Today’s the day. The bread that’s been on celebration tables for thousands of years is going into our ovens, and this is the thread where it all happens. Here’s how it works. As you mix, shape, braid, wash, and bake, post your photos and your questions right here. I’ll be in the kitchen with you all day. Ask anything. Show me your dough fighting you. Show me your first braid. Show me the rope that didn’t quite cooperate. The information is in the dough, and the answers are in this thread. 🥖 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah One dough, your choice of shape: 🪢 Three-strand braid: Most approachable. If this is your first challah, this is your braid. 🌾 Six-strand braid: Classic Shabbat shape. We walked through it this week. Take your time. ⭕ Round: Traditional for celebration. Beautiful at any table. A few last reminders before you mix: This dough is enriched, so it proofs fast. Don’t walk away thinking you’ve got two hours. You might have one. Start checking at 45 minutes. Cold dough fights you. If yours came out of an overnight retard, give it 60 to 90 minutes on the counter before you braid. Egg yolk on the bare rope for that deep mahogany shine. Pinch of Maldon salt if you’ve got it. Keep your aluminum foil ready. Enriched dough browns fast and the top will get there before the inside does. Tent it the second the color’s where you want it. Basil-style rule applies to add-ins too. Raisins go in the dough. Seeds and salt go on top. Hold the egg wash for last, right before the oven. Drop your tracks below. Three-strand, six-strand, or round. Show me your starting dough, your ropes, your braid, your egg-washed loaf, your oven shot, and the moment she comes out. I want pictures all day long. The wins, the wobbles, the absolute disasters. The mistakes are where the learning lives. And if you’re new in here, this is the room. Pull up a chair. We bake together.

Look at this braid. Three alternating ropes, black sesame, white sesame, and one plain. Beautiful as it is, that bare rope needs a little help to keep up with its sesame-coated neighbors in the oven. So I’m gonna paint just the solid rope with a straight egg yolk, no water, no white. Pure yolk for that deep mahogany shine. Maybe a pinch of Maldon salt on top because the richness can carry it. Heads up. Because this dough is so enriched, with two eggs, an extra yolk, oil, and honey, it browns FAST. Have your aluminum foil ready and your foot near the oven. If the top is getting too dark before the inside finishes, lay a piece of foil loosely over the top to slow the browning while the interior catches up. ❓And here’s a question for the group while I bake: 🤨 When you tent challah with foil, which side faces up? Shiny side or dull side? Does it matter, or is it baking folklore? Leave your answers in the comments. I wanna see what y’all think before I tell you what I do. Henry ⭐🔥

After pizza week we're shifting gears. This week we're baking challah, the braided bread that's been on celebration tables for thousands of years. It's the bread of Shabbat. The bread of welcome. The bread of homecoming. I've got a personal reason for putting this one on the schedule, and I'll tell you the whole story this week. For now, here's the lay of the week. 🥖 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲: Three-strand braid: The most approachable shape, and the one most home bakers start with. If this is your first challah, this is your braid. Six-strand braid: The classic Shabbat shape, more involved but absolutely doable. We'll walk through it Friday step by step. Round: The shape used for Rosh Hashanah and celebration. Symbolizes the cycle of the year and the unbroken thread of family. Beautiful at any table. 🌱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Top with sesame, poppy, or everything seeds. Add raisins to the dough if that's your tradition. The only line we hold is no butter or dairy in the dough itself. Challah is meant to be shared at any table, and that's the rule that protects it. 📚 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸: The dough, what makes it different from any other enriched bread. The Herr Sherman story, and why this bread shaped how I teach. Braid breakdowns, three-strand and six-strand, with the round as an alternative. Egg wash, seeds, and getting that deep mahogany shine. The tradition behind the bread, taught with respect, not religion. 🥖 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah This is one dough, one teaching, and a room full of different shapes coming out of different ovens on Saturday. Pull out your eggs, your flour, your honey, and bake with us. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥 Special Round Challah — Yeasted https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah Special Round Challah — Sourdough https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/special-round-challah?variant=sourdough

Almost every recipe I've ever written leaves something out. Not on purpose. I just can't put experience into a list of ingredients and steps. @Leigh Skowronski said something in the Bake-Along thread yesterday that I keep thinking about. She made the same pizza last week with a different recipe and it was dismal. She made it yesterday and she was proud of it. The difference wasn't the recipe. It was knowing what to look for. Here's the thing that's hard to write into a recipe: how the dough feels when it's ready. Not how long it's been sitting, not what the clock says. How it actually feels. Soft but not slack. Alive without being out of control. Dome without being exhausted. That sense takes time to develop and it develops faster when you bake next to people who already have it. That's the whole point of this kitchen. What's the one thing you've learned here that you couldn't have gotten from a recipe? Drop it below.

Today's the day. Three pizzas going across our kitchen, every skill level represented, and this is the thread where it all happens. Here's how it works. As you mix, stretch, top, and bake, post your photos and your questions right here in this thread. I'll be in the kitchen with you all day. Ask anything. Show me your dough fighting you. Show me your beautiful disaster. Show me your kid's dinosaur-shaped pizza. The information is in the dough, and the answers are in this thread. 🗽 New York Style | https://skoo.ly/ny-style-pizza Beginner-friendly, foldable, bakes in a regular home oven. The classic. 🔥 Sourdough Neapolitan | https://skoo.ly/sd-neapolitan The stretch track. Blistered crust, Vitale doing the work, three days of patience paying off. 👧 Kids Can Bake Personal Pan | https://skoo.ly/kids-pan-pizza One dough ball, one little baker. Bring a kid to the counter. Quick reminders before you launch: Crank your oven to max with the stone or steel inside for a full 45 minutes. No stone? Inverted heavy sheet pan works great, or grandma-style in a metal pan on the bottom rack. Sauce light. Cheese moderate. Toppings spread out, not piled. Paint the bare rim with olive oil and a pinch of flaky salt before launching. Three seconds, big payoff. Hold the basil until after the bake. Burns to a brown spot if it goes in raw. Let it rest two minutes before slicing. Drop your tracks below. Tell me which one you're baking and show me your dough. I want pictures all day long. The crust, the crumb, the char, the chaos. The mistakes too, those are where the learning lives. Let's bake. Henry ⭐🔥