How to Make a Festive Challah

Learn how easy it is to shape a round, festive challah for Rosh Hashanah.

Servings: 1 challah

Author: Rob Finkelstein

Cook Time
5 minutes

Total Time
5 minutes

Course:

Bread

Cuisine:

Jewish

Keywords:

🧂 Ingredients

½ recipe Challah

Instructions

1 Make the Dough. My traditional Challah recipe
[https://cinnamonshtick.com/challah/] and my Tangzhong Challah recipe
[https://cinnamonshtick.com/tangzhong-challah/] already have honey in it, so it
is super ready for Rosh Hashanah! Alternatively, you can use the full recipe of
my Whole Wheat Challah [https://cinnamonshtick.com/whole-wheat-challah/] or my
Fluffy Sourdough Challah [https://cinnamonshtick.com/fluffy-sourdough-challah/].
2 Divide the Dough. After the first bulk rise of the dough (Step 5 in the Challah
recipe [https://cinnamonshtick.com/challah/], Step 4 in the Tangzhong Challah
recipe [https://cinnamonshtick.com/tangzhong-challah/], Step 7 in the Whole
Wheat Challah [https://cinnamonshtick.com/whole-wheat-challah/] and Step 2 in
the Fluffy Sourdough Challah
[https://cinnamonshtick.com/fluffy-sourdough-challah/]), divide it into three
equal portions. Your best bet is to weigh the total amount of the dough, divide
by 3, and weigh out 3 equal portions.
3 Roll Dough into Strands. Roll each of the 3 portions into strands, approximately
18 inches long. If the dough starts pulling back (shrinking), cover it with
plastic wrap and let it rest 5-10 minutes.
4 Braid. Line up the 3 strands in front of you, so they appear vertically in front
of you. Starting from the center of the strands, make a simple three strand
braid working your way down towards the ends of the strands closest to you,
leaving about an inch of each strand not braided. Then go back to the middle and
work your way up, also leaving about an inch of the top edge of the strands not
braided. Form the braided dough into a circle, joining the ends together.
5 Insert Oven-Proof Bowl in Center. Use an oven safe round dish (ramekin, small
Pyrex dish) for the center. Spray the outside of your round dish with non-stick
spray before inserting it into the center of your Festive Challah.
(Alternatively, you could form a circle with aluminum foil, spray the outside,
and insert it in the middle.)
6 Second Rise. Cover and allow the Festive Challah to rise as stated in the recipe
you are using. Egg wash the outside of the Festive Challah and decorate with
seeds as desired. Bake as instructed.
7 Cool and Enjoy. Once cool, the round dish in the center should separate from the
dough. You can wash it if any seeds or egg wash got on the inside. Once clean,
place back in the center and fill with honey.