What you need:

• 2 big bowls
• 1 cup
• 1 wooden spoon
• 1-2 baking  sheets, pie dishes, casserole dishes, etc. (or whatever floats your boat)
• Parchment paper/silicone baking mat (optional, but very helpful)
• 1.25 cups water
• 1 tbsp active dry or instant yeast
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 eggs + 1 egg, whisked, for egg wash
• 1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil
• 6 cups flour + 1 cup just in case (bread flour if possible, but it’s still good if it’s regular)
• 2 tsp salt
• Topping(s) of choice (sesame or poppy seeds, everything bagel seasoning, large-grain salt, brown sugar, za’atar, whatever blows your hair back)

The Dough:

1. Place very warm (but not hot, let the faucet run for a bit) water in a mixing bowl.
2. Add honey, making sweet water. Add yeast, mixing lightly, so it all gets wet.

• • The yeast will eat the sugar in the honey water and produce carbon dioxide, which is what makes the bread fluffy.
  • If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you can gently and manually break up the bigger yeast bubbles at first, so that all the yeast is able to come into contact with the water.

3. Allow to sit for 10 minutes or so, usually less… until you see little eruptions. 

• • If you’re not watching the yeast water, you might miss the “eruptions”, but you’ll see clearly that it’s all puffed up when you come back to it. That’s totally fine.
  • Once you see that it looks like it’s not puffing up much further, you’re ready for the next step.

4. While you’re waiting, mix eggs and vegetable oil together in a cup. Add the eggs and vegetable oil to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.
5. Add flour and salt.

• • Remember: salt and yeast are not friends, and mixing them will hurt your rise. Don’t put the salt in with the yeast right away. Wait until you’ve added some of the flour. 
  • (I put in half the flour, then add salt, then add the rest of the flour.)

6. Mix. 

• • If the dough is not holding together as a ball, add a bit more oil or water. If the dough is very sticky, add more flour.
  • The dough is ready when it sticks together as a ball and is not sticky to the touch when you poke your finger in.
  • If I’m using a mixing machine/KitchenAid/etc., this usually takes 3-5 minutes. If I’m doing it by hand, it takes 6-10 minutes or until I get too tired and decide it’s ready.

7. Work it out. 

• • Take half the dough and put it onto a floured work surface.
  • Knead it out, and punch a few times until very smooth. 
  • Then do the same with the other half of the dough.

8. Place in oiled bowl(s) and cover in plastic wrap and/or towel. 

• • The oil makes it easy to take the dough out for braiding, without it sticking to the sides. Saves so much hassle!

9. Allow to rise at least one hour in a warm place, preferably more, until dough has risen.

• • Your oven, turned off but with the light turned on, is perfect for this. Before I learned this trick, I put it in the closet, though, and it turned out fine.
  • If you’re going to let it rise for more than two hours, split the dough into two separate bowls so there’s room for more rising. 
  • Now that I’m working from home, sometimes I let my challah rise for like five hours during the work day. It doesn’t rise much more after the two hour mark, but it doesn’t hurt it.

10. After an hour-plus, bring your bowls to the counter/table.  If the fates are in your favor, the dough will have doubled in size.
11. Punch gently into each bowl to deflate the dough, and remove it.
12. Knead out all the air bubbles, and get ready to braid! 

• • I set up my baking sheets with parchment paper before I start braiding. This way I can transfer my masterpieces as soon as they’re ready and don’t have to touch them after they do their second rise.
  • But, challah (like the Jewish people) is resilient and will rise wherever you need it to, so you do you.

Braiding:

Now there are lots of ways to make round challah, but I’ve picked out 4 easy-ish methods: the three-braid, the criss-cross, the classy clump, and the mixer dance. 

The Three Braid

If you know how to braid hair/cord/rope, this is the same method. I like to start from the middle, but it’s the same concept. Once you have your long braid, you’ll just arrange it in a spiral pattern, and tuck the end underneath. That’s it! Ta-da!

1. First, divide your dough into three roughly even portions. 
2. Next, roll the dough out into three strips and arrange them on top of each other in a kind of asterisk shape.
3. Then, you’ll go ahead and braid the dough. You’ll braid first the bottom half of the asterisk, then the top half, so the whole thing looks like one long braid. If the asterisk method is confusing to you, just pinch one end of each of the strands together and braid it down like that. It’ll still turn out beautiful!
4. Once you have your braid, twist it into a spiral shape. Then, close the gaps so the dough looks like one cohesive piece.
5. Brush with egg and decorate as you like before baking (see below for baking instructions).

The Criss-Cross

This looks so fancy, but it’s secretly just a bunch of three-braid challahs. Setting up the middle is the only complicated part, and then it’s just braiding and arranging. Super cute for little individual “challah knots”!

1. First, divide your dough into six roughly even portions.
2. Next, roll the balls out into six strips. They’ll probably be thinner than you’re expecting, which is totally fine. Arrange them in a hashtag/pound sign shape, with the top three perpendicular to the bottom three and a little space in between.
3. Now begin weaving the strands together to create a lattice. You’ll have to pick up strands as you go, to get the right effect. Leave a little space between the strands — it’ll fill in as it rises and bakes — and be sure to leave long ends dangling on each side for the next step.
4. Now it’s time to braid! Using your three-strand braid skills, turn each “side” of the lattice square into a braid.
5. Once all four sides are braided, you should have an X-shaped challah, with the open-ish lattice in the center.
6. Next, twist each braid to the left, creating a shape like a spiral galaxy.
7. Leave it as-is, or tuck the end of each braid under the centerpiece to complete your round challah. Brush with egg and decorate as you like before baking (see below for baking instructions).

The Classy Clump

No braiding required! Truly one of my favorite challah styles, and ideal for groups with strong and varied preferences for challah toppings, since you can mix-and-match toppings on different clumps.

1. First, set up your pan. You don’t need a round pan for this, but if you have one, it’ll help ensure your dough stays round if it expands too much. I like using a springform pan here, but truly anything oven-safe will work. Just be sure to line it with parchment paper so the bread doesn’t burn onto the bottom.
2. Then separate your dough into several clumps — at least six, but the more the merrier — and roll into balls. Arrange them nicely in your parchment-lined pan. I like the flower method, where you place one ball in the center, and the others around it like petals. Feel free to experiment with balls of different sizes, but too small and they’ll all just bake together. (Or, if you like, you can put an oven-safe round dish in the center, and arrange the balls of challah around it. Once your challah is cool, you can fill the center dish with honey or the dip of your choice)
3. Brush with egg and decorate as you like before baking (see below for baking instructions).

The Mixer Dance

So-called because you twist each braid once, then “trade partners” and do it again and again, creating a beautifully entwined final challah.

1. First, separate your dough into four roughly equal clumps.
2. Then roll them out into four roughly even strips and arrange them in a woven hashtag/pound sign shape, with the top two perpendicular to the bottom two, but overlapping.
3. Place each lower strand over the higher strand next to it, going clockwise for the first round, counter-clockwise for the second round, clockwise again for the third, and so on until you run out of dough.
4. When everything is braided, brush with egg and decorate as you like before baking (see below for baking instructions).

Baking Instructions:

1. Allow to rise another half hour or so, sitting on your counter/table/etc. while your oven pre-heats. 
2. Once the oven is ready, paint with a whisked egg (yolk and white). You can use a brush if you have one, but your fingers will do just fine. Top as you like.
3. Then cook at 350 for 25 minutes, checking every few minutes thereafter until the challah is to your liking (usually another 5-10 minutes).

• Poke at the seams. If they seem doughy, give it more time. To be safe, poke a knife in. If it comes out cleanly, you’re ready to go.
• If the top seems like it’s browning too fast, put pieces of foil around the brown parts to keep them from burning.
• If you want more color, you can put your oven on broil for 2-5 minutes to get a nice golden brown color. Just be careful, because it can change color fast!