How Much Dough Belongs in Each Kind of Challah Pan?

Yes, you can make perfect, evenly-sized challah that fill your pan! Here’s a guide.

Do you want your challahs to be evenly sized, or better yet, do you ever wonder how much is the ideal amount of dough to fit in each size challah pan? Here’s a guide.

The weights listed below refers to the dough only, and don’t include any topping. I prepare the dough, take challah, then before the first rising, I divide and weigh the dough using a digital scale, creating 4 ounce balls. I spray these balls with cooking spray, cover, and let rise. Then, after the rising, I’m ready to roll. They’ll rise again after braiding.

If you’re baking challah in oval (or rectangle) challah pans…
1 pound pan = use 6 ounces dough total (3 x 2 ounce strands)

2 pound pan = use 12 ounces dough total (3 x 4 ounce strands)
3 pound pan = use 19.5 ounces (3 x 6.5 ounce strands) (This is a common size. Your dough from 5 pounds of flour will yield 7 challahs of this size)
5 pound pan = use 24 ounces (4 x 6 ounce strands or 6 x 4 ounce strands)

If you’re baking in round cake pans for Rosh Hashanah (I don’t use the deep ones)…
Small 4.5-inch round (one 4 ounce roll)
Medium  7-inch round = 1 pound dough  (4 x 4 ounce strands)
Large 9-inch round = 1.5 pound dough (4 x 6 ounce strands or 8 x 3 ounce balls for Pull Apart)

If you’re baking in a bundt pan…

Make a Pull Apart challah. Use 8 (4 ounce) balls. Your dough made from 5 pounds of flour will yield 5 Pull Apart challahs, and you’ll have a little dough leftover.

I don’t use the deep round pans. I find that challah doesn’t bake well in them for some reason.

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