I’ve mentioned this before, but challah was the first recipe I really felt like I had mastered. It gave me a lot of confidence in the kitchen, and I felt like an expert in challah baking when I was first starting out. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with my challah recipe, so when I first decided to try making an entirely chocolate loaf, I really thought it would be no problem. However, I was definitely wrong – it took me many tries to get this recipe right!
Chocolate has a big impact on the way a recipe bakes for a lot of different reasons, so adding cocoa powder to my challah recipe wasn’t as easy as just substituting it for some of the flour (although that is what I initially thought!). I made some other tweaks to my original recipe – adding some additional sugar to make this loaf a bit sweeter and using a bit more yeast to help with the rise, for example. The process was a lot of trial and error, and I had to go through many loaves of challah that weren’t exactly right before landing on this recipe.
Taking the recipes you love and changing them can be frustrating sometimes (I tested this recipe three days in a row without getting it right – definitely frustrating), but it can also be satisfying when you finally get the end product you set out to create. I also wasn’t totally on my own – I asked other bakers for advice and searched for answers to my questions on the internet. That’s one of the best parts of joining an online community, whether that be through following someone on Instagram or Facebook, joining a vegan baking group on social media, or commenting on recipe posts – most often, someone will be willing to help you out!
Ultimately, after several tests, this recipe turned out incredibly chocolate-y and fluffy. This chocolate challah makes a nice treat – try it with ice cream or roasted fruit. Or try eating it on it’s own for breakfast, a snack, or dessert!
You can also stuff this challah just like any other. There are so many options – peanut butter and jelly, chocolate chips, fruit, and more. Think about the flavors that you like with chocolate and try stuffing your challah with it! If you don’t feel like stuffing your challah, you can always add it on top as well either while it’s baking or after it’s done.
All of the tips I mentioned in my basic recipe apply here as well, so I encourage you to give that post a read to ensure the fluffiest challah you can get. The only major difference is that in this recipe, you must use all 5 cups of flour indicated below – if not, the challah braids won’t hold well when baking and will sort of melt into each other. Your challah will still taste good, but the braids won’t look as nice.
This recipe is a great comfort food and perfect for Halloween (p.s. this year, Halloween is on Shabbat – meaning it’s Challahween!). It’s also great for sharing with others and could make a great, thoughtful, sweet gift. You can find ingredients for this that are kosher to make this chocolate challah kosher if needed.
I would love the hear how this recipe turns out for you and how you make it your own (especially what yummy things you fill this challah with). Let me know in the comments or message me at @thejewishvegan on Instagram. And, as always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out. Now, let’s get started!
Vegan Chocolate Challah
Equipment
- stand mixer (optional)
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup water warm
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup oil plus an extra 1 tbsp
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- ¼ cup water warm
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Mix the sugar, oil, salt, vanilla, and 1 cup water in a large bowl until everything is dissolved. Using warm water helps.
- In a separate bowl sprinkle the yeast over the ½ cup water. Sprinkle a dash of sugar on top. Set aside for at least 5 minutes until foamy looking.
- In the large bowl (or stand mixer bowl), add 1¼ cup of flour and the cocoa powder and mix. All the clumps may not go away. It’s okay, you can go on to the next step!
- Add about 1 cup of flour and the yeast mixture to the large bowl and mix.
- Slowly continue adding flour. As your mixture becomes thicker, add the flour more and more slowly. Add all of the flour.
- Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl at first for approximately 5 minutes. You’ll need to coat your hands with flour as needed, and continue reapplying the flour throughout so that the dough remains only slightly sticky to the touch. Then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes more.
- Alternatively, you can knead in a stand mixer using the dough hook for 10 minutes on a medium setting.
- Transfer the dough back to the bowl (make sure it is lightly floured). Sprinkle flour on top of the dough and cover with a damp washcloth. Let is rise until doubled in size, for at least 30 minutes.
- After the dough has risen, preheat your over to 350 degrees F. Transfer your dough back to a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal balls of dough.
- Roll the dough balls into strips between your hands.- If you are going to stuff the challah, create a divet in the dough with your fingers down the center of each strip that you are going to fill.- Fill the divet with your selected topping and then pinch the edges of the dough together to close the dough.
- Braid the strips together by placing them side by side. Take the three ends of each of the strips and bring them together while the other ends are angled outwards.
- Bring the outside strip on the right to the middle of the other two strips. Then, bring the outside strip on the left to the middle of the other two. Repeat until you've braided all the way down. Fix the ends of the challah by braiding and tucking the ends underneath the loaf.
- Place the challah on a parchment paper lined tray. Cover the loaves with hand towels and let rise until doubled in size and puffy, at least 30 minutes.
- Put your tray in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
- While your challah is in the oven, create the wash for the top of the challah by mixing equal parts non-dairy milk with maple syrup.
- After the 20 minutes, remove the challah from the oven and wash with the mixture you created. As you are placing the wash, place your toppings on top, using the wash as a sticky surface for your toppings.
- Place the tray back in the oven for 20-30 more minutes, until golden brown and a fork placed in between the braids comes out clean. Another method you can try is tapping the bottom of the challah and seeing if it sounds hollow.
- Once your challah is done, let it rest on the tray for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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