Kevin’s challah rolls
Kevin has kindly written up his recipe due to popular demand.
The recipe he used was based on this one for Turkish simit – a street bread which looks like a twisted bagel. He says the recipe “produces a wonderful crust because of the sesame and fruit molasses.” Although the traditional recipe refers to grape molasses, it also works really well with date molasses – also known as silan (if you can, get one without added sugar as it’s much better; some brands do both so keep an eye out for which you’re buying).
Although traditionally challah is made with “enriched dough” (with addition of eggs and oil), this vegan recipe is simply flour, yeast, salt and water (and a tiny bit of sugar to get the yeast going – not essential) and has a lovely crust and a tearable inside.
Ingredients
Instructions
Option 1
- knead for 7 minutes
Option 2
- leave for 10 minutes in the bowl
- push down the mix into a ball, and then “stretch and fold 12 times around the clock”. This means gently pulling at the side of the ball to stretch it, then folding it back on top, and then working around the ball
- leave for 10 minutes
- repeat stretch and fold
- leave for 10minutes
- repeat stretch and fold
Option 3
- a hybrid … I tend to leave this dough for 10 minutes and then work it for 2-3 minutes
Leave for 5 minutes.
Squash down each ball into an oval. Use a sharp knife or a dough blade to divide each oval into three strands (I tend to leave one end connected so it looks a bit like a W). Then plait and close off the ends.
