After pizza week we're shifting gears. This week we're baking challah, the braided bread that's been on celebration tables for thousands of years. It's the bread of Shabbat. The bread of welcome. The bread of homecoming. I've got a personal reason for putting this one on the schedule, and I'll tell you the whole story this week. For now, here's the lay of the week. 🥖 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲: Three-strand braid: The most approachable shape, and the one most home bakers start with. If this is your first challah, this is your braid. Six-strand braid: The classic Shabbat shape, more involved but absolutely doable. We'll walk through it Friday step by step. Round: The shape used for Rosh Hashanah and celebration. Symbolizes the cycle of the year and the unbroken thread of family. Beautiful at any table. 🌱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Top with sesame, poppy, or everything seeds. Add raisins to the dough if that's your tradition. The only line we hold is no butter or dairy in the dough itself. Challah is meant to be shared at any table, and that's the rule that protects it. 📚 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸: The dough, what makes it different from any other enriched bread. The Herr Sherman story, and why this bread shaped how I teach. Braid breakdowns, three-strand and six-strand, with the round as an alternative. Egg wash, seeds, and getting that deep mahogany shine. The tradition behind the bread, taught with respect, not religion. 🥖 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah This is one dough, one teaching, and a room full of different shapes coming out of different ovens on Saturday. Pull out your eggs, your flour, your honey, and bake with us. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥 Special Round Challah — Yeasted https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah Special Round Challah — Sourdough https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah?variant=sourdough

Before we braid on Saturday, I wanted to tell you where this bread comes from. Because the recipe is only half of it. The other half is the meaning that's been kneaded into it for thousands of years. The word "challah" came from the Torah originally, and it didn't mean a loaf. It meant a small portion of dough that was set aside as an offering, every time bread was made. Over time, the word migrated. The portion, and then the whole loaf, both came to be called challah. The bread carries the name of its own commandment. The braided shape we know came later, in medieval Europe, when Jewish communities in places like Germany and Austria made the braided loaf the standard bread for Shabbat. Two loaves on the table. A cloth over them. Candles beside them. Every part of it carries meaning that goes back further than any of us. I'm not Jewish, and I'm not teaching religion here. I'm a baker who respects what this bread is. And if I've gotten anything wrong in the way I tell it, please tell me. I'll listen. Watch the deck. Then come bake with us Saturday. 🍞 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Before anybody braids a thing this week, I want to walk you through why challah is built the way it's built. Because if you understand the dough, the braid gets easier, the bake gets easier, and the bread tastes like something. Here's the short version. Challah looks like other enriched breads from a distance, but it has something they don't. Structure. It holds a shape. You can braid it and it doesn't collapse on itself. The reason is in the ingredients. Eggs and oil, not eggs and butter. Egg whites add the protein that holds the braid. Oil tenderizes without softening the structure the way butter would. Honey feeds the yeast and drives that deep mahogany crust we're after. And there's a reason for the oil that goes beyond chemistry. Challah is pareve, which means it contains no dairy. It was built that way so the bread could be welcome at any table, anyone's table. We're not Jewish, and we're not teaching religion here. But we honor a tradition this old by getting it right, and that means oil, not butter. Watch the deck, then come mix with us on Friday. 🍞 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥