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For many of you, this post will seem like a total “no-brainer”. You’ve been making your challah ahead and freezing it for years. What’s the big deal?
But for those you, like me, that could never quite figure out how to freeze your challah dough, this post may just be your favorite one ever.
Thanks in large measure to some helpful advice from readers over on the KOAB Facebook wall, I have finally mastered the art of making & freezing challah!
It’s so simple (now that I know how to do it), and it saves a ton of time and money. Make up a big batch of challah dough, freeze the braids, then pull them out whenever you need a fresh challah, but don’t have time to fuss with the dough. (Uh, every Friday night.)
How to Make & Freeze Ahead Challah
Step 1: Make up your regular challah dough recipe – by hand, with a KitchenAid or in the breadmaker. (This is our breadmaker challah recipe, which I have converted to using in our KitchenAid, since our breadmaker went kaput.)
Step 2: Let the dough rise as usual (approximately one hour, until doubled in size).
Step 3: Braid or otherwise turn your lump of dough into a challah (for example – roll out balls and use the pull-apart method).
Step 4: Spray a disposable baking tin with vegetable oil and place the braided challah dough inside. Quickly wrap the dough with plastic wrap, then a second layer of tin foil. The plastic wrap will help to prevent freezer burn. If you plan to bake the challot within a week or two, that should be enough. If you want to freeze for longer, place the foil package inside a freezer bag, squeeze out the air and seal.
Step 5: Place the dough in your freezer and go about your life.
Step 6: Remove foil package(s) from the freezer the day you want to eat your challah (or the day before if this is for Shabbat). Remove tin foil and plastic wrap and loosely cover the dough with a clean dish towel.
Step 7: On your countertop, let the dough fully defrost and have its second rising. This will take up to a few hours, depending on the temperature in your kitchen. If the timing is such that you need to let this happen in your fridge, it will take most of the day and then you should still let the dough come to room temperature before baking.
Step 8: Once fully risen, the dough is ready for baking. Brush with an egg wash and bake as usual. Enjoy!
Do you freeze your challah dough? Or do you prefer to cook it all the way through and then freeze it?
just a note – if you freeze raw challah, check with your Rabbi about making a bracha when seperating challah. Many hold not to make a bracha if the challos are not baked together
Good to know! Thanks!
i bake the challah and then freeze it. when u need it, i just stick it straight into the oven. works great
I think that sounds even easier! Great tip!
Yes, I do the same.
I also bake my challah and then freeze it. I met a woman once who swears that frozen-then-thawed challah has a better texture than freshly baked. Who knows… but it always comes out great when I make it ahead of time and freeze it. (Of course, any excuse for hot-from-the-oven bread is a good one, so there’s no wrong answer here, is there?)
Definitely agree with that!
I bake it and freeze it. I let it defrost in the freezer bag – takes a good 6 hours or so. Tastes completely fresh – sometimes even a bit better.
Btw, we make the braided round challah now for Yom Tov and love it. My 8 year old daughter braids it and we still watch your video every time!
beverlee- i totally agree with that. I’m a big challah baker, and i always think it tastes better when it’s out of the freezer.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been looking for an easy guide for years!
I make as many batches (1 batch=enough for 1 entire Shabbos or Yontif) as I have ingredients for at a time. I try to make at least 5 at once, and 3 of my batch size is enough for a bracha. I make a batch in the Kitchen Aid (thank you, Mara, for that awesome Amazon deal!), put it in an oiled bowl, cover that batch with foil or wax paper, then a dish towel. I keep making batches until I’m ready to make a bracha. I cover my giant bowl with the dish towel and make my bracha and separate and burn the separated challah dough. In the mean time, I bag each batch in a gallon-sized ziploc. I freeze the dough in the ziploc. On Thursday night (or erev Yontif) I remove a dough bag from the freezer and let it thaw overnight. In the morning I braid the challohs, and let them rise. I use instant yeast with only one rise. Then I bake as usual. I’ve been doing this for about 10 years, and it works great for me.
I also bake my Challah and then freeze it, and this is more convenient for several reasons, among them that my oven is often full on Erev Shabbos/Yom Tov; that it’s one more thing I don’t need to remember to do; and that if I have unexpected company and/or latecomers needing to make HaMotzi on Lechem Mishneh, I can just take more Challah out of the freezer–it defrosts fairly quickly on top of the Cholent crockpot. The Ziploc or Reynolds vacuum-freezer bags are perfect for sealing fresh Challah!