I am a sucker for a good loaf of bread – and this is one good loaf of bread. It’s crispy and golden brown on the outside and incredibly soft and pillowy on the inside – the way challah bread should be. But what makes this challah unique are the hidden morsels of scallions and dried chili flakes rolled into the dough before it’s braided and baked.
So when you bite into the bread, you’re hit with sharp and spicy notes here and there (or everywhere if you’re heavy-handed with the filling). For a milder bread, feel free to omit the chili flakes. And don’t be stingy with the salt; I was hesitant to lay it on and regretted not making my loaf more savory. (It was still amazing.)
Kudos to recipe creator Molly Yeh of my name is yeh for dreaming up this Jewish-Asian dough baby.
Recipe adapted from Food52.
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water, divided
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (see notes)
- salt, freshly ground black pepper and dried chili flakes, to taste
- 3 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
- sesame seeds and freshly ground black pepper, for topping
- In a small bowl, combine the yeast, ½ cup water and 1 teaspoon sugar and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
- In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup water, honey, oil and eggs.
- Once yeast has finished proofing, add it to the flour mixture, followed by the liquid mixture. Stir everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand on a well-floured work surface until it's smooth and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed, about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Divide dough into four equal parts and roll each part into a 12" log.
- Gently flatten each log so that it is about 3 inches wide. Brush each piece of dough with toasted sesame oil and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried chili flakes and scallions. Roll each piece of dough up lengthwise into a long log and pinch seams to seal.
- Braid logs and place the loaf on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Brush loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and pepper.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the challah is cooked through.
