Sourdough Apple Challah
What makes this sourdough challah unique is the addition of fall apples and spice, with a touch of sweetness. Challah is usually made with honey and egg, giving it a slightly sweet and deep flavor. This recipe add a bit of sugar and spice to sweeten the bread just a bit more to make it a true treat.This recipe was inspired by my favorite Jewish food chef, Tori Avey (www.toriavey.com). You can find her recipes and tutorials online,and I highly recommend you go look for her challah braiding tutorials, especially for this round loaf. I can explain it, but Tori can make it makesense with videos and her no-nonsense approach to recreating her most delectable recipes.
Ingredients
Initial Ferment
- 8 Cups Organic White Flour May sub out a few cups for wheat flour.
- 2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 Cup Sourdough Starter
- 1 Cup Warm Water Filtered is best.
- 6 Large Eggs
- 1/3 Cup Honey
- 1/2 Cup Melted Butter Olive or avocado oil is great, too.
Apple & Spice Add-Ins
- 1/4 Cup Raw or Coconut Sugar May use other sugar.
- 1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
- 1 tsp. Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. Cloves
- 3 Small Apples, Diced
Egg Wash
- 1 Fresh Egg
- Splash Cold Water
- Dash Sea Salt
Instructions
Initial Ferment
- Mix 8 cups of flour and 2 tsp. of sea salt in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup of starter, 1 cup of water, and six eggs. Mix thoroughly.
- In a small saucepot, melt the 1/2 cup of butter. Remove from heat and stir in the 1/3 cup of honey until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
- Add the starter mixture and the slightly cooled butter mixture to the flour mixture. Stir to incorporate.
- Using your hands or a stand mixer, mix the dough until smooth and uniform. You aren't really kneading as with traditional bread; it's more like you're smoothing and shaping it into a ball.
- Replace in the bowl and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a warm place to ferment for at least 6 hours.*
Rolling & Adding Inclusions
- Finely dice 3 small apples. No need to peel them. Add 1/4 cup sugar and the spices, and mix well. Cover and set aside to sweat the apples to dry them out a bit for better baking.
- Remove the dough and cut it into equal halves. Place one half back in the covered bowl to stay moist. Split the remaining half into four equal pieces. Place them on a counter that's been wetted down a bit to prevent sticking and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12" long.
- Roll out each quarter of dough into long, wide rectangles. Pour off the sugar water that's collected in the apple bowl and use a slotted spoon to spread the sugar mix onto each rectangle.
- Starting from the far, horizontal edge, begin to roll each rectangle up and over itself to enclose the diced apples inside the dough. Roll the strand gently to seal it and to lengthen it to about 18”. If you see apples poking out, shove them back in and seal up the dough. Set each completed strip aside on a flour-dusted or water-dampened surface.
Shaping & Baking the Challah
- Place two rolls on a parchment-lined jelly roll pan (rimmed baking sheet), running parallel to each other. Place the third strand over the top of the first parallel strand, and under the bottom of the other. Place the last strand under the top of the first parallel strand, and over the top of the other. This will have, in essence, woven a pattern something like a tic-tac-toe board, as Tori quips.
- You should now have something that vaguely resembles a dough spider, with eight feet sticking out all around the center weave. Keep that center as tight was you can as you proceed. Taking each foot in turn and moving clockwise, place the first foot over the foot next to it. Lay the original foot down on the board and pick up the foot you just crossed. Take that foot and cross it over the foot next to it. Lay that foot down and pick up the one you just crossed.
- Repeat this process until all the feet have been crossed. You should be able to see the pattern now and a round, braided loaf should be the result. Don't stess over this too much. It will pretty much bake up looking nice even if you don't get it perfect.
- Using slightly damp fingers, tuck the remaining twisted ends under the challah until you have a plump, round loaf. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover. Allow the loaf to rise another 30-60 minutes, or until a fingertip pressed into the dough results in an indentation that stays in place (rather than bouncing back).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/176°C. Prepare the egg wash by beating the egg, water, and salt together well. Use a pastry brush to place a thin layer of egg wash over the top of the bread. Be sure to get the cracks, but don’t soak the dough.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the dough reads 190°F/88°C. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and then tear into it to serve hot with butter. Or allow to cool completely and slice.
Notes
If you'll be away from the house for awhile, you can ferment your dough in the fridge. This slows down the ferment to keep it controlled until you can get to it.
Since I'm always low on fridge space, if I'm going to ferment in the fridge, I transfer the dough to a plastic bag, which is so much smaller than the bowl.
*If you're concerned about the cleanliness of your eggshells, fermenting in the fridge is better for food safety. If you’re sure your eggshells are free of contaminants like salmonella, you may include them in the initial mix and rise time since your dough will be baked at a temperature high enough to kill bacteria.
If you'd like to be accurate, weighing the dough before and while you split it into equal pieces is the best way. I'm a spastic baker and rarely use a kitchen scale but they are the best tool for being precise and getting consistent results when you bake.
Sweating the apples is a very useful step, so try not to skip it even if you're in a hurry. It only takes about ten minutes to draw off a decent amount of apple water. Incidentally, this sugary-spiced apple water is delicious to add into cinnamon roll glaze or even into cinnamon roll dough itself to replace the liquid called for in the recipe.
Also, you may want to re-brush with the egg wash to get the rising crevices and braided areas. The egg was produces a golden top, but those crevices will be white, if you don’t brush them as they expand.
You may need to cover the challah with foil as it finishes baking to prevent scorching the top. Tent the foil over the load.
When done baking, remove and allow the challah to rest for at least twenty minutes for the sugars and dough to set. Serve warm or completely cooled.
Don't freak out at the number of steps this recipe has - it really is just bread. It's also festival food, so it only gets trotted out for special occasions and holidays. Have your kids help you make it and turn it into an event.
See the post for more recipe notes.
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