These Challah Rolls will fill your mornings with knotted bread rolls perfect for breakfast! Made with all-purpose flour, they are light, fluffy, dairy-free and easier to make than you think.
Making Challah Rolls looks like a lot of work, right? They’re small and braided, it can’t be THAT easy to make these rolls.
They are a bit time-consuming, as every bread made with yeast is, but they’re not hard. The dough comes together beautifully in a bowl and you can use a mixer to do the kneading.
The only thing you’ll have to really put a bit of effort to is the shaping and waiting parts.
And shaping isn’t even difficult! Know how to make a knot? That’s it. I’ll show it to you step by step in the photos below - and if you don’t get it by the photos, check out my Challah Rolls video in this post!
Ready to make rich and fluffy rolls?
What’s a Challah?
Challah is a type of yeast bread very similar to a brioche, but with no dairy on it. Before baking, the dough is brushed with egg yolk and topped with sesame seeds.
The bread is still enriched with eggs, but a challah asks for oil in place of butter. Challah is associated with religious traditions, but besides that, this one ingredient substitution is what differentiate the two breads. While brioche has a good amount of dairy, a challah will have only oil added to the dough.
The taste is too very similar to a brioche, texture is rich and spongy. Challah rolls are dreamy light, fluffy and slightly sweet.
How to Make Them
Let’s go through every step together for foolproof challah rolls.
- Make the dough. Start by mixing water and oil in a medium bowl. Add dry ingredients in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add eggs, water and oil mixture, and mix until dough is formed.
- Knead dough. Using a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes on medium-low speed. If kneading by hand, do it for 10 to 15 minutes. The final dough should have a consistent windowpane, and should stick just a little to the bottom of the bowl. This dough should not be sticky.
- First rise. Place dough into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let it rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours, or until it doubles. Don’t forget to leave dough resting in a warm spot of your kitchen. If your oven has a proofing function, use it.
- Divide dough. Deflate dough. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, divide dough in 12 evenly pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Shape dough. Only flour the surface you’ll be working on if needed - as you can see in the video below, this dough won’t stick. Work in one piece at a time. Using your hands, roll dough open in a long rope (5a). Twist it around and tie it (5b). Before placing on the lined sheet, tuck the ends underneath the roll. Repeat with each piece, until all the rolls are braided (5c).
- Second rise. Cover loose with plastic wrap and let shaped rolls rise for another 40 minutes, or until they almost double, look puffy and feel light.
- Bake rolls. Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake rolls for 15 minutes, or until they’re golden on top. Let them cool on a cooling rack if you have one. Wait at least 10 minutes to serve.
Tips For Perfect Challah Rolls
- Don’t forget to pinch the ends of the knotted dough under itself. Doing that prevents the shaped challah rolls from unraveling while baking.
- You can leave the dough rising overnight. For that, after the first rise, when the dough has doubled, store it inside your fridge covered with plastic wrap. The next morning, leave dough at room temperature for 1 hour and then resume shaping.
- Make sure to divide the dough into evenly sized portions, so they all bake evenly.
- You can make them pull-apart challah rolls: place the shaped rolls into a lined baking dish close to one another, so they touch each other after the second rise/baking.
- Keep the all-purpose flour. Don’t mind trying this recipe with bread flour: I did it with both and didn’t really see much difference using it. These rolls are even fluffier when using AP flour.
Measuring Correctly Dry Ingredients
A kitchen scale is the best investment you can make if you bake often. When baking, weigh your dry ingredients whenever possible. Although I provide cup measurements, you’ll achieve a better result when adding precise ingredient amounts.
Learn to measure correctly if using cup measurements. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use a spoon to add the flour to the measuring cup until it reaches the top. Then, level off the top with a knife.
Add more flour if dough is sticking to your hands. This dough should feel tacky, but shouldn’t stick to your hands. If it is after kneading, add ¼ cup more of flour and knead until it incorporates.
Serving Suggestions
Here are my favorite ways to have these delicious rolls
- Spread honey or jam for a delicious sweet breakfast;
- Turn it into french toast: slice your challah rolls and make mini french toast for the days you need an indulgent treat;
- Make a sandwich: slice it open and add your favorite fillings.
Storing and Freezing
After cooled, store your challah rolls in a break keeper or any airtight container. They’re good for 3 to 5 days. Don’t store inside your fridge.
Challah rolls freeze well, so feel free to double the recipe and have always a delicious fresh bread minutes away! For freezing, I recommend only doing it with baked rolls: do not freeze unbaked dough. It keeps well from up to 3 months.
To unfreeze, preheat oven to 350°F and bake frozen rolls for 5 to 8 minutes.
Looking for more bread recipes? Give those rolls a try:
Whole Wheat Rolls
Brazilian Sandwich Bread
Cheese Bread
Challah Rolls
These Challah Rolls will fill your mornings with knotted bread rolls perfect for breakfast! Made with all-purpose flour, they are light, fluffy, dairy-free and easier to make than you think.
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (500g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon instant yeast (7g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt (7g)
- ¼ cup sugar (50g)
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup water (177g)
- ¼ cup oil (40g)
- 1 egg yolk for egg wash
- sesame seeds for topping
Instructions
- Start by mixing water and oil in a medium bowl. Add dry ingredients in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add eggs, water and oil mixture, and mix until dough is formed.
- Using a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes on medium-low speed. If kneading by hand, do it for 10 to 15 minutes. The final dough should have a consistent windowpane, and should stick just a little to the bottom of the bowl. This dough should not be sticky.
- Place dough into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let it rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours, or until it doubles. Don’t forget to leave dough resting in a warm spot of your kitchen. If your oven has a proofing function, use it.
- Deflate dough. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, divide dough in 12 evenly pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Using your hands, roll dough open in a long rope. Twist it around and tie it. Before placing on the lined sheet, tuck the ends underneath the roll. Repeat with each piece, until all the rolls are braided.
- Cover loose with plastic wrap and let shaped rolls rise for another 40 minutes, or until they almost double, look puffy and feel light.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Brush challah rolls with the egg yolk and top with sesame seeds.
- Bake rolls for 15 minutes, or until they’re golden on top. Let them cool on a cooling rack if you have one. Wait 10 minutes to serve.
Notes
Add more flour if dough is sticking to your hands. This dough should feel tacky, but shouldn’t stick to your hands. If it is after kneading, add ¼ cup more of flour and knead until it incorporates.
Don’t forget to pinch the ends of the knotted dough under itself. Doing that prevents the shaped challah rolls from unraveling while baking.
You can leave the dough rising overnight. For that, after the first rise, when the dough has doubled, store it inside your fridge covered with plastic wrap. The next morning, leave dough at room temperature for 1 hour and then resume shaping.
You can make them pull-apart challah rolls: place the shaped rolls into a lined baking dish close to one another, so they touch each other after the second rise/baking.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 76Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 31mgSodium 303mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 4gProtein 1g
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and/or brands used.
Lisa
Just a quick question...the dough doesn't go into an oiled bowl to rise? I don't want to end up with dough glued to the inside of the bowl. Thanks so much, from an old lady who bakes a LOT of bread.
Milk and Pop
Hi Lisa! The dough is more on the dry side, so I never did for this recipe. But I don't see any problem doing so, so you can oil the bowl if you feel more comfortable with it!
Happy baking 🙂
S
Hi do you activate the years with water first?
Milk and Pop
Is using instant dry yeast, you can skip activation with water 😉
Nene
How cute are these challahs, I've already made the first rise, now they're resting in the fridge until tomorrow, I'm so excited for tomorrow.... thank you so much for the recipe
Milk and Pop
Hope you like it, Nene!
Happy baking 😉
Carol
Hi. Why my dough did not rise like it suppose to be. I check the yeast which active dry check the date which still good. I let is rise for 2 hours still hasn’t rise. What did I do wrong.
Milk and Pop
Hi Carol!
Here are a few things that might have caused the dough not to rise:
- To little kneading,
- Using hot water or any hot liquid (it kills the yeast),
- Yeast opened for more than 6 months and stored outside the fridge,
- Leaving the dough to rise in a cold spot.
Have you done any of these? During winter, it may take longer for dough to rise. I've done this recipe over 10 times and never had any problem with the rising part. If you still do, feel free to msg me and we can go through this recipe together.
Cheers!
Marsha
So i decided to make the dough into 2 full challot. Temp adjustment, or keep it that high? My gut says somewhat lower. Ill do my educated guess from my other recipes, figuring I don't hear back in time! 😄
Milk and Pop
Hi Marsha!
Your gut is right! I would bake on 350°F for 30-35 minutes if baking a loaf with this recipe. It should be golden brown, and if you're using a thermometer, challah bread should register 190°F in the middle.
Marsha
Whoa! Such a fast reply! Second rise almost done. Thanks so much, glad I refreshed the page! This is a great dough, btw, i made it once before as rolls and they were perfect! Shabbat shalom if you celebrate!
Bobby
These rolls look delicious.
It appears to me there is one step missing in this recipe.
How do these rolls have the shine and color they do without eggwash?
Please xplain.
Thank you
Milk and Pop
Hi Bobby,
Thank you so much for pointing that out, the egg wash is shown in the video, but I forgot completely to add this step in the recipe card!
Happy Holidays!