Garlic Challah Knots are a delightful variation of the traditional Jewish Challah bread, usually served as braided loaves. These knots are smaller portions of the soft and slightly sweet bread.
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Ingredients Overview
*The full recipe is in the recipe card below!
Before you start baking using this Challah Recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
All-purpose flour: I use all-purpose flour, but you could use bread flour or a combination of bread and all-purpose. Remember that bread flour has a higher protein content and will give your bread more structure. I strongly recommend sifting the flour, resulting in a more delicate dough with a more significant volume.
Water: It’s best to use water between 100°F and 110°F (38°C- 43°C); it helps to activate the yeast. Don’t overthink the water temperature if you don’t have a thermometer. You want the water warm. Not hot. Not cold. Not freezing. Just warm. The proportion of water in bread dough corresponds to how hydrated, or wet, it is.
Yeast (active dry yeast): Active dry yeast needs to be bloomed in liquid before being used to make dough. However, it is not necessary to bloom newly purchased yeast. Instead, they can be added directly to the dry ingredients.
Oil: Canola, vegetable, or Avocado oil can also work here.
Basil and garlic: Fresh or frozen cubes (like Dorot). When basil and garlic are combined, they complement each other beautifully.
How to Make Garlic Challah Knots?
- Make the dough: This dough is soft and a little sticky.
- Let the dough rise: Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-3 hours or until it doubles in size.
- Divide dough into 7-8 pieces.
- Roll each strip into an 8-inch rope (just eyeball it– it doesn’t need to be perfect!) Tie each into a knot and then let it rise again.
- Bake and brush with olive oil, garlic, and basil.
Pro-Tips
- Weigh all your ingredients and get everything in order so you can follow the recipe exactly.
- Mixing the dough: Scrap the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Water: Because each flour is different, stored differently, and has different absorption capacities, the amount of liquid will almost always change. Even if you always use the same flour, it may be that the flour will absorb more liquid on different days. So, start with half a cup of water and add as needed gradually. The dough should be very soft but not sticky. Dough lacking in liquid will be stiffer and less comfortable to work with.
FAQs
Allow the knots to cool completely before storing them. Challah is always best when eaten within the same day of baking. Place the knots in a sealed plastic bag for up to 3 days.
Challah freezes beautifully. If you are going to freeze your knots, do so on the first day when it is fresh.
Place the knots in a large resealable freezer bag. Press out as much air as possible and stow it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To defrost, leave the knots out at room temperature. When they have thawed, remove the plastic bag and rewrap it in foil. If you like your bread warm, pop it into the oven at 350°F/180°C for 10-15 minutes.
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Garlic Challah Knots
Description
Equipment
- A standing mixer fitted with a dough hook highly recommended
- Food scale highly recommended
- Instant read food thermometer optional
Ingredients
For the knots:
- 3 and 1/2 cups (500g) all-purpose flour , sifted plus a little more for dusting
- 1 Tablespoon (10g) active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup (60ml) canola oil plus a little more for greasing
- 2 Tablespoons (20g) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 cups (300-360ml) lukewarm water you want the water warm. Not hot. Not cold. Not freezing. Just warm.
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
Topping:
- 1 egg mixed with a tablespoon of water
- a handful of sesame seeds optional
- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced or two frozen crushed garlic cubes thawed
- 2 Tablespoons basil finely chopped or 2-3 frozen basil cubes thawed
Instructions
- Put flour and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand) and mix/stir for one minute.
- Add oil and sugar and mix for about one minute.
- Slowly add water and mix to form the dough .*Because each flour is different, stored differently, and has different absorption capacities, the amount of liquid will almost always change. Even if you always use the same flour, it may be that on different days, the flour will absorb more liquid than before. So, start with half a cup of water and gradually add enough until the dough is soft but not sticky.
- Add the salt and knead for 8-12 minutes (It helps the gluten form and the dough to be elastic with better structure). Scrap the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. You should have a smooth ball of dough.
- Grease the dough with a little bit of oil, cover with a kitchen towel or loosely with saran wrap and let the dough rise until doubled (place the bowl somewhere warm).
- Separate the dough into 7-8 equal pieces (about 3.5oz/100g each).
- Roll each piece of dough into a long rope.
- Tie each rope into a knot. You can tuck the two ends of the knots underneath or leave them out. Arrange the knots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Lightly cover the knots and let them rest for 25-30 minutes. They will slightly puff up during this time.
- Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Brush the knots with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds.
- Slide the knots on the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Make the topping:
- Stir the olive oil, basil, and garlic together.
- Brush warm knots with the topping. Cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Place the knots in a large resealable freezer bag. Press out as much air as possible and stow it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
6 comments
great recipe
My kids loved it. I added onion powder to the olive oil
Great idea!
Made it last night! Great recipe
yay
The dough came out a little dry but the rolls where great