I look at this photo and am like…MAN, did I really make that?? There is something just so satisfying and slightly impressive about a traditional challah recipe that’s been twisted into a beautiful and compact four-strand braided round
I definitely feel like my skill with—and comfort with—bread has increased over the last couple years. I’ve learned a lot more about the science behind certain things…for instance why I should avoid the temptation to add more flour and keep the dough sticky, which is how you get the amazing soft texture of a challah.
But really getting creative with shaping dough and expecting it to hold its shape is still very much a work-in-progress. I can usually manage a 3-strand braid or a twisty babka, but have been scared to try anything more complex.
I finally pulled up my big girl pants and decided to try this four-strand challah braid. Rather than a long braided loaf, I followed instructions a beautiful kind of braided round knot, and was super happy with the results!
In reading through a few different recipes and techniques, I came across the idea of brushing the loaves with egg washtwice before baking—once just after braiding (whole egg and a bit of water), and then right before they go in the oven (with egg yolk and sugar).
As you can see, this gives the final loaf a gorgeous rich color and glossy sheen. I’m a convert!
You don’t have to have any super special tools to make awesome bread, but there are a few kitchen gadgets that will help make your bread better and the process simpler.
I strongly recommend weighing ingredients with a digital kitchen scale rather than volume measurements. The scraper tool is a must (in my opinion) for dealing with dough, pastry brushes for the egg wash, and a thermometer for checking doneness.
Save for later: A Tool to Decide What Bread to Make Based On How Long You Have…
First, we make the “sponge”. In your stand mixer bowl (or a large bowl, if doing by hand), whisk one cup (128g) of the flour with the yeast, and stir in the lukewarm water until the sponge is smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 45 minutes, until puffy and bubbly.
Next, bring the dough together. Directly into the bowl, add the salt, honey, oil and eggs. Stir until well mixed.
One tip for this, if you crack your eggs into a small bowl and give them a couple whisk with a fork, they’re way easier to stir in with a dough hook than if you throw them in whole.
Then add the remaining three cups (384 g) of flour (note, this only takes you to the 4 cups, not 5). Stir until the dough forms a sticky mass. If you have to, add a bit more flour to bring it together, but keep it as minimal as possible to ensure a fluffy bread at the end.
If using a mixer, knead on medium-low for a minute or two, or knead manually on a lightly-floured surface. You want the dough to become smooth. I did a little of both, about a minute kneading in the mixer, then about a minute by hand to finish it off.
Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with dish towel or seal with plastic wrap (my preference), and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk.
This will take 1-2 hours, or possibly longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Once it’s risen, you also have the option to punch it down and stash it in the refrigerator to do a slow rise overnight. If you do that, just make sure to leave plenty of time for the dough to come back to room temperature before proceeding with shaping and baking.
Once it’s risen, punch down and divide the dough into three or four parts, depending on what shape you want to make.
Roll each portion into a ball. Let them rest for 10-15 minutes (I put the plastic wrap over them to prevent a skin forming).
Roll each ball into long ropes (at least 12 inches in length for the 4-braided challah) and braid into desired shape. A 3-strand plait is easy and I do it all the time, so I decided to tackle a 4-strand round instead. Getting it into good ropes is always the hardest part for me.
I’ll share detailed pics for each step below…I followed this YouTube video, constantly pausing it as I went through each step (and that’s what I recommend as static pictures can’t give you the full idea).
Start with two ropes placed horizontally (to you) and then lay the other two vertically on top, in the middle and close to each other. Ignore the weird angle of this picture, assume I was on the right side of that pic.
Starting at the top-left, you’ll begin to create a lattice pattern (similar to how you’d do pie dough). This involves folding back one of the top vertical logs and threading the bottom horizonal pieces through.
You go top-left, then bottom right and it should look like this pic (again, watch the video).
Once you have that initial lattice, you then start at the top and cross right over left to make an “X” (you can see this starting at 5:10 in the video). Remember to think about “right” as though you’re rotating your body counter-clockwise as you go.
Then you go through (still starting at the top) and instead cross left over right to make and “X”, still going around counter-clockwise. Depending on how long and stretchy your dough logs were, you may also be able to go BACK around crossing right over left.
Either way, it should look something like this once you’re done.
Then simply tuck the last little bit of the ends under your beautiful knot loaf to make it streamlined. And voila, you have a four-strand challah braid!
ISN’T IT PRETTY???
Transfer to a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with the first egg wash (the egg + water one). Let the loaf rise for about 30 minutes (I put a giant plastic bag over it to protect it a bit, but the egg wash will probably do this too.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place another baking sheet underneath your first baking sheet (this helps insulate the bottom and keep it from burning).
Right before putting in the oven, brush your second egg wash on (the egg yolk + sugar one) and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt. You can sprinkle with poppy seeds if you like as well.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, starting to check after 35 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom. It should be at least 200 F inside when done, and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom of the loaf.
Cool completely before slicing (the inside should be at least below 80 F before cutting into it).
This is amazing all by itself, but I particularly love it drizzled with a heavy dose of honey, or in absolutely delicious french toast.
I’m so excited about how my 4-strand challah braid round turned out. And if you’re looking for a good traditional challah recipe then you definitely need to give this one a try…with that double egg wash tip!
One thing to know, you can make the dough to the point of fully rising, and then instead of making it right away, punch it down, and stash it in the refrigerator overnight (I put it in a large ziploc bag but leave a small portion unsealed so gas can escape). When ready to bake, bring out of the fridge plenty early to let it come to room temp, then shape and re-rise as directed.
This challah makes the most amazing french toast, just FYI.
Other challah (& similar twisty) breads you’ll love:
- Easy Awesome Basic Challah Bread
- Cinnamon-Walnut Challah
- Swedish Vanilla Cardamom Bread
- Apple Butter Cinnamon-Sugar Babka
I do recommend using weights rather than volume measurements when adding ingredients. A good digital kitchen scale is less than $15 usually and makes a huge difference in baking.
I followed these instructions on YouTube to do a 4-strand round. I think it came out okay!
Adapted slightly from Alexandra Cooks
Pin for later!
A Traditional Challah Bread (& 4-Strand Challah Round)
Yield: 1 round 4-strand braid
Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Additional Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 18 minutes
This traditional challah recipe is twisted beautifully into a surprisingly easy 4-strand challah round...here are step-by-step instructions for makign this yourself!
Ingredients
- DOUGH
- 4to5cups (510 gto620 g) of all-purpose or bread flour
- 1package or 2¼ teaspoons (8 g) of instant yeast (not active dry)
- 1 cup(236 g) of lukewarm water (made by mixing 1/4 cupboiling water and¾ cupcold water)
- 2 teaspoons of kosher salt (see notes)
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of safflower oil or other neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, etc.)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- EGG WASH
- 1 whole egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
- 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of flaky sea salt (like Maldon)
- Optional: poppyseeds or other coating
Instructions
- Make the sponge: In your stand mixer bowl (or a large bowl, if doing by hand), whisk one cup (128g) of the flour with the yeast, and stir in the lukewarm water until the sponge is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let it rise for about 45 minutes, until puffy and bubbly.
- Make the dough: Directly into the bowl, add the salt, honey, oil and eggs. Stir until well mixed, then add the remaining three cups (384 g) of flour (note, this only takes you to the 4 cups, not 5).
- Stir until the dough forms a sticky mass. If you have to, add a bit more flour, but keep it as minimal as possible to ensure a fluffy bread at the end. If using a mixer, knead on medium-low for a minute or two, or knead manually on a lightly-floured surface. You want the dough to become smooth.
- Then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with dish towel or seal with plastic wrap (my preference), and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk. This will take 1-2 hours, or possibly longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen. (Note: you can make the dough to this point, punch it down, and stash it in the refrigerator overnight).
- Shape the dough: Punch down and divide the dough into three or four parts, depending on what shape you want to make. Roll each portion into a ball. Let them rest for 10-15 minutes (I put the plastic wrap over them to prevent a skin forming).
- Roll each ball into long ropes (at least 12 inches in length for the 4-braided challah) and braid into desired shape. I have detailed pics and instructions for shaping into the 4-strand round in the post above, and link to the video instructions I followed.
- Transfer to a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with the first egg wash (the egg + water one). Let the loaf rise for about 30 minutes (I put a giant plastic bag over it to protect it a bit, but the egg wash will probably do this too.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place another baking sheet underneath your first baking sheet (this helps insulate the bottom and keep it from burning).
- Right before putting in the oven, brush your second egg wash on (the egg yolk + sugar one) and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt. You can sprinkle with poppy seeds if you like as well.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, checking after 40 minutes. Cool completely before slicing (the inside should be at least below 80 F before cutting into it).
Notes
- The original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of salt...the resulting bread is quite delicious but as a dough it is JUST on the side of too salty. I'd back it off just a tad, to the 2 teaspoons in my recipe.
- You can use at least one cup of whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in the recipe if you prefer.
- You dough will be very sticky, even with adding some extra flour and you'll feel like it needs more. But try not to give in to that temptation...the less extra flour you add, the more amazingly soft the bread will be!
- I do recommend using weights rather than volume measurements. A good digital kitchen scale is less than $15 usually and makes a huge difference in baking.
- You can make the dough to the point of fully rising, and then instead of making it right away, punch it down, and stash it in the refrigerator overnight (I put it in a large ziploc bag but leave a small portion unsealed so gas can escape). When ready to bake, bring out of the fridge plenty early to let it come to room temp, then shape and re-rise as directed.
- Baking on two sheet pans prevents the bottom of the challah from burning.
- Check the post above for a link to the YouTube video instructions I used for braiding.
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