I adapted Monica’s challah recipe to be more ‘Nourishing Traditions style’ and have the whole grain flours soaked in an acid medium. We ‘soak’ our whole grains as a way to breakdown anti-nutrients and allow them to be better digested. See more about that in my Soaked Wheat Bread post. And read more about Monica’s Sabbath traditions including how she makes challah in this post. We love this braided bread; the egg makes the texture moist, all the honey makes it extra sweet.
My recipe, adapted to soak and be dairy free if needed (the pictured one is dairy free):
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Cups Spelt Flour
1/4 Cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
1 Cup water plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or yogurt or whey)
1/2 Cup honey
2 Eggs, separate one and set aside a yolk for later
1 Cup (or less) unbleached white flour or sprouted whole grain flour
2 Teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Mix the whole wheat flour, spelt flour, coconut oil, water with ACV, and honey. Allow to rest overnight, covered with a damp towel.
The next day, mix in the whole egg + other egg white, yeast, and salt. If it’s too wet, add in unbleached white flour (the white flour doesn’t need to be soaked since the phytates are found in the part that’s removed during the refining process). I had to add in a little less than a cup. You want the dough to be stiff enough to hold the braid- I tested it by rolling a ‘snake’ and seeing if it held together or not.
Allow to rise until doubled in bulk (a couple hours for me, less in warmer weather, more when it’s cool).
To braid, I followed the directions in A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays– I made a bigger braid and a smaller one. I greased the cookie sheet (I used butter, coconut oil would work) before braiding so they didn’t stick. I’ve been avoiding showing you my well-used cookie sheets, but I decided to give up on that ;) I think my dad threatens to take a wire wheel brush to them every time he visits. :)
Squished the longer one a bit so they’re nearly the same size, then put the smaller one on top. Watered down the egg yolk that we saved with a tablespoon of water, and brushed the yolk mixture onto the dough. This gives it the pretty shine.
Allowed to rise again. I think I didn’t let it rise quite enough and that’s why part of the bread split during baking (does anyone know about that? It’s just speculation for me). I let it rise for a couple hours. Whole grain bread takes longer to rise than bread made with refined flour. It’s worth the wait.
And baked, on the greased cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for half an hour, when it was nicely browned. For my whole grain bread (like this one) I have learned to leave it in the oven with the door closed to cool down- since I’ve been doing that I haven’t had any doughy centers to my breads.
Sliced. See how the braids all combine together on the inside?
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Thanks a bunch! I will have to try this recipe. We make Challah almost every Friday for Shabbat. I'll be making 4 loaves this Friday as my sister's family is moving and will be driving through for the weekend from Tucson to Florida.
blessings and shalom
I've been nagging myself to start making my own bread. Husband loves bread but cant stand the additives. This idea of yours actually pushed me over the edge: I have spelt and whole wheat flour soaking in buttermilk as i'm typing this. My intention is to mix it with the rest tomorrow morning as I will be going into work the whole day, so it can rise. Make braids in the evening and bake Friday morning! Can't wait!
God bless!
This looks outstanding…healthy and beautiful at the same time. I am really inspired by your site. Onward I go!
what a work of art!
To avoid the bread breaking after baking (looking stretched out) try this approach – it works for me:
after all ingredients are combined and after first rise, don’t punch down the dough. Cut it into however many pieces for the braids you want with a knife. Then roll out the dough with a rolling pin into discs. Roll up each disc like a fruit roll up to get your logs for the braids. You can also sprinkle cinnamon or add raisins to the discs before rolling up and they will be spread uniformly throughout the challah so very handy for that reason. Then braid as usual.
Great post – I am starting to use soaked grains a la nourishing traditions and am freaking out trying to find a new good challah recipe because the one I have is amazing. I am going to try your method with my recipe first to see if it works!
Loved it! Thanks – we used it to celebrate Rosh Hashana today!
Thanks!
Laura