Challah Buns
Fluffy and golden challah buns are super fun to make and delicious! The enriched dough is a gorgeous warm yellow thanks to all the eggs.
Ingredients
- 160 g water lukewarm
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
- 437 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ! Topping
- 1 egg + 1 Tablespoon of water
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment or a large mixing bowl, combine all the warm water, sugar, and yeast. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.
- Add in the remaining dough ingredients and mix on low speed to combine them into a shaggy dough. Turn the mixture to medium speed and knead for around 12 minutes until the dough is smooth and glossy and pulls away cleanly from the side of the bowl.
- If mixing by hand, tip the dough onto a bench and knead by hand for around 12 minutes until it becomes strong and smooth. If you need a break, just let the dough rest for 5 minutes and return to it. Use a slap-and-fold kneading method to bring the dough together. This is when the dough is slapped onto the bench, quickly pulled back up, and folded over itself.
- Once the dough has been kneaded, place it into a round ball in a large oiled bowl. Cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm space until doubled in size. Alternatively, if you give the dough an overnight cold rest, it can now be covered tightly and placed in the fridge to rise slowly overnight.
- Pull the dough from the bowl on a floured work surface. Weight the dough on a kitchen scale, then divide that by 9. Cut the dough into 9 equal pieces using a bench scraper and shape each piece into a little ball.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut a dough ball into two and roll each piece into 25cm (10-inch) long ropes. Once they have been rolled out, dust the ropes with a little bit of flour. This helps keep the knot shapes loose, so when they rise, the definition stays as it rises. Twist the two pieces together to create one long twisted rope.
- Shape the rope into an upside-down 'U,' then cross one end over the other. Now you have a hole at the top and two ends at the bottom. Bring one bottom end of the dough up and place it through the hole.
- Now take the second end and place it through the hole, but this time from underneath. Now you have a knot. (See step-by-step photos of this process in the post.)
- Place the knot on the prepared baking sheet and continue with the rest of the dough pieces.
- Cover the sheet with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let the knots rise at room temperature until puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- When the knots have finished rising, whisk together an egg with a tablespoon of water. Brush the top of the challah knot rolls with egg wash. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the dough.
- Bake the rolls for around 20 minutes until deeply golden brown. If they are browning too fast, you can loosely cover them with a sheet of foil after the first 10 minutes of baking.
- Remove the knots from the oven and let them cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Notes
*The cup sizes given are US-sized. Note that these are smaller than metric. For best results, use kitchen scales.
Nutrition
Calories: 216kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 7gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.004gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 276mgPotassium: 69mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 87IUCalcium: 16mgIron: 3mg
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