The Fluffiest Gluten Free Challah Bread

Step 1

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2

Start by setting up 1 cup of water to boil.

Step 3

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients including gluten free flour, psyllium husk, baking powder and salt.

Step 4

Add in the boiling water and mix together. It may be a bit lumpy at first, but once it cools a little you can use your hands to knead it a bit.

Step 5

Add in the apple cider vinegar and egg whites to the dough mixture and knead together with your hands until it's mixed together and creates and sticky but firm dough mass.

Step 6

The dough should be firm enough to stay together in one heap but it should be a little sticky when you touch it. It will become less sticky as you use a little flour to shape the dough into a braided challah loaf. Sometimes different gluten free flour blends behave differently... If your dough is too wet and not sticking together enough, add little bits of gluten free flour until it reaches the right consistency. Alternatively, if the dough is too firm, add a little bit of warm water until it reaches the right consistency.

Step 7

Lightly sprinkle your hands and a clean counter, chopping block or large cutting board with gluten free flour. Don't use too much flour to work with the bread dough or it may dry out. Only use enough to prevent sticking.

Step 8

Separate the dough evenly into rope-like shapes depending on if you are making a regular braided challah loaf or a round loaf. If it's a regular long loaf, you'll need 3 ropes. If it's a round braided loaf, you'll need 4 ropes. Place the bread dough ropes onto the floured surface and braid it (see images above for instruction on braiding). You can watch this video for a long braided loaf or this video for a round braided loaf.

Step 9

Put 1 egg yolk in a small ramekin or shallow dish. Use a brush to brush the top of the braided loaf with egg yolk to make the bread shinier on top after baking.

Step 10

Optionally you can also add sesame seeds or bagel seasoning to the top of the bread before baking. You can also leave it as is without toppings.

Step 11

Place the braided challah dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put into an oven that has been pre-heated to 350°F. Allow to cook for 60-80 minutes. Cooking times may vary depending on the oven. Mine ended up taking 80 minutes.

Step 12

Because this recipe uses psyllium husk it may appear that the inside seems a bit wet if you insert a toothpick in the bread while it's cooking. If you have cooked it for 80 minutes and a toothpick inserted is still appearing wet, it just needs time to set after cooking and won't be undercooked inside once the bread has cooled.

Step 13

If you prefer the less psyllium husk recipe, you will use quick rise yeast and use 2 tbsp of psyllium husk instead of 1/4 cup.

Step 14

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Step 15

Start by activating the yeast by dissolving 1 packet of quick rise yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water that is between 110-115°F then add in 1/2 tsp of sugar (this is needed to activate the yeast). Wait for the foam to double in volume. If the foam doesn't rise, then the water used was too hot, too cold or the yeast has gone bad.

Step 16

Next, set up 3/4 cup of water to boil.

Step 17

In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients including gluten free flour, 2 tbsp of psyllium husk, baking powder and salt.

Step 18

Add in the 3/4 cups of boiling water and mix together. It may be a bit lumpy at first, but after you add the remaining ingredients and it cools a little you can use your hands to knead it a bit.

Step 19

Add in the apple cider vinegar and egg whites to the dough mixture and mix together.

Step 20

Once the yeast has been activated and the foam has doubled in size, add it to the dough mixture. Knead with your hands until it's mixed together and creates and sticky but firm dough mass.

Step 21

Follow instructions #6-12 in the instructions above to finish the recipe.