Saffron and Honey Challah with Sesame Seeds

Browse » Home » Nuts and Seeds » Saffron and Honey Challah with Sesame Seeds

Saffron and Honey Challah with Sesame Seeds

Labels: { Bread, Herbs and Spices, Honey, Nuts and Seeds }

The dough is enriched with eggs and oil, while a little honey add a unique sweetness to this traditional Jewish Sabbath bread. A little saffron goes a long way to give this challah bread a yellow hue. Don’t have saffron? You can still make this recipe! Simply leave the saffron out or try adding whatever spices or seasoning you have on hand.

240 ml Lukewarm water
2 tsp Active dry yeast
470 g All-purpose flour
30 g Sesame seeds, lightly toasted
50 g Honey
1 tsp Sea salt
0.1 g Saffron powder
3 Large eggs
60 ml Sunflower seed oil (or melted butter)
2 tbsp Sesame seeds, for topping
1 tbsp Vanilla sugar, for topping

Dissolve the yeast in half of the water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until frothy. In a small bowl, mix the saffron with the remaining warm water.
Place the flour, sesame seeds, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, oil, saffron water and yeast mixture. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes until a dough forms. Increase the speed and knead until the dough is soft and smooth.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece of dough into a long rope about 22 inches in length.
Braid the ropes together like braiding hair, squeeze the ends of the ropes together and tuck them under the loaf. Coil the dough into a round and tuck the end under the round. You can also pull the ends toward each other to create a circle.
Place the challah on a baking try lined with parchment paper. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until puffed, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Whisk the reserved egg white and brush it all over the challah. Sprinkle sesame seeds over and top with vanilla sugar.
Bake the challah 30 to 35 minutes until nicely golden. Cool the challah on a cooling rack until just barely warm. Slice and enjoy.

49 comments:

Christine 27/10/21 01:40: Looks so delicious!
Raymund 27/10/21 01:46: Such and intricate braiding process. Nice bread
Brian's Home Blog 27/10/21 01:50: That's stunning and I'm sure it's delicious too.
babYpose 27/10/21 02:04: Beautiful braiding, saffron is high end herbs, looks so delicious.
J.P. Alexander 27/10/21 03:45: Parece un rico pan. Gracias por la receta. Te mando un beso
gluten Free A_Z Blog 27/10/21 04:22: What a stunning bread and I can only imagine how good it tastes with the honey and vanilla sugar- sounds delicious.
gluten Free A_Z Blog 27/10/21 04:23: Had to come back to say that I got a good chuckle out of your Julia quote.
Margaret D 27/10/21 05:52: That looks good.
Nammi 27/10/21 07:22: it looks so pretty. you know it was just recently I learnt the real pronunciation of this bread, all this time I have been saying it wrong it seems.
Grace 27/10/21 07:41: Thanks Angie !!
I make bread frequently.
The one you propose today is clearly an inescapable motivation.
Good appetite with a delicate tea.
Hug.
Lola Martínez 27/10/21 07:44: He probado una versión muy parecida a este bollo y está buenísimo.
Bss
DEZMOND 27/10/21 09:29: Looks lovely and soft and heavenly, too bad it is not savoury! It is interesting that Americans don't have vanilla sugar, I always have to send it to my sister in Indiana.
Nancy Chan 27/10/21 10:10: The bread looks beautiful and I am sure it taste great. You make such beautiful breads.
Veronica Lee 27/10/21 10:30: The braiding is beautiful!

And it looks so delish!
Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake 27/10/21 12:29: YUM! I've never made a round challah, but you've inspired me!!! What a gorgeous loaf.
Tom 27/10/21 12:52: ...this looks gorgeous
,
Javier 27/10/21 13:13: I'm sure it's delicious. I love the little honey that you've added to the bread, I think it is a good way to give good flavor to this fantastic bread
My name is Erika. 27/10/21 14:21: This looks amazing. I really need to work on making a bread dough that keeps its shape while baking. Usually my braids pop out of control. Any suggestions? Yours not only looks delicious but you have these fantastic braids. Thanks for sharing this interesting combo. Hugs-Erika
Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake 27/10/21 15:01: Hi, Angie, I wonder if you're not getting notified b/c I'm updating so many old posts? Next new one is Nov 2....so hope you get that one! xo
Angie's Recipes 27/10/21 15:02: @My name is Erika. Erika, try not to braid them too tight.
thepaintedapron.com 27/10/21 15:02: What a beautiful bread Angie, a work of art!
Kitchen Riffs 27/10/21 15:47: Gorgeous dish, great pictures. And terrific recipe. :-) Thanks!
delphine 27/10/21 15:56: Cela doit être un délice
merci
Maria Grazia Ferrarazzo Maineri 27/10/21 16:20: What a beautiful and fragrant bread, Angie!
Absolutely perfect!
Federica Simoni 27/10/21 16:46: Bellissimo pane, complimenti!
Pam 27/10/21 17:52: Beautiful!
Bill 27/10/21 17:53: Looks great!
Martyna 27/10/21 19:10: This have to delicious ;)
Ben | Havocinthekitchen 27/10/21 20:14: This challah looks fantastic - awesome airy and pillowy texture and so wonderfully browned crust. Delicious flavorings, too.
Paolina 27/10/21 20:24: Che bello! Sarà molto molto buono e profumato!
Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine 27/10/21 20:26: What a beautiful and bread, Angie!
Suja Manoj 27/10/21 20:40: Love the braiding, beautiful and flavorful bread.
foodtravelandwine 27/10/21 20:56: What a beautiful and tasty bread!!.....I would love to try it!!....delicious!!......Abrazotes, Marcela
tigerfish 28/10/21 02:01: I was gifted some saffron recently and they are so aromatic and fragrant when I added to rice; and yes, that beautiful golden yellow hue too! (yep, it was my first time dealing with and using saffron). This bread must be exuding such exotic aroma too while making and baking it.
David 28/10/21 02:59: Angie, Beautiful and exotic bread. Saffron and honey as key ingredients for challah bread. Love the idea! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
bread&salt 28/10/21 05:33: I haven't used saffron powder before. I really wonder that how it change the pastry's taste. This one is Very new recipe and looks very rich. Sesame seeds (or tahini) pastries are our favourite. This looks delicious.
Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews 28/10/21 06:20: What a lovely recipe, so many lovely flavours and the finished result looks amazing!

I love saffron, although it isn't a much used spice over here.

It is most famous here as the special ingredient in the traditional Saffron Cake of Cornwall, which I absolutely adore, although it doesn't look anywhere near as good as your bread. I'll pop a link in, just in case you want to take a look at the Saffron Cake...

https://cornishpasties.com/saffron-cake/

Thanks for sharing another lovely recipe! :)
Irma 28/10/21 09:08: This looks delicious.
The braid is beautiful.
Greetings Irma
The Velvet Runway 28/10/21 15:28: This looks so delicious! I bet it tastes amazing!
Julia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
speedy70 28/10/21 15:51: Complimenti, è una meraviglia!!!!!
savorthebest 28/10/21 16:29: This looks delicious. I love challah
kathyinozarks 28/10/21 17:29: Good morning, this looks so delicious. when I was making our breads-I loved to make challah My husband is Jewish so would make it for him especially. I love how this one is twisted in a circle instead of straight
Cooking Julia 28/10/21 21:55: This bread is amazing!!
Lowcarb team member 28/10/21 23:53: Now, doesn't this look nice.
I'm sure all your readers would like a bite :)

All the best Jan
The-FoodTrotter 29/10/21 20:12: OMG that's just marvellous, I love doing brioches and this saffron-challah bread looks simply perfect!
claire 29/10/21 21:56: Great Challah bread! I have been baking Challah often, although I have never done a round Challah, don't know why. This is very popular bread here in Poland and you can buy quite good Challah in every shop. In Poland it is called chałka and I think lots of people even don't know this is Jewish bread for Sabbath. I love to bake mine from clarified butter and fresh yeast.
Also I recently found an Oriental grocery here in Warsaw and they have saffron :-)
Paula Montenegro 2/11/21 00:53: Wow, this is so my type of bread, I want to make it right this second! It looks fantastic Angie!
Choclette 10/11/21 10:32: I've only made challah once before on a bread making course. I never got to try it as I gifted it to a friend. They told me it was really good, but I have to say yours sounds even better. Love a bit of honey in bread.
Abbe@This is How I Cook 10/11/21 20:46: This is one gorgeous challah and I love the vanilla sugar that you sprinkled on top! Oh my!