Cheesy Garlic Bread Stuffed Challah is the ultimate comfort food!
So this post is a little different than my normal (hopefully) witty anecdote and crafty modern Jewy recipe.
My Internet friend Jerry of Cooking Stoned (great blog name, right?) had this cool idea called Three Loaves. He calls it a “food movement that is rooted in sustainability, community, and totally based on food porn”. What more could you want?
The idea behind it is baking three loaves: one for you, one for a friend, and one for someone in need to help combat hunger. Don’t you love that? What a mitzvah! Each month there is a new seasonal recipe to share. (Make sure to sign up to get future bread recipes.)
I went with challah of course. Duh! But not just any challah. I chose round for Rosh Hashanah season (we eat round challah to represent the circle of life and continuous seasons.)
But what filling?
Buttery cheesy garlic bread! Oh yeahhh. The perfect comfort food for the impending cold weather (even though it is still 100 degrees in Austin. Whomp.)
Oooh some fresh parsley would be nice in here too for some color. 
I love this simple rustic challah technique. Just roll and swirl.
Then I covered he whole thing in tons of seeds- sesame, poppy and wasabi sesame! Because I like my New Year a little spicy.
Gorgeous, right? This is especially tasty warm with gooey cheese goodness. Or savory French toast. Or just tear a hunk off and get in there!
Cheesy Garlic Bread Challah
Ingredients
Challah Dough
- 2 envelopes active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 3 cups warm water about 110 degrees F
- 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 4 eggs plus an extra yolk for glazing
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
- 7-8 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 2 tsps salt
Filling
- 6 large garlic cloves
- 1 stick unsalted butter (8 oz)
- salt to taste
- 1½ cups grated mozzarella cheese
- Seeds for garnish (sesame, poppy, etc.)
Instructions
- First, make your challah dough. Prepare the yeast in a large mixing bowl for a stand mixer by whisking it with warm water and 2 teaspoons sugar. Let yeast stand until it foams and puffs up, about 10 minutes. If it doesn’t get foamy, your yeast is bad or the water was too warm or cool. Try again!
- Using the whisk attachment for the stand mixer, mix in the remaining sugar, 4 eggs, and oil into the yeast mixture. (You can just use a whisk if you’re doing this by hand too) Then gradually add 6 cups flour and salt and either with a hook attachment using an electric mixer or a spoon and your hands until combined. Knead for about 5-10 minutes, and form into a ball. Add more flour as needed. Dough should be soft, smooth and slightly tacky.
- Place the dough in a bowl greased with oil and cover. Let dough ferment in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 2-3 hours. I put mine on top of an oven heated to 200 degrees.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small saucepan, combine butter and garlic and cook over medium low heat until garlic starts to brown and is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Season with salt to taste
- When the dough is ready, divide into three equal sized balls. Roll each one into a 10×14 rectangle, spread with garlic butter, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and cheese. Roll the rectangle up tightly like a jelly roll starting from the long end. The form a spiral to make a round mound. Repeat with the other dough balls.
- I like to bake each loaf on its own cookie sheet because they spread. Carefully place the loaves on three parchment lined baking sheets, cover lightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise again for 45 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the last egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water and generously brush over challah. Repeat to have two coats. Sprinkle with seeds. Bake two at a time for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and with an internal temperature of 190 degrees F, rotating pans halfway through. If the challot start to brown too fast, cover with foil.
2 Comments
Just made this. I was expecting a stronger taste of garlic and cheese but it was challah is delicious anyway. Two mistakes in the instructions though. In the ingredient list, you say 7-8 cups of flour, but in step 2 you say only to add 6 cups of flour. It was still super sticky after 6 cups. I probably used closer to 9-10 cups of flour. Also for the filling, you say 1 stick butter (8oz). I stick is 4 oz, which was plenty of butter. I needed to bake for longer than 30 minutes but maybe because I put all three breads in at once. I have a convection oven, but I think it’s a pretty crappy one. The bread on the bottom rack was clearly not baking as quickly as the others, so I moved them around part way through and also jacked the temperature a bit and baked for an extra 15 minutes.
Glad you liked it! I start with 6 cups and add more as needed, up to 7-8 cups.