No-Knead Challah

September 7, 2009

The way I got ready for shabbat this week made me realize that I don’t exactly do things the way others might. Knowing that time was going to be at a premium on Friday I purchased shabbat dinner at the local deli and only made the challah and dessert. This seemed like a good compromise to me on a very busy day. I didn’t think it was the least bit strange until my husband pointed out to me that most people would have made dinner and bought challah and dessert. Hmm, I do see his point but frankly that just didn’t occur to me.

In my defense I made the challah dough the night before and only braided it and baked it on Friday. Since my no-knead bread had been so successful I was eager to try the King Arthur Flour version of no-knead challah. The recipe is based on the original bread recipe but they adapted it to include eggs and honey and make it more challah-like. The dough was incredibly easy to put together and it rose happily overnight in the fridge just like the recipe promised. Unfortunately the dough was quite sticky to work with, I needed a lot of extra flour to roll it out in order to braid it. If making this recipe I recommend making a pull-apart challah with it. Just break of egg sized pieces, roughly roll them into balls and place them in a greased cake pan barely touching.

I didn’t think the finished bread tasted all that challah-like. It was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but is was a bit too soft and didn’t quite have the right chewiness for challah. I am definitely saving the recipe because I think it would make killer monkey bread or a base for cinnamon buns or even french toast. For challah, though, I am going to stick to my old recipe for no-knead challah which is only slightly more work and can also be left in the fridge overnight before braiding and baking. It is also posted here if you want more ideas for toppings/additions. The one other advantage the King Arthur recipe has over my other one is that it can be made up to 4 days in advance, so if thursday nights are crazy then it might be a better choice.

Recipe Updates – Delivered Fresh!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Recipes

3 Comments

  1. thanks for posting these! I want to try baking my own challah for the High Holidays, its really hard to get good challah in Redmond.

  2. Thanks Shoshana the challah looks delic in the pic.
    I want to make challah in advance for Rosh Hashana.
    I want to be able to make challah in advance for rosh hashana.
    I would like to feeze dough in the pan and have the dough oven ready (like the frozen shallahs kineret makes). I want to be able to bake it on Erev Rosh Hashana and Erev shabbat, Fresh (this year we have a 3 day yom tov.
    What recipe do you suggest, no knead or standard?
    How do I do this so the challah comes out right. All suggestions welcomed.
    Please e-mail me ASAP as I want to start getting everything ready cbgmiami@gmail.com
    Thanks

    • Hi Chana,
      I have been wanting to try making challah dough in advance and freezing it to bake later (like the frozen kineret) challah but I haven’t tried yet so I can’t give you any specific advice. I do have a cinnamon dough recipe that can be made in advance and frozen and that works ok. I defrost it in the refrigerator then let it come to room temperature and rise for a little while before baking. That might work with challah dough too, but I just don’t know because I haven tried. No-knead vs standard should’t make a difference.

      If I want to make challah in advance I generally bake it before freezing. Reheating it in the oven for a few minutes and then serving it warm makes it taste almost like fresh baked.

      If you do try it let us know how it comes out!
      Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

Comments are closed.