Looking for an at-home baking project? Why not master the six-strand braided Challah Bread with my lastest Baking Bucket List post.
My baking bucket list for 2020 started with Challah Bread. I have no idea why I chose it other than because it meant needing to work with yeast, and I find braided baked goods especially beautiful.
Initially, I thought working with the yeast would be the difficult part of this whole bake but in reality, it came down to the six-strand braid.
I gave my bread dough a real working while attempting to braid it and scrapped the braid so many times I lost count. I watched countless videos and reviewed a number of diagram tutorials.
Eventually, I stopped trying to think so hard about it, and the braiding naturally flowed….
…Or at least it resulted in Challah Bread that looked braided. I’ll let one of you review my handy work and tell me if it was actually braided correctly or not. (Like seriously, someone look at this braid and tell me if I did it right).
Either way, I don’t care too much. The result was a beautiful loaf of bread that actually tasted really good too with a delicious, subtle eggy-ness to it that you would expect when eating Challah Bread. I especially enjoyed it’s crusty outside (thanks to a splendid eggwash!) when toasted with a little strawberry jam on top.
I don’t have a recipe to share this go-round as I defaulted to the King Arthur Challah Bread recipe and followed it to a T.
Challah bread, braid completed
An egg wash before baking results in a nice golden color
Just a Couple Tips
My two tips for those of you attempting a six-strand braided Challah Bread is to 1) practice with some string before you head into braiding your dough. I’m sure my own bread would have baked a little bit lighter if I hadn’t beat it up so much figuring out the braiding sequence. I would also 2) ensure your dough is laid out in the same direction as whatever video or diagram you’re following. Watching someone do it from a different angle made the task even more difficult than it had to be.
Here are a few resources for completing the six-strand braid
- helpful YouTube video, just pause it frequently
- King Arthur’s six-strand braiding video
- the most informative graphic on braiding (according to me)
- maybe coloring your bread strands could help?
If I were to make Challah Bread again, I would probably stick to a three or four braided bread as I truly enjoyed the eggy flavor of the bread once baked and it’s an easy way to use up an abundance of eggs.
So, who’s making Challah Bread as we head into the Easter season?
