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Sourdough Challah
Challah is a popular Jewish bread typically enjoyed on the Sabbath and holidays. The dough is enriched with eggs, oil, and sugar and it’s often braided. There are many different and beautiful ways to braid dough and one of the easiest shapes is the round four-strand braid, often served at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, to signify the cyclical nature of the year and seasons.
Here is a simple recipe for sourdough challah that uses a sweet stiff sourdough levain build, meaning you’ll feed a bit of whatever starter is in your refrigerator some flour, sugar, and a relatively small amount of water (about half the weight of the flour or 52% hydration). This type of starter feed shifts the microbial population in the starter toward relatively more yeast and fewer (acid producing) lactobacillus bacteria. The final dough is less acidic as a result, which means more gluten strength and browning of the crust. Here is an article that explains how different sourdough starters perform with this and other enriched dough recipes: Sourdough Starter and Maillard Reaction in Enriched Dough. You can also try this wonderful recipe for yeast-leavened Whole Grain Challah written by Eric with helpful videos, and you might check out @Benito’s 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Challah in the Breadtopia forum. His detailed formula and process yield gorgeous breads.
Sourdough Challah
Round challah is traditionally made to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The shape symbolizes the circle of the year, but people also enjoy this beautiful and delicious centerpiece bread at any time of year.
Ingredients
This recipe was developed using weight measurements. Conversions to volume are approximations.
Sweet Stiff Levain
Dough
Instructions
Shopping List
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
High Protein Bread Flour
Brod & Taylor High Capacity Kitchen Scale
$20.00Flour Duster
Bench Knife by Dexter — Resin Handle
$14.50Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00USA Pan Half Sheet Pan
$23.00Dough and Storage Bucket w/Lid – 2 qt. Square
Sourdough Challah