Challah rolls are fun to make and great to eat. You can make them as large or small as you like, and they can easily hold heavy filling, as in the popular schnitzel in challah sandwich. Of course, one of the best thing is simply to spread with salted butter and top with chunks of halva. Yum!

Challah rolls

Recipe by Vered GuttmanCourse: breadCuisine: Jewish, IsraeliDifficulty: Medium

Yields

large rolls

Prep time

minutes

Baking time

minutes

Rising time

hour

minutes

Total time

hours

minutes

Challah rolls have the same dough as regular challah, and the good things about them, besides for being delicious, is that they’re sturdy enough to be baked in large size and hold heavy fillings. The recipe below can be divided into 6 really large rolls or 12 small.

I highly recommend using SAF Instant yeast (it’s available online and can keep for months in the fridge.)
When using instant yeast, you should skip the process of proofing the yeast.
If you’re using active dry yeast, start the recipe by proofing the yeast and continue as usual.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. All purpose flour, plus more for dusting.
1 tablespoon yeast (see note above)
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
⅔ cup warm water
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the egg wash
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons sesame seed
2 tablespoons poppy seed

DIRECTIONS

If you’re using DRY ACTIVE YEAST, skip to instruction number 4.
If you’re using INSTANT YEAST, make the dough using a stand mixer with the dough hook. Put flour and yeast in the mixer’s bowl and mix with a fork. Add sugar, then turn mixer on medium-low speed and mix for a minute. Add eggs and water and continue to mix for about 2 minutes, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. With mixer on medium-low, slowly add oil and then salt. Knead for 8 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides as needed.
Skip to instruction number 5.
If you’re using DRY ACTIVE YEAST you need to proof it first. Put the water, yeast and a teaspoon of sugar in a glass and stir briefly. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it visibly foams.
Put flour in the bowl and make a well in the center. To the well add yeast mixture, the rest of the sugar and egg and mix for about 3 minutes on medium-low speed, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. Add oil and salt. Turn speed to medium-low and mix for 8 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides as needed.
Remove bowl from stand mixer. Using a spatula, transfer dough into a lightly greased large bowl (I use PAM spray,) cover in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature, preferably in a warm space (near the oven, for example) until dough almost doubles its size, about 1 hour.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Very lightly flour working surface. For large rolls, divide dough into 6 equal parts (of about 5 oz. each) and for medium-small rolls divide the dough into 12 equal parts (of 2½ oz each.) Roll each piece into ball, arrange on the side of working surface and cover lightly with a towel.
Working with one roll at a time, divide each dough ball into 3 equal parts and roll them into strands of equal length (about 8 inches long.) Make sure the working surface has almost no flour on it, as it will actually make rolling into strands more difficult. Connect the there strands at the top and braid them. When you’re done, tuck the ends under the roll and shape it nicely. Transfer to the parchment paper lined baking sheet and continue with the rest of the rolls.
Cover rolls with a kitchen towel and let stand until it is almost double in size, about 30 minutes.
Oven to 350 degrees.
For the egg wash, mix egg yolk with water and salt and gently brush the rolls. Sprinkle with sesame seed and poppy seed.
Bake the large rolls for 30-40 minutes (the small rolls for 20-25 minutes) until baked through and golden on top.
Cool on a cooling rack. Keep any leftover challah well wrapped at room temperature.