Bread, Buns and Rolls

Vegan challah bread – this vegan water challah is made without eggs but is still wonderfully soft, fluffy and flavourful. It is easy to make and you can shape it as you like or follow my step-by-step instructions to make a beautiful six strand braid.

This vegan challah bread is a perfectly soft, fluffy, slightly sweet white bread in an impressive six strand braid.

It is the kind of bread that is so good you can just eat it on it’s own, but it is also wonderful as a side, dipped in soup or toasted and spread with butter and jam.

It may look like it is complicated to make but it is actually very simple. It does take some time and is best completed over two days; but it is mostly hands-off time and the effort is so worth it!

What Is Challah Bread?:

Challah bread is a traditional Jewish bread that is often baked for the Sabbath and holidays. It is usually enriched with eggs and oil and shaped into an intricate braid.

While egg challah may be the more commonly known variety; water challah, which does not contain any egg, is actually also a thing and is naturally vegan as challah does not contain dairy anyway (although water challah is often still glazed with egg).

It is especially popular in Israel, while egg challah is the more common variety in the US.

This vegan eggless challah is a water challah so there is no need to use any kind of egg replacer. It is a beautifully soft, fluffy, flavourful, slightly sweet bread.

Note that I am not Jewish, and cannot claim to be an expert on the subject of challah; but I think (hope) that my recipe is a good one. We certainly can’t stop eating it and it has become a regular bake in my house.

How To Make Vegan Challah Bread:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

You can make this vegan challah bread all in one day provided you start early enough in the morning; but I prefer to make it over two days.

Place white bread flour or plain flour in a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast to one side and the sugar and salt to the other. Mix to combine.

Add the oil and most of the water and stir to form a rough dough, adding the rest of the water as needed to bring it together.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes by hand on an unfloured surface, or for about 5 minutes in a stand mixer.

While I do often leave the kneading to my stand mixer when it comes to bread, for challah I actually prefer to knead it by hand as I find it is easier to get a feel for when the dough is the right texture.

After a bit of kneading the dough should become silky smooth and supple and should pull away from the worktop or sides of the bowl cleanly. It should be slightly tacky to the touch but not sticky. If it is too sticky then knead in more flour, a spoonful at a time until it reaches the desired texture.

Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl and cover (I use a shower cap). At this point you have two choices; if you are baking the bread in the same day, let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 – 2 ½ hours.

If you are baking the bread the following day, let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour then place the bowl in the fridge to finish rising overnight.

The following morning, or once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to knock out most of the air.

How To Shape Challah:

There are many ways to shape challah – 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 strand braids as well as various round designs, rolls etc etc.

There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube for different designs so have a look around and find one that you like, or follow my instructions below for how to shape a six strand challah braid.

This recipe will make one large loaf, or two smaller ones.

Divide the dough into six even pieces, you want them to be as equal as possible, I use a scale to make sure they are all the same weight. If you are making two smaller loaves rather than one big one, divide the dough in half first, then each half into six.

Roll one of the pieces of dough out into a thin square, it doesn’t need to be exactly square shaped. If the dough is sticking you can lightly oil the worksurface and rolling pin.

Starting at whichever side is shortest, roll the dough up tightly into a sausage. Roll over the sausage with your hands, starting from the middle and working outwards, to form a long, thin strand.

Increase the pressure from your hands at the ends to taper them. You want the ends to be pointy and the strand to be thicker in the middle.

Repeat with the rest of the portions of dough, making sure that all of the strands are the same length.

On a lightly floured surface, arrange the six strands parallel to each other. At one end, gather the tips of the strands together and pinch them tightly so they stick together.

To make a six strand braid you just have to follow four repeating moves. First, take the second from the right strand and move it over to the far left.

Then, take the far right strand and move it over two strands to the middle (spread the strands apart if needed to make room). (The middle is in the centre of the four strands, not including the strand you just moved to the far left.)

Then, take the second from the left strand and move it over to the far right, then move the far left strand over two to the middle.

Repeat these four moves – second right to far left, far right to middle, second left to far right, far left to middle. Carry on going until you have braided the whole loaf then pinch the end together and tuck any stray bits underneath.

If the loaf is too long and thin, you can use your hands to lift and compact it a bit to make it shorter and fatter.

Place the loaf on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and repeat the steps above if you are making two loaves.

Loosely cover the loaf(ves) and set aside in a warm place to rise until they are about doubled in size, 1 – 3 ½ hours depending on how warm it is.

The bread is ready to bake when when it has visibly almost doubled in size and if you gently poke it with a finger it springs back slowly most of the way but leaves a small indentation. If it springs back quickly and fills in completely then it isn’t ready yet.

When the challah is ready to bake, gently brush it all over with some maple glaze. Bake for 20 minutes then brush with more glaze (if you want to sprinkle it with sesame or poppy seeds do it now) and return to the oven for 15 minutes for a large loaf, or 10 minutes for two smaller ones.

Challah Is A Slow Riser:

Because the dough is enriched with oil and sugar, it can take quite a long time to rise and for the best textured bread you shouldn’t rush it and bake the bread before it is fully risen.

The first rise will take 1 1/2 – 3 hours depending on how warm it is, and 1 – 3 1/2 hours for the second rise depending on whether you refrigerated the dough and how warm the room is. For this reason , if you want to make the bread all in one day then you need to make sure that you start it early enough in the morning.

I prefer to make it over two days and give the dough it’s first rise overnight in the fridge, though I found that it was best if I let it rise for 1 hour at room temperature first before refrigerating the dough.

Judging when the challah is ready to bake is something of an art; it is ready when it has visibly almost doubled in size and if you gently poke it with a finger it springs back slowly most of the way but leaves a small indentation. If it springs back quickly and fills in completely then it isn’t ready yet.

If the bread is a little underprooved it will still be delicious, but more dense and not quite as fluffy as a properly proved loaf. With practice it gets easier to tell when a loaf is ready to bake.

How To Speed Up The Rising Time:

If your room temperature is cold and you want to speed up the rising time a bit then you can heat the oven up on it’s lowest temperture then switch it off and open the door for 30 seconds to let some of the heat out.

Hold your hand in there for a few seconds to make sure it isn’t too hot. It should feel warm but not uncomfortable to hold your hand in.

Place the covered dough in the oven and shut the door. If it is a really cold day then you may need to warm the oven up again after a while but I usually find that once is enough.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

You can reduce the amount of sugar if you want a more savoury challah (keep a Tbsp or two to feed the yeast). The dough may rise more quickly with less sugar so keep an eye on it.

For the oil I generally use either olive or sunflower, but vegetable or canola would be fine too. I don’t recommend using coconut oil here as it is solid at room temperature and therefore may make the bread feel more dense.

You can use either bread flour or plain flour. Bread flour will give the vegan challah a slightly more chewy texture but both are good. You can also use a combination of the two.

The recipe will make one large challah, or two smaller ones. Totally up to you.

I glaze the challah with a maple syrup and water or milk mixture which gives it a lovely shine, especially if you glaze it twice – once before it goes in the oven and again after it has been baking for 20 minutes.

The glaze does become a bit sticky after a few hours at room temperature so if you prefer you can brush the bread with milk or aquafaba instead; it won’t be shiny in this case however.

The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much.

What Kind Of Yeast?:

I always use fast action yeast which is also known as instant or easy yeast as it doesn’t need to be activated first, you just add it straight to the flour.

If you only have active dried yeast then you can still use it, but you will need to mix it with some of the warm water and a pinch of the sugar first. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes until it has become bubbly then proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.

Can I Freeze Vegan Challah?:

Yes! You can freeze this vegan challah either whole or in slices. Place it in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to three months. Ideally it should be frozen on the day it is baked to preserve freshness (allow it to cool completely first).

You can toast slices of it straight from the freezer; or if you have frozen a whole loaf then allow it to defrost at room temperture then refresh in a low oven for 5-10 minutes to restore it to it’s former glory.

I like to bake the recipe as two smaller loaves rather than one big one; eat one of the loaves and freeze the other for another day.

How To Store Vegan Challah:

As with most home-made bread, this vegan challah is best eaten on the day it is baked. It is still good the next day however and for 2-3 days after that it makes great toast or French toast.

Store it in an airtight container or bread bin at room temperature. It should not be placed in the fridge as that can make it go stale faster.

More Vegan Bread Recipes:

Vegan Hokkaido milk bread

Gingerbread cinnamon rolls

Vegan hot cross buns

Vegan brioche

Banana bread cinnamon rolls

Pumpkin bread rolls

Vegan lemon blueberry rolls

Maple pecan bread wreath

Vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls

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