fragrant. Each bite is a taste of heaven… This will become your go-to challah recipe.
Makes 8 challah buns
Ingredients:
1 kg flour
2 Tbsp dry yeast or a cube of fresh yeast
150 grams sugar (3/4 cup)
1 full Tbsp salt
160 ml oil (3/4 cup minus 2 Tbsp)
460 ml warm water (2 cups minus 2 Tbps)
For the top:
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp silan or honey
Sesame seeds
Preparation:
1. Place the flour in a mixer and add the sugar and salt and mix a little. Add the other ingredients and mix until a soft smooth dough forms. Place in a greased bowl and let rise for around 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.
2. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each part into an elongated ellipse around 40 cm long, roll and set aside. Repeat with each part.
3. Pull each roll to about 85 cm long, let rise another 10-15 minutes. Now pull them to just over a meter, fold in half and braid the two halves together. Start rolling from the open end and fold the tip underneath.
If something isn’t clear, look at the photos or the video.
4. Heat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius, let rise for around 15 minutes.
5. Beat an egg with the silan or honey and brush the buns with it. Sprinkle them with sesame seeds and bake for around 25 minutes or until golden.
*6. For smaller challah breads, or actually for small rolls, divide the dough into 18 pieces and work according to what I wrote above. Change the lengths, a 30 cm long oval, extend the length of the roll to 60 cm.
Good to know…
The challah buns come out wonderfully and even freeze well. A quick defrost in the microwave and you’ll have fresh-out-of-the-oven buns. The kids will rejoice at dinnertime!
The dough is very easy to work with. You can even do a first rise in the fridge in a greased bowl for 8-9 hours, then take the dough out of the fridge and let it reach room temperature before continuing.
You need to be patient when making the rolls. This stage takes a bit of time and the rolls need to be long. Make sure you let rise so you can easily pull them longer.
The challah buns are gorgeous. If you have lunch or dinner guests, fill up a bread basket with these beauties and see how quickly they get devoured. In fact, make a double batch!