“I’ve been working on my recipe for over three years to achieve perfection. My challah is electrifyingly fluffy.”

— Kaja Siczek
participant at the JDC-supported Warsaw Jewish Community Center (JCC); Warsaw, Poland

Ingredients for Challah Recipe

  1. 8 cups flour
  2. 4 tbsp. yeast
  3. ¼ cup olive oil
  4. About 1 ¾ cup water, warm but not boiling (400 ml)
  5. About 7/8 cup sugar (165 grams)
  6. 1 tbsp. honey
  7. 1 tsp. salt
  8. 3 eggs, divided

Instructions for Challah Recipe

  1. To begin, mix warm water and honey. When honey has dissolved, crush the yeast in your hands and add it to the mixture. Don’t mix the yeast and water with a spoon.
  2. Let your yeast rise. One way to do this is to heat an oven to 120 degrees, and place the covered bowl on top of it. For an eco-friendly option, cover the bowl with a cloth and place it near a constant heat source, whether that’s your cat, your kid, or your partner. After about 10 minutes, the yeast should start to activate and rise.
  3. While the yeast is rising, sift your flour into a large bowl. Mix in sugar, then salt. Next, crack two eggs into a separate bowl and beat together.
  4. Using your fist, make a hole in the middle of your dry-ingredients bowl. Mix the eggs in slowly. Once the dough has absorbed the eggs, make another hole in the center and mix in the yeast mixture, slowly. Remember: Yeast doesn’t like drafty weather or sudden decisions.
  5. Once you’ve mixed all that together, leave the bowl in your warm place for about 10 minutes. Then, add in the olive oil and knead the dough until it’s smooth and flexible. Put the bowl back in your warm place an hour or two to let it rise.
  6. Braid two challahs and let them rise for 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix the remaining egg with a tbsp. of water.
  7. Glaze the challahs, top with any desired spices or seasonings, and bake them in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until golden-brown.