Easy No Knead Challah Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter (or oil) with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (no airtight) food container.
• Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
• Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
• The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using. Then allow the usual rest and rise time.
• On baking day, butter or grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, or a silicone mat. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.
• Divide the ball into thirds, using a dough scraper or knife. Roll the balls between your hands (or on a board), stretching, to form each into a long, thin rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. Braid the ropes, starting from the center and working to one end. Turn the loaf over, rotate it, and braid from the center out to the remaining end. This produces a loaf with a more uniform thickness than when braided from end to end.
• Allow the bread to rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1 hour and 20 minutes (or just 40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).
• Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F If you're not using a stone in the oven, 5 minutes is adequate. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the seeds.
• Bake near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time. The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure. Due to the fat in the dough, challah will not form a hard, crackling crust. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Steps:

• Mix warm water, oil and egg together into a stand mixer bowl. Mix, with kneading hook, until blended.
• Add salt, sugar, and yeast and flour ( small amount at a time). Mix with hook until a soft dough is formed. You may need to add a bit more warm water ( or more flour if needed). Check the dough, it should be soft and slightly sticky. It should easily form into a smooth ball. When the right consistency is reached, knead with hook for 6 minutes.
• Take dough ball out and place into oiled bowl-turn it over so that the oil in on all sides. Cover with saran wrap and let rise until doubled ( about 30 minutes or more).
• Punch down dough and divide into thirds. Roll each piece into a strand . Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place all three strands onto sheet and braid. Cover with saran wrap and let rise again until doubled ( about 30 minutes or more). In the mean time preheat oven to 375°F.
• Brush top of braid with beaten egg yolk and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the water, and let the mixture stand until a creamy layer forms on top, about 10 minutes. Stir in honey and salt until dissolved, and add the beaten eggs. Mix in the flour, a cupful at a time, until the dough is sticky. Sprinkle the dough with flour, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
• Form the dough into a compact round shape, and place in an oiled bowl. Turn the dough over several times in the bowl to oil the surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough, and cut it into 3 equal-sized pieces. Working on a floured surface, roll the small dough pieces into ropes about the thickness of your thumb and about 12 inches long. Ropes should be fatter in the middle and thinner at the ends. Pinch 3 ropes together at the top and braid them. Starting with the strand to the right, move it to the left over the middle strand (that strand becomes the new middle strand.) Take the strand farthest to the left, and move it over the new middle strand. Continue braiding, alternating sides each time, until the loaf is braided, and pinch the ends together and fold them underneath for a neat look.
• Place the braided loaf on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and brush the top with beaten egg yolk. (For a softer crust, brush with melted butter instead.)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake the challah in the preheated oven until the top browns to a rich golden color and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it with a spoon, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.