Round Challah

1. Stage

In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, beat flour, egg yolks, oil, salt, and 2 eggs until combined. In a medium bowl, combine honey, yeast, and 3/4 cup warm water. Pour yeast mixture into stand mixer bowl and beat on low speed until combined.

2. Stage

Beat dough on low speed until it pulls away from the bowl and is only slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands until smooth on the outside and springs back when pressed with your fingers.

3. Stage

Spray the inside of a large bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough proof until nearly doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch the dough down once then turn it out onto a work surface.

4. Stage

Instructions for swirl challah: Roll dough out into a rope, about 20" to 22" in length, then spiral the rope in on itself to create a round loaf. Tuck the remaining end under the challah to make sure the spiral doesn't come loose.

5. Stage

Instructions for 6 strand braid: Portion the dough out into 6 equal pieces and roll them into 6 ropes of equal length, about 15 inches long. Begin to create a basic lattice by laying 3 of the ropes horizontally, ½” inch apart in the center of your workspace.

6. Stage

Fold the top and bottom ropes back and place one rope, vertically in the center of the work space, then fold the ropes back over. Then, lift the two sides of the center horizontal rope and place the two other ropes a ½” to the right and left of the center vertical rope, then place two ends of the center horizontal rope back down over the vertical ones. You should have a small lattice where the ropes are almost touching and there are 4 groups of three rope ends on the top, left, right and bottom.

7. Stage

Take the bottom centermost rope, and pass it over the strand to the right. Work counter clockwise passing the next rope over its neighbor. When done, there should be 6 pairs of ropes where one rope is crossed over the other. Now beginning with the pairing in the bottom right, take the strand that is under its partner and pass it over the rope to the left. Continue moving clockwise until you are back to having 6 pairs of strands. Repeat the prior step in the clockwise direction, pulling tightly to ensure no gaps remain, and tuck any remaining dough tightly underneath the challah.

8. Stage

Transfer the prepared loaf to the baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest until almost doubled in size for an additional 60 minutes.

9. Stage

Toward the end of this final proof, preheat the oven to 375° and beat the remaining egg with a fork.

10. Stage

Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf and brush thoroughly with egg wash, making sure to coat all the braided nooks and crannies. Transfer baking sheet to the oven and bake until the exterior of the bread reaches a deep caramel color and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 190º, 35 to 40 minutes.

11. Stage

Remove loaf from the oven and let cool completely.