Chałka Buns Recipe (Polish Sweet Bread Rolls)

Chałka was very close to me as a child. Bread in Poland came round in delivery vans, and the one that stopped at my grandmother’s brought fresh chałka: a soft, sweet dough that pulls apart in strands.

These are my chałka buns. I wanted them sweet and fluffy, with a touch of salt and plenty of butter, so they pull apart like panettone. The dough is the Polish one, made with butter and full-fat milk, but I tie it into knots and scatter sesame over the top, the way challah rolls are usually finished. Six of them come out of 500 g of flour, big enough to split and fill.

What makes them pull apart like that is when the butter goes in, and it goes in later than most recipes put it. The walkthrough below explains why.

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Chałka or Challah?

Chałka is the Polish name for challah, the plaited egg bread baked for Shabbat, and the two are close relations rather than the same bread. Traditional challah is made with oil, water and eggs and no dairy at all, so it can be eaten with a meat meal. Chałka as Polish bakeries sell it is sweeter and has butter in it, and the Polish culinary histories record that the butter is exactly what separates the two.

Put eight recipes side by side and the split is easy to see. The Polish ones carry their richness in butter and milk and use little or no egg. The Jewish and American ones use oil and water and put the richness into eggs instead, up to four of them in a batch. The Polish doughs are sweeter and less salty as well.

White wheat bread was a festive thing in the old Polish kitchen, as the culinary histories record it: closer to a sweet than an everyday loaf, in the same company as wedding kołacze and sweet rolls. Chałka still has a little of that about it.

Mine keeps the challah shape and the sesame on top, with the Polish dough underneath. Most chałka in Polish bakeries comes with kruszonka, a crumble topping, instead, and there is a version of that in the variations further down.

Why the Butter Goes In Last

Bread gets its pull from gluten, the stretchy network the proteins in flour build when they are wetted and kneaded. Fat gets in the way of that. It coats the proteins so they cannot link up with each other, and sugar slows the same process down by taking up water the gluten needs.

So a rich dough is always a soft one, and if the butter goes in at the start it never builds much strength. Knead the flour, milk and egg first until the dough is strong and elastic, and only then work the butter in. You keep all of the richness and you keep the strands.

There is a lot of sugar in these, and sugar slows yeast down as well, by drawing water out of it. That is why both rises here are judged by size rather than by the clock. Sugar also browns early, which is why they bake at 180 C and not hotter: in a hotter oven the outside colours before the middle has set.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

• Strong bread flour, 500 g. Strong white flour has more protein than plain flour, which means more gluten and more of the pull these buns are about. Instead: plain flour works, and gives a softer, more cake-like bun that holds its knot less sharply.
• Whole milk, 250 ml. Full fat, and warmed only to blood temperature. The milk fat keeps the crumb tender and the milk sugars help the crust colour. Instead: semi-skimmed milk works, and the buns come out a little less soft.
• Unsalted butter, 100 g. Very soft, so it kneads in without leaving streaks. It is a fifth of the flour weight, which is rich, and it is the difference between chałka and challah. Instead: salted butter is fine if you cut the salt down to a pinch.
• Caster sugar, 90 g. Enough to make them taste like chałka rather than a dinner roll, and it dissolves quickly. Instead: granulated sugar does the same job.
• Instant yeast, 7 g. One sachet, stirred straight into the flour. Instead: 21 g of fresh yeast, crumbled into the warm milk first and left for a few minutes.
• Fine salt, 5 g. Only a touch, but it is what lets the butter and sugar taste of something. Instead: the same weight of flaky sea salt, crushed between your fingers.
• Eggs, 2. One goes into the dough for richness and colour, and the other is beaten for the wash, which is what gives the tops their deep, glossy brown. Instead: milk brushed on in place of the egg wash gives a paler, softer top.
• Sesame seeds, 1 tbsp. Scattered onto the wet egg wash so they stick and toast in the oven. Instead: poppy seeds, or kruszonka from the variations below.

Equipment You Will Need

How to Make Chałka Buns, Step by Step

1. Mix and knead the dough. Warm the milk until it feels just warm on the inside of your wrist, blood temperature and never hot, because hot milk can kill the yeast before it has started. Put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt into a large bowl and stir them together, then add the egg and the milk and bring it into a rough dough. Knead it for about 10 minutes by hand, or 6 to 8 minutes on a dough hook, until it is smooth and springs back when you press it. It will feel sticky. Resist adding more flour, because every extra spoonful makes a drier, heavier bun. The butter stays out for now.
2. Knead in the butter. Add the soft butter a spoonful at a time, kneading each one in before the next goes in. The dough turns slippery and starts to fall apart in strands, which looks like a mistake and is not: keep going and it comes back together smooth and glossy. Carry on until you can stretch a small piece thin enough to see light through without it tearing. That thin sheet is the gluten you built before the butter arrived, and it is what lets the finished buns pull apart.
3. Leave it to rise until doubled. Shape the dough into a smooth ball, put it back in the bowl, cover it with cling film and leave it somewhere warm. Mine took about 90 minutes to double. Go by the size rather than the clock, though: the sugar and the butter both slow the yeast, and a cool kitchen can add half an hour. When it is ready, a floured finger pushed into it leaves a dent that fills back slowly.
4. Divide the dough and roll the ropes. Tip the dough onto a clean worktop and press the air out of it. Weigh it and divide it into 6 equal pieces, about 165 g each, so the buns bake at the same speed. Roll each piece into a rope about 35 cm long, working from the middle outwards with flat hands. If the dough keeps shrinking back, the gluten is tight: cover the ropes, leave them for 5 minutes and they will roll out easily.
5. Tie the knots. Tie each rope into a loose single knot, the way you would tie a piece of string, leaving a short tail at each end. Tuck one tail underneath the bun and push the other up through the hole in the middle so it sits on top. Keep the knot loose rather than pulling it tight, because the dough needs room to rise into. Set them on a tray lined with baking parchment with a good gap between each one.
6. Give them a second proof. Cover the tray loosely with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave the buns for about 40 minutes, until they look puffy. Press one gently at the side: if the dent springs back slowly, they are ready, and if it springs straight back, give them a little longer. Heat the oven to 180 C, or 160 C fan, while they proof.
7. Brush with egg and scatter the sesame. Beat the second egg and brush it gently over the buns, across the tops and down the sides, taking care not to press any air out. Try not to let it run down onto the tray, where it only scorches round the base. Scatter the sesame seeds over while the egg is still wet, so they stick.
8. Bake, then cool on a rack. Bake on the middle shelf for 18 to 20 minutes, until they are a deep, glossy brown. The surest check is a thermometer pushed into the middle of one: 88 C means the crumb has set. Sugar and egg colour the tops quickly, so if they look dark before 15 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over them and carry on. Move them to a wire rack as soon as they come out, so the bottoms do not steam soft on the hot tray.

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Recipe Card for Chałka Buns

Recipe Card

Chałka Buns (Polish Sweet Challah Rolls)

Soft Polish chałka buns made with butter and full-fat milk, tied into knots, brushed with egg and scattered with sesame. The butter goes in after kneading, which is what lets them pull apart.

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Prep

30 min

Cook

20 min

Rising

2 hrs 10 min

Total

3 hrs

Serves

6

Per serving

536 kcal

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6 buns

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Equipment I Use

Kitchen ScaleLarge Mixing BowlStand MixerBaking trayBaking ParchmentPastry brushKitchen thermometerWire Rack

Ingredients

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For the dough

500 g Strong bread flour, strong white 250 ml Whole milk, full fat, warmed to blood temperature 90 g Caster sugar 7 g Instant yeast, one sachet 5 g Fine salt 1 Egg, medium, at room temperature 100 g Unsalted butter, very soft

To finish

1 Egg, beaten, for the egg wash 1 tbsp Sesame seeds

Instructions

Tap a step to tick it off as you cook.

1

Mix and knead the dough

Put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl and mix. Add the egg and the warm milk and bring it together. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand, or 6 to 8 minutes with a dough hook, until smooth and elastic. Leave the butter out for now, and try not to add extra flour even if it feels sticky.

2

Knead in the butter

Add the soft butter a spoonful at a time, kneading each one in before the next. The dough goes slippery, then comes back smooth. Keep kneading until it is glossy and stretches thin without tearing.

3

First rise

Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size.

4

Divide and roll

Tip the dough out and divide it into 6 equal pieces of about 165 g. Roll each into a rope about 35 cm long. If a rope keeps shrinking back, leave it for 5 minutes and try again.

5

Tie the knots

Tie each rope into a loose single knot. Tuck one end underneath and bring the other up through the middle. Space them out on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

6

Second proof

Cover loosely and leave for about 40 minutes, until puffy. Heat the oven to 180 C, or 160 C fan.

7

Egg wash and sesame

Brush the buns all over with the beaten egg, sides included, without letting it pool on the tray. Scatter with sesame seeds.

8

Bake and cool

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until deep golden brown and 88 C in the middle. Cool on a wire rack.

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Chef’s notes＋

Knead the dough before the butter goes in. Butter added at the start stops the dough building strength, and that strength is what gives you the pull.

The milk wants to be blood warm, never hot. Hot milk can kill the yeast before it starts.

Go by size, not the clock. A cool kitchen can add half an hour to either rise.

Sugar and egg wash brown fast. If the tops are dark before 15 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over them and carry on.

For a kruszonka top instead of sesame, rub 50 g plain flour, 40 g cold butter and 40 g sugar into crumbs and press a little onto each bun after the egg wash.

Nutrition per serving＋

536 kcalProtein 13.8 gCarbs 78.5 gFat 18.4 gSat fat 9.9 gFibre 2.5 gSugar 17.5 gSodium 364 mgServing 156

Chałka Buns (Polish Sweet Challah Rolls) · https://chefsbinge.com/chalka-buns/

Variations

• Kruszonka on top. The chałka I grew up with had kruszonka on it instead of seeds. Rub 50 g plain flour, 40 g cold butter and 40 g sugar together into rough crumbs, then press a little onto each bun straight after the egg wash. It is the same ratio as the topping on my mixed berry crumble, just a smaller batch.
• Poppy seeds. Scatter poppy seeds instead of sesame, or use half of each.
• One plaited loaf. The same dough makes one large plaited chałka. Bake it at the same temperature and go by the thermometer, 88 C in the middle. A loaf this size takes a good deal longer than the buns, so start checking it at 25 minutes and cover the top with foil if it colours too fast.
• Smaller rolls. Divide the dough into 12 instead of 6, about 85 g each, for dinner-roll size. Start checking them at 12 minutes.

Storing and Freezing

Chałka buns are at their best on the day and still good the next. Once they are completely cold, keep them in a bread bag or a tin. Leave them out of the fridge, where bread goes stale faster than it does on the side.

They freeze well once baked. Wrap each one as soon as it is cold, freeze for up to three months, and thaw them at room temperature for an hour or two. A few minutes in a warm oven brings the crust back.

Freezing the raw shaped dough is the less reliable route. Some of the yeast dies in the freezer, and bakers who try it with enriched doughs like this one report buns that come out dense.

What to Serve With Them

Split them while they are still a little warm and eat them with butter and jam, or with homemade twaróg and honey. They also make a very good burger bun: soft and rich from the butter and egg, but strong enough to hold together. When they go stale, slice them for French toast, or do what an old Polish soup recipe does with chałka and dice it, toast it in a dry pan and dust it with cinnamon for croutons.

FAQ for Chałka Buns

A Few Words from the Chef

The chałka I remember was sliced fresh with butter, and with kruszonka on top you really need nothing else. These buns are my version of it, knotted and seeded like challah but with the same soft, pulling dough underneath. If you bake them, let me know how they turned out in the comments below.