Challah bread has long been the centre of the Jewish Rosh Hashanah spread and is the heart of many Jewish celebrations. It’s a Kosher loaf of braided bread made with eggs, flour, water, salt, and yeast. But how do you store it for the longer term?
Can You Freeze Challah Bread?
Yes, you can freeze challah bread for up to 3 months. Most breads tend to freeze well with little loss in quality or texture, and challah is no different. You just need to ensure your bread is well wrapped, as the enemy of bread is freezer air!
Do Does Challah Bread freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Challah Bread? No
How to Freeze Challah Bread
While challah bread is undeniably delicious, you would be forgiven for not wanting to go through the hassle of preparing it all the time.
As such, you might be inclined to set aside some time to do some batch baking and preserve your challah in the freezer until it’s time to defrost and enjoy it.
Let’s take a look at how to freeze challah bread the safe and easy way:
- Allow to Cool: If you can resist the temptation of eating it when you’ve taken the bread out of the oven, leave it to cool on a wire rack. If you try and freeze your challah when it’s still warm, it will go soggy in the freezer.
- Wrap Challah in Foil: It’s important to wrap your challah as airtight as possible. Any exposure to freezer air and your bread could go hard and spoil. It’s a good idea to double wrap your challah, so all corners are covered.
- Place Inside a Large Freezer Bag: Once you’ve wrapped or double-wrapped your challah in foil, it’s time to place it inside a freezer bag. Force out as much air from the bag as possible before sealing it.
- Label the Bags and Freeze: When you’ve placed your wrapped challah in a freezer-safe bag, you should label them before placing them in the freezer. Be sure to include the date that your challah was prepared and the use-by date.
3 Tips for Freezing Challah Bread
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing challah bread to have the best results:
Transfer to Wire Racks
When you first take the challahs out of the oven, don’t be tempted to leave them in their original baking tins.
Why? When you leave the challahs in the tin, they collect moisture from the heat within them, making the bottoms soft and a little mushy. That’s why transferring them onto wire racks is so important, even if you don’t plan to freeze them.
Tape Bags Up
For extra ‘protection’ against freezer air, you might consider sealing the freezer-safe bag containing your challah bread with tape. This might seem over the top but protecting your bread from freezer burn is important, as it can ruin the loaf’s texture.
Avoid Freezing Dough
While it’s technically possible to freeze challah dough, it’s much better to bake and freeze it once it’s already a loaf. This is because the dough is more likely to spoil when it’s not been baked, and it can be difficult to get the desired consistency once it has been frozen.
It’s better to bake, wrap well, and freeze to be sure to get the best quality challah bread when it comes to thawing.
How Long Can You Freeze Challah Bread?
You can freeze challah bread for around three months.
As has been mentioned many times, though, it’s vitally important to wrap the bread thoroughly before you freeze it. The most enjoyable thing about challah bread is the soft texture of the loaf, so you don’t want to risk ruining it by freezing it badly.
When wrapped tightly, challah bread will last in the fridge for around a week before it dries out.
How Do You Defrost Challah Bread?
You can defrost challah bread by removing it from the freezer around five hours before they are to be served.
This should be enough time to bring them to room temperature. If you want to serve warm challah to your guests, you can place them in the oven.
However, you don’t want to overbake them, so heat your oven for around twenty minutes, then turn it off again. You can then wrap your challahs in aluminium foil and place them in the oven until you’re ready to serve them.
Can You Refreeze Challah Bread?
Refreezing challah bread after it has been defrosted is not a good idea. This is because you could ruin the texture, as it will either be too soggy or dry when you put it back in the freezer and defrost it.
If you’re worried about taking too much bread out at once, you could always cut your bread in half or split it into portion sizes, ensuring you only take out what you need.
Does Challah Bread Freeze Well?
Providing you wrap it tightly, challah bread freezes extremely well. You won’t have any issues with taste or texture, and you can enjoy challah bread whenever you have guests or are celebrating a special occasion.
To make it extra special, once defrosted, place your challah bread in the oven, so it can be enjoyed as warm and fluffy as it should be.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing challah bread or challah in general, then these may help:
You may be in a rush but defrosting challah quickly is not advised. It will break the texture down which can ruin the challah. So avoid using a microwave or oven to defrost it and allow it to thaw slowly at room temperature.
This is not something we would recommend doing. Challah stored in the freezer is likely to be already baked to perfection; by baking it from frozen, you risk overbaking it turning your fluffy, light challah tough and dry.
Sources
We have verified the information on this page using the following resources:
