homemade challah (vegan)

I always look forward to sharing this bread when the four of us are together, especially if we are lucky enough to have our family or friends join us on these Friday nights. This is where we savour the opportunity to pause, bless, and reflect on the week just passed and to light the candles as a reminder of that inner light inside us. What is left over, we spend the weekend eating with all sorts of delicious spreads.

Freshly pressed sugar cane juice – Mysore, South India.

variation

• Replace the wheat flour with spelt; you may need to reduce the amount of liquid used.
• Follow this recipe to make small individual challah rolls.

homemade challah

preparation  2½ hours

baking time  35 minutes

Makes 1 large, challah or 2 small.

The recipe uses a mixer with a hook dough, but you can easily use your hands. 

ingredients

2 Tbsp/20g flaxseed, plus 6 Tbsp/80g water

1 cup + 2 Tbsp/246g warm milk or almond milk

60g butter – room temperature or 6 Tbsp/60g olive oil

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1¼ cups/150g wholewheat flour

2¼ cups/350g regular all-purpose flour

¼ cup/40g light brown sugar/coconut sugar

1½ tsp fine rock salt

preparation

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, whisk together the flax seeds with six tablespoons of water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add the warm milk, butter/oil, and yeast and leave undisturbed until the mixture is foaming, about 5 – 6 minutes.
3. Measure the flour, sugar, and salt, whisk together, and add to the yeast and milk mixture. Turn the machine on the lowest option and knead on medium speed for about 5 – 10 minutes. The dough should be elastic and smooth. If it seems too sticky, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, or if it looks too dry, add more liquid, a tablespoon at a time.
4. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow the dough to sit in a warm place for 1 – 1½ hours until well-risen and doubled in size. The longer it sits, the better the final bread. I usually prepare the dough in the early morning and let it sit until about 1 o’clock when I come back from errands.
5. Take out the dough, knead a little with the heel of your hands and work it into a ball.

plaiting the dough

6. Divide the dough into three equal pieces with a sharp knife or bench scraper. Using your palms, starting from the centre and working outward, elongate one piece by rolling it gently against the work surface with even pressure until you have formed a rope of the desired length. Repeat with the remaining two pieces.
7. Place the three side by side, pinch together the top ends, and carefully braid the three, like you would if you were braiding or plaiting hair. As I braid, I gently pull them length-wise to keep them as even as possible. Pinch together the ends and tuck them slightly under.
8. Transfer the plaited loaf to the baking tray, brush with ghee/oil, and sprinkle with poppy and sesame seeds.
9. Cover loosely with an oiled plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1½ hours.
10. About 15 minutes before the dough has finished rising, preheat an oven to 180C/350F.  Remove the plastic wrap or towel and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into it.

When it is just the four of us, we have been enjoying the challah with a simple vegetable soup, a salad, a bowl of guacamole, and, for dessert, challah slathered with homemade strawberry jam.

Goodness shared from Stacey