How to Make An Easy-Braid Challah



In this episode, test cook Lan Lam makes host Bridget Lancaster a Jewish classic, Challah.

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50 Comments

  1. Best challah ever!! I love Lan! ❤️ Such a great teacher and the instructions are so easy to follow.
    It makes a big loaf so going to try make two smaller loaves today – one for me and one to share. 🥰

  2. Here’s the problem: the video and written recipe on ATK call for 2.75 cups of flour but the written recipe says that is 15-1/8 oz and they urge us to weigh the flour. I did. No good. I should have thought, “wait a minute! 2-3/4 cups of flour is nowhere near 15-1/8 ounces (at 120 grams per cup which is 4.23 oz)!! That’s 11.73 oz of flour NOT 15-1/8. I added a little more water and it came out good, but it would probably have been better using the correct amount of flour (and smaller).
    The big question is this: Is her 2-3/4 cups of flour based on 120 grams/cup? Since we must weight the flour (as always), then the video AND the written recipe MUST specify the total weight of flour!!😤

  3. Perhaps because I accidently put in 1/4 tsp yeast instead of 1 and 1/4 tsp (wish the recipe was in description, but oh well, I can just make it again), but did anyone dough become super sticky when they put the sugar in? I’m also kneading it by hand if that makes any difference. Tysm!

  4. Tangzhong:
    ½ cup water

    3 tablespoons bread flour

    Dough:

    1 large egg plus 2 large yolks

    ¼ cup water

    2 tablespoons vegetable oil

    2 ¾ cups (15⅛ ounces) bread flour

    1 ¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

    ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar

    1 teaspoon table salt

    Vegetable oil spray

    Egg Wash:

    1 large egg

    Pinch table salt

    1 tablespoon sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

  5. I have a question and this might sound stupid but…
    Why should you let fresh baked bread cool all the way down before you slice it? Warm from the oven fresh bread is so tasty. Is it a structural thing? Is it a taste thing? Look at me. 44 years old and only now after baking many a loaf of bread do I ask that question. 😂😂😂

  6. Given all the positive comments on here, my disaster must have been my own fault. My dough was much too wet, So while I love what Lan Lam does and how well she explains things, this didn't work for me. I am not accustomed to volume measurements, so I probably didn't get the measurements right. Sticky mess :-(. However, I will bake it lump and see what happens! Is there any chance that y'all could use weight measurements in your videos fo0r things like this. Metric would be wonderful, but my scales go both ways (weighs?!)

  7. The round loaves are symbolic for the New Year In Judaism – the round is for the head of the year. I have never seen a four braid. I usually do 6. I liked your technique. I will try it. Mine was passed down through generations.

  8. This Recipe is very complicated,nobody at home is mastering challah this way. If someone is planning to bake challah ( you can do it plain,with chocolate,raisins,pumpkin,onions …) check recipes on Jewish channels . It is easy and not time consuming.Lan,your challah lucks good,but braiding technique for four strands is much easier. One table spoon salt for this amount of flour is to much.

  9. I have long used baking sheets with a layer of air sandwiched inside of it. They are great for baking cookies without over-browning the bottoms. They have loaf pans like that as well. I had one woman check with me three times during one party to confirm that the sugar cookies I brought were ones I had actually baked myself, and after each confirmation, she said emphatically, "I'm impressed!" (No, she was not hitting on me.)

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