Honey Multi-Grain Challah Recipe
If you know me in real life, you know that I struggle to follow a recipe. I’m more of a toss it in and hope for the best kind of gal. But so many people regularly ask me for my challah recipe that I decided to make it more consistent and write it all down. But by all means, make it your own! This is the base recipe, but it’s great with raisins or chocolate chips inside, or with toppings like sesame seeds, cinnamon sugar, za’atar, or everything bagel spice. If you come up with more adaptations, please let me know! I love trying new things 🙂
Honey Multi-Grain Challah Recipe
Course: Recipes6 medium loaves
servings30
minutesIngredients
4 cups warm water
1 cup sugar
6.5 tsp yeast
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (or 1/2 c olive oil, 1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce)
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs + 1 extra egg to brush on top of the loaves
1 tbsp fine ground pink Himalayan salt
1 cup finely ground flax seeds
1 cup oats
7 cups whole wheat flour
7 cups white flour
Directions
- First proof the yeast by combining the warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and ensure that foam has formed on the top before continuing.
- Once the yeast has proofed, add the wet ingredients: honey, oil, eggs, and then salt.
- Add the flax seeds and oats.
- Now slowly incorporate the flours. You can amend the ratio if you want a little bit more whole wheat or more white, but be sure that the dough that results isn’t sticky, but also isn’t very dry and cracked overloaded with flour.
- You may need to divide the dough into two mixing bowls to give it room to grow. Cover it with a tea towel. Let it rest for an hour and a half to two and a half hours, depending on room temperature and humidity (it will grow faster in a warmer, more humid space).
- Braid the dough and place into greased and floured pans, brush the tops with egg, and let them rise another 20 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Brush each challah loaf with beaten, raw egg (both yolk and white beaten together) to make it shiny. You can leave this step out if you prefer a more rustic-looking bread.
- Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, depending on size of the loaves. This also varies with the individual ovens, but at 25 minutes you should be able to check them. If they still seem doughy, you may need to add as much as 5-10 more minutes.
Notes
- I love these challah pans, but if you choose a different shape or size, just remember that you may need to adjust the cooking times slightly.
