Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (2024)

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (1)

Community Recipes is a recurring feature where I ask a community member to share a vegan recipe with us. This week I’m featuring Joan Laguatan and her vegan challah recipe.

Community Recipes is a recurring feature where we share your vegan recipes. If you want to share a recipe in this series,pitch us your idea here.

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (2)

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About Joan

Joan is a Filipina-Jewish vegan mom and real estate broker. She was born in the Philippines and grew up and lives in San Francisco. She became vegan eight years ago after watching the documentary “Earthlings” and learning more about the realities of factory farming. She and her husband, Devin Benjamin had a vegan wedding in 2011 (you can read theirdelicious vegan wedding menu here).

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (3)

Challah is a central Jewish Food

Challah is a central Jewish food as it is served every Shabbat and on most holidays. The bread is visually beautiful and it smells delicious. The classic recipe includes flour, eggs, sugar/honey and oil. The traditional recipe is a very rich food and heavy on our stomachs. If you are serving it out of obligation, here is some food for thought.

Joan Favorite Shabbat Recipe is Challah

Her favorite food to make for Shabbat is challah so she created a soft, fluffy and delicious vegan challah recipe. One time her family hosted a blind taste test with a group of friends. The taste test compared her vegan eggless challah to one with eggs and everyone preferred her vegan challah.

Every Shabbat, she normally makes two, four-strand braided challah loaves. She learned how to make a for strand challah by watching this easy to follow youtube tutorial by NY Bakers.

Leftover Challah for breakfast and a vegan snack

On Sunday morning her husband uses the leftovers to make decadent cinnamon Challah french toast breakfasts for their children. Leftovers from breakfast can be eaten as a favorite vegan snack food!

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (4)

Tools you need to make this Challah

For this recipe, Joan uses the following toolsunbleached all purpose flour;

organic canola oil;

this ultrafine baker’s sugar;

good kosher salt

a dough scraper;

a silpat silicone mat for even baking.

This unbleached all purpose flour is certified 100 percent organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI) and approved organic by the USDA and it is never bleached and never bromated.

This ultrafine baker sugar is a key ingredient to get the desired texture of the Challah. Ultrafine baker sugar is made especially for baking so it mixes, blends and melts more evenly.

Silicone baking mat will help your Challah cook evenly and also it means that you do not need to grease up your baking sheet.

Kosher salt is always necessary in the kitchen. This special kosher salt is lovely tasting and really adds a new taste dimension to Challah.

Jewish Food Hero Kitchen Vegan Challah Recipe Cards

Download a beautiful printable Vegan challah recipe card – the recipe is oil free and has two surprising and top secret ingredients.

More resources for plant-based Shabbat recipes

This plant-based squash dip would be a delicious spread to serve with Joan’s Challah.

This dairy-free tapioca pudding is a delicious Shabbat dessert and kosher-for-Passover dessert.

This plant-based honey cake also makes a good Shabbat dessert especially during the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This recipe is oil-free and lighter than traditional Jewish honey cakes. This recipe can also be used to make cute honey muffins. Add fresh lemon juice to the recipe to add an extra zing.

If you are looking to make a plant-based Shabbat meal, here are 17 plant based recipes to choose from.

Want to add a nourishing grain bowl as your Shabbat main dish, try Esther’s nourishing grain bowl recipe.

Joan’s Recipe is featured in a published cookbook

Joan’s recipe is published in the Feeding Women of the Bible, Feeding Ourselves Cookbook.

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (5)

Feeding Women of the Bible, Feeding Ourselvescookbook features a short compelling narrative of 20 female biblical heroines from the Hebrew bible, paired with two healthy plant-based kosher pareve recipes inspired by the character’s experience.

This is a community cookbook by Jewish Food Hero and is the co-creation of 40 Jewish women. The twenty biblical narratives are contributed by Rabbis, Rabbinical students, Jewish teachers and emerging thought leaders. The forty-one plant-based recipes were developed by professional chefs, homecooks who are elementary school students, and great-grandmothers.

The NEW Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (6)

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Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (7)

Joan’s Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe

  • Author: Joan Laguatan
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

Makes 2 large loaves

  • 8 cups unbleached all purpose flour (use last cup towards kneading dough and lightly flouring surface)
  • 3/4 cup organic canola oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 cups ultrafine baker’s sugar
  • 2.5 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 3 packets yeast
  • Sweet soy milk or agave nectar mixed with almond milk

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, combine sugar, water, yeast, and oil. Stir and allow yeast to work and bubble for 10 minutes.
  • Add the salt and 7 cups (900 g) of flour. Stir well and transfer the mixture onto a clean, lightly floured surface.
  • Knead the dough for 10 minutes, gradually adding from the remaining flour, only as needed, to make the dough less sticky.
  • Lightly grease a deep bowl and place the dough in the bowl, turning it gently so all sides are nicely greased – this prevents the dough from forming a crust. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth.
  • Allow to rise for about two hours or until the dough doubles in volume.
  • Punch down the dough and allow it to rise for a second time, about another hour.
  • Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal parts and form into large strands. Braid the three strands together. Divide the braid into 2 loaves.
  • Preheat your oven to 350F (180C) degrees.
  • Allow the braided challah to rise for another 20-30 minutes before transferring into the preheated oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take the challah out of the oven and baste with sweet soy milk, then place back in the oven for another 10 minutes, or until golden-brown.
  • Let the challah cool completely before slicing and serving.

Thank you Joan for sharing your vegan recipe with the Jewish Food Hero community!

If you are looking for a Vegan Oil-free Challah Recipes —> this is Absolutely the Best Vegan Challah Recipe (+ Two Surprising Ingredients) and it came about by accident one morning at 5am when I ran out of one ingredient and had to resort to another.

Absolutely the Best Vegan Challah Recipe (+ Two Surprising Ingredients)

Your turn: Want to share a healthy vegan recipe with the Jewish Food Hero community? Send your recipe submissions to hello@jewishfoodhero.com

Joan's Soft, Fluffy and Delicious Vegan Challah Recipe • Jewish Food Hero (2024)

FAQs

Why is my challah not fluffy? ›

If your challahs are risen out instead of up, it's likely that your dough is too soft or too wet. Add another 1/2 – 1 cup of flour to it next time and see if that solves your problem. Or put in just a little less water than the recipe calls for.

Why is challah so soft? ›

It's important to know that challah is what you call an enriched dough. Enriched doughs have a higher fat and sugar content, resulting in a soft and tender crumb (interior). The enriching components in this dough are melted butter, whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar.

Why is challah kosher? ›

Unlike other enriched breads, a truly kosher challah is made without dairy or meat derivatives, relying on vegetable oils for fat and a contested number of eggs—which are considered pareve, or neither dairy nor meat, in the kosher laws known as kashrut.

What is the trick to fluffy bread? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What is the best flour to use for challah? ›

Myrna's original recipe calls for all-purpose flour, and you can substitute that here. But I find bread flour gives the challah a nice chew without making it tough, and also helps the braided loaf maintain its shape after baking. For some novice challah makers, that braid can seem like the hardest part.

What oil is best for challah? ›

Oil: Vegetable oil, generally used in making challah, is fine—and produces neutral-tasting bread. I prefer olive oil and love the slightly herbal note it imparts to my bread. If using raisins: Make sure the raisins are plump and not desiccated, if using.

Why does my challah taste yeasty? ›

If the area is too warm, bread will rise too fast and begin cooking before the yeast has finished acting. This will impart a "yeasty" taste to the dough that will be transferred to the finished baked loaf. Using old ingredients (rancid nuts, "old" shortening) will cause yeast breads to taste old or have an "off" taste.

What is the best temperature to bake challah? ›

The best baking temperature for *most* challahs is about 190°C / 365-375°F.

What does challah mean in Hebrew? ›

Name and origins

The term challah in Biblical Hebrew meant a kind of loaf or cake.

Can you eat challah bread anytime? ›

Can you eat challah bread anytime? While challah is on the table for every Shabbat and holiday meal, it can be eaten any other time as well.

What does challah back girl mean? ›

Challah Back Girls™ partners with, amplifies, and uplifts organizations leading racial equity work by connecting people to the Jewish ritual of challah—a traditionally braided bread. Through sharing this Jewish tradition, we provide an educational opportunity for healing and transforming social and racial injustice.

Why do Jews dip challah in salt? ›

Shulchan Aruch (OC 167: 5) writes that one should not recite Hamotzi until condiments or salt are brought to the table, so the challah can be dipped right after hamotzi. Mishnah Berurah (167:27) explains that dipping in salt or condiments makes the first bite tasty and adds honor to the beracha.

Why do Jews eat challah on Friday? ›

The term “challah” is applied more widely to mean any bread used in Jewish rituals. On the eve of Shabbat, two loaves are placed on the table to reference the Jewish teaching that a double portion of manna fell from heaven on Friday to last through the Saturday Shabbat.

Can you eat challah on Shabbat? ›

Pronounced: KHAH-luh, Origin: Hebrew, ceremonial bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. appears more similar than different — golden, shiny, braided and perhaps dusted with poppy or sesame seeds. Sephardic loaves, on the other hand, take on different flavors, shapes and textures.

How can I make my bread fluffier instead of dense? ›

If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread. Vinegar has a very similar effect to the dough as the ascorbic acid. It helps hold the dough together and strengthens the bubbles so they won't pop.

Why is my bread dense instead of fluffy? ›

A “tight crumb” aka small holes in the interior of your bread can be the result of different factors: under-fermenting, over-fermenting, and a lack of gluten development. The most confounding part of sourdough bread baking is that the rise times of recipes are just a suggestion or range.

Why is my bread not fluffy and soft? ›

Over-kneading the dough can lead to a tight gluten structure and result in a dense texture. Using too much flour or not enough yeast can also affect the rise of the bread. Additionally, insufficient proofing time or improper shaping can contribute to a heavy loaf.

Why is my bread not fluffy enough? ›

One of the most common reasons for dense bread is over or under-kneaded dough. Kneading your dough directly affects gas production, as it increases the rate that fermentation occurs. Without kneading, bread dough will take much longer to ferment fully.

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