Challah Rolls (Step by Step + Video)

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. 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