How to Make Sourdough Challah

Hi, I'm going to show you how to make a super fluffy, absolutely delicious sourdough challah

So I'm calling this day one, but you're actually only going to do about five minutes worth of anything

and you're going to do it just before you go to bed. This is when you take your starter and mix it with some water, a little bit of sugar, and more bread flour

This is going to be a stiff starter, so it's going to take a few minutes to really mix and

knead it all together so that all the flour is absorbed by the water

I use a stiff starter here because that tends to be slightly less sour than a liquid starter

As you can see I'm really kneading and working the dough in the bowl trying to pick up any

other dry pieces of flour in the bowl. Once it's relatively smooth, put it in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap

I like to poke a few holes in it with a toothpick just to get some air flowing in and out

Leave it on the counter at a warm room temperature overnight, about 12 hours

The next morning you will see that it has risen significantly, at least tripling in size

About a half hour or so before you plan on mixing the dough, make your tangs on

Take the water and the flour, whisk them together to hydrate the flour, and then churn the flame

on under the pot. You want to continuously whisk while it's cooking

You're just going until it's about the consistency of mashed potatoes. I like to use a thermometer because once I get to 149 degrees Fahrenheit, that's when

I know it's done. Scrape it out, set it aside and let it cool

Then you're going to combine all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl except for the salt

You want to make sure your tangzong is no more than about 100 degrees Fahrenheit

You can just take the entire stiff starter and throw it in if you using a planetary mixer like I using here This is a spiral mixer if you using a KitchenAid with the dough hook or an Ooni mixer If you using a planetary mixer like I using here this is a spiral mixer or if you using a KitchenAid with a dough hook or an Ooni mixer if you using a mixer like an Ankh

and I believe a Bosch, which I've never used, so I'm not completely sure about that

you might need to just rip up the stiff starter into pieces

so that it kneads better into the dough. You're going to let it knead until a smooth dough forms

Usually this takes about five to seven minutes depending on the mixer you're using

Once the dough has all gathered together, add the salt and continue eating for several

minutes until you reach the windowpane test, which you can see here

Take a small piece of dough and stretch it between your fingers. If it's translucent without ripping, you've reached the windowpane test

what you're looking for. Gather the dough and shape it into a ball. Place it into a bowl and

cover it loosely with plastic wrap. I like to leave it not totally covered so that air can flow in and

out. I leave this to bulk ferment for between four and four and a half hours at 77 degrees Fahrenheit

in my proofer. If you do not have a proofer and it's warm in your kitchen, you can leave it out

there it may take a little bit longer. If you have a cooler kitchen it will take

even longer. You want to just do the poke test. If it holds the shape of the poke

that's when you know it's done. Then cover it completely in plastic wrap and

leave it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day on day three remove it from

the refrigerator while it's cold and start dividing the dough into as many

strands as you need. Before you even do that actually it's a good idea to knead

the dough a little bit to release any of the gases. This way you won't have any

air gaps when you bake your challah. Here I am making two challahs, both four strands, so I'm dividing the dough into

eighths You can certainly make one large challah with this recipe if that what you prefer Shape each 1 8th portion into a ball and then flatten it into an oval You want to push out all the air bubbles

Then gather it up so that you can roll it into a strand

Do this by using the palms of your hands against the countertop and just keep rolling it out

It's going to start resisting and pulling back because the gluten is really activated

That's why you just set it aside and move on to the next one

Keep going as these continue to rest. You can go back and roll them out even further

once the gluten has rested for a few minutes. I like to roll out my strands

so that there's a little bit more dough in the center of them and the edges are a little more tapered

I'll still go back to those four I just did, but this way they can rest a little bit while

I start working on the next four. Once all eight strands are rolled out, I roll them out just a little bit further

I also like to coat them in just a very light dusting of bread flour

This helps keeps the edges a little bit dry in order to prevent the braids from baking into one another

and we see a more defined shape once it comes out of the oven

Again, it's just a very light dusting of bread flour, and you want to roll the strands around in it to make sure it's coated on all sides

Shape the challah bring the ends of one side together and just pinch them together and roll them a little bit so that they will not separate

To do a four strand braid, take the furthest one to the right all the way to

the left. Take the one next to it all the way to the right. Then take that one from

the left, bring it down the very middle. Take the one to the right of it up to the

left from the one to the right all the way to the middle to the left of that to

the top. It's a very simple procedure don't think about it just keep the

repetition that's all that matters here. Keep braiding as far down as you can go and then just join the edges together as

best you can and then tuck it underneath the challah and give it a pinch so that it doesn't move from there

Place the challah on a baking tray so that there's a sufficient room for it to still

continue to rise. I like to give another final dusting of bread flour on top, again just to prevent the braids

from baking into one another. Then braid the second challah the same way

You're gonna proof it for somewhere between five to six, maybe even six and a half hours

until the challah is very, very airy and fluffy. Give it a nice egg wash

I just use one whole egg. Bake it, let it cool, and enjoy