While lots of breads are braided, the hallmark of a challah dough is its lack of dairy products. Challah is enriched with egg, olive oil, and honey—no milk or butter in sight. As the traditional bread of weekly Jewish Shabbat dinners, it’s important that challah be dairy-free so that it can be eaten with meat products (part of keeping kosher is not mixing meat and milk).
This mini challah is perfect for tearing and sharing at a small Shabbat dinner, but it’s also great for making grilled cheese sandwiches and French toast!
Reprinted with permission from Small-Batch Breads by Rebecca Eisenberg, copyright © 2026. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Linda Campos
Watch how to make this mini challah here:
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Mini Four-Strand Round Challah
Perfect for an intimate Rosh Hashanah or Shabbat dinner, all you need is one cup of flour for this loaf.
- Total Time: 4 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 small loaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) bread flour (more for dusting)
- 1 teaspoon (3g) instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons, 2 teaspoons (50g) warm water (90°F) (see note)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons (10g) olive oil
- scant 1 teaspoon (6g) honey
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- Cooking spray
Egg wash:
- 1 large egg white, beaten well
Instructions
- Mix. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the warm water, olive oil, honey, and egg yolk. Use a dough whisk or a fork to mix until the mixture is crumbly, then use a bowl scraper or your hand to fold the dough over itself until patchy and dry but combined. It’s okay if there’s some loose flour in the bowl.
- Knead. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and slightly tacky to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly dust with more flour only as needed to prevent sticking.
- First rise. Shape the dough into a ball and return to the bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until it passes the Fingerprint Test (page 20), 1 to 2 hours (it may not truly double in size).
- Preshape. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions using a bench scraper (each piece should weigh about 52 grams). On an unfloured clean surface, gently flatten each piece into a long rectangular shape. Starting with a long side, roll the dough into a log, pressing with your fingertips each time you roll it forward to seal the log shut.
- Shape. Roll each log into a tapered rope about 10 inches long (try to keep the “seam” of the dough against the counter so it seals shut). If the ropes resist being rolled long enough, cover them loosely with a damp paper towel and let them rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then resume rolling. Follow the instructions in photos 1 through 4 to shape a round braided loaf.
- Second rise. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the challah on the prepared pan, spray the top lightly with cooking spray, cover it loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise until it’s doubled in size and looks quite puffy, 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat. During the final 30 minutes of rise time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake. Lightly brush the egg wash all over the challah. Bake until golden brown and shiny on top, 17 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Notes
- Eagle-eyed readers will note that according to the conversion chart on page 27 50g water should technically be 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon by volume. In my testing I found that, if you’re making this recipe using volume measurements, the extra-thirsty bread flour really does need an extra teaspoon of water.
- Challah, like other enriched doughs, is super versatile when it comes to shaping—you can get creative with braids, twists, loaves, buns, etc.
- Prep Time: 2-4 hours
- Cook Time: 17-20 minutes
- Category: Challah
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Holiday
Liquids are not measured in ounces or grammes or any other weight measurements. They’re measured in millilitres.
Thank you for sharing the tiny challah. Not Jewish but an ally. Even in food š¤