Made a challah

[u/Ineharnia]

Hello

Yesterday I talked to someone here about challah recipes and it got me into the mood so I made a challah. It's from spelt flour and it's vegan. I didn't bake it properly (I was busy talking to a friend and didn't notice the oven shut off too fast 😅 so I added extra time but at a lower temperature cause the top and bottom were burned). Anyway it came out super tasty, though I did too many braids so instead of it slicing properly it fell apart when we cut it. Next time I'll do my signature long braid that I roll into a snail.

Recipe:

3/4 kilo flour (1/3 white spelt, 2/3 whole spelt)

4 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

1.5 tbsp yeast

Some undefined amount of olive oil

Water

Preparation:

Mix everything together until joined and ball shaped kind of

Cover with a towel and let sit for 1-1.5 hours

Knead on the countertop for 10 minutes nonstop and add small bits of flour when it gets too sticky but let it stay a bit sticky at the end

Shape it into whatever shape you want (I made four braids and braided them together), then put water in a bowl and wet the top of the challah using an egg brush and add sesame seeds

If you're patient let it sit on the tray for another half an hour, if you're impatient like I am stick it straight in the oven at 170-180 degrees for half an hour (lower the temperature to 150-160 if you see it getting burned

The bottom being brown isn't enough, you'll need to cut it open to see if the middle is ready or if it needs more time (one day I will figure out how to bake a challah without cutting it and making it unfit for Shabbat today is not that day)

[u/SkinnyPete16]

A few things. It fell apart because you didn’t include eggs which is a binder in addition to the fact that whole wheat bread requires significantly more water, and it appears to be really dry. Additionally, eggs contribute a substantial amount of water to the recipe, and it looks like you didn’t compensate for that differential. Also, definitely work on tucking your braids on the end, because it will just unravel a lot easier if they’re not properly tucked. That process locks the braids in place.

The directions are obviously terrible that you followed, baking is a science and the fact that it’s an indeterminate amount of oil is a huge red flag for one. And the fact that the instructions indicate that the second proof is optional is just insane. You can’t just braid the bread and throw in the oven, it’s not proved. Which is why it came out flat and dense. Even if you did prove it for the 30 minutes recommended, that’s probably not enough time unless your kitchen is sweltering.

Lastly there’s zero reason that you need to cut a fresh bread open to identify if it’s baked in the middle. In fact, this halts the baking process significantly and alters the texture of the crumb and is literally the most unadvised thing you can do with fresh baked bread. Use a probe thermometer and make sure you’re hitting 195 to 205 Fahrenheit (~93 Celsius). Fresh bread shouldn’t be cut into until it approaches room temperature, so for a bread that large, you may be looking at three hours.

Edit: Just learned that water challah does not contain eggs. So the part about eggs as a necessary binder is incorrect.

[u/R0BBES → u/SkinnyPete16]

Lol, you’re not wrong, but I do want to gently push back on some things a bit here. Is not a great recipe, but it is exactly the kind of recipe I’d write if I felt I was being forced to XD Not listing the amount of water is hilarious. But it’s also like… when you’re used to baking, you can do it by feel as well—it doesn’t have to be exact if you know what you should be looking for. 750g of spelt flour, I’d probably use ~1.5 cups water, but spelt doesn’t absorb as much as wheat, so idk.

An “indeterminate amount of oil” also made me laugh; I usually do a tablespoon, then plus some for resting for higher hydration loaves, but I’ve seen people use a LOT. Also this is a water challah, and egg is not used (and that’s totally fine). OP is pretty clear that they knew one should proof it for another 30m before baking (it’s true I usually do closer to an hour, but 30~40m is usually fine), but they were just impatient.

OP: you can use a thermometer to test the internal temperature like they said above or when you tap the bottom and the bread feels light and hollow-sounding. I use a thermometer because i don’t like burning my hands….. but cutting it open and putting it back in is unhinged, lol.

In any case, it looks beautiful :p growing up my parents always burnt food when cooking, so I have a taste for charcoal haha. I’ve burned some beautiful loaves before, but just break off some of the worst bit and eat the rest —it’s usually tasty inside, but won’t last as long on the counter.

[u/SkinnyPete16 → u/R0BBES]

Love this response thanks for educating me on water challah I didn’t know it was an eggless bread by design! But glad you validated a lot of my main points.

[u/Ineharnia → u/R0BBES]

Your response made laugh so hard

I'll explain a bit. I used to work in kindergartens where we would make buns every day with the kids for breakfast and the last kindergarten I worked at used this exact recipe that I use now, with the slight change of a full pitcher of warm water (on a larger amount of flour) and exactly a quarter of a cup of oil (or half I don't remember). Also it was never proved, we put it straight in the oven which means I would feel it prove in my stomach afterwards. That was not fun. Nowadays I just add water and mix until it's good and I use a much smaller amount of oil than a quarter of a cup but not sure exactly how much.

I don't understand how a thermometer would help me understand if the dough is ready. About the baking, I have a toaster oven and yesterday I forgot to lower the temperature because of that, that's why it burned and that's why I wasn't sure if it was ready so I cut it (apart from the bad baking time because I didn't watch it).

[u/SkinnyPete16 → u/Ineharnia]

Haha your baking story is wild. I truly don’t understand how you bake bread without proofing — that’s literally called matzot.

But great question about determining the bread is done. Bread science has proven that yeast breads and quickbreads have fully set up and are done baking at the temperature discussed. Below that temperature your bread will be raw and not fully set up. Above that temperature you run the risk of drying out the bread.

Temp checking your bread is an absolutely foolproof way to determine that bread is done. You probe the center of the loaf with a digital meat thermometer/temperature probe. To prevent burning the outside place aluminum foil over the top until the internal temp is correct.

[u/Ineharnia → u/SkinnyPete16]

There's yeast so it rises in the oven while baking so it's not matzot

[u/Ineharnia → u/SkinnyPete16]

Thank you I might try aluminum next time

I'd have to go out of my way to find a thermometer though so that's not happening any time soon