
This fully vegan pumpkin challah recipe comes with several braiding options and video tutorials.

Pumpkin Challah – Ingredients You’ll Need
The following is an overview of the ingredients needed to make a vegan pumpkin challah loaf. For the exact measurements, be sure to refer to the recipe card below.

For the poolish
- For the poolish, you’ll need water, white spelt flour, bread flour/white all-purpose flour, and fresh yeast.
- For the pumpkin purรฉe, you’ll need a small, shiny organic pumpkin
- For the dough, you’ll need the poolish, refined canola oil, water, pumpkin purรฉe, fresh yeast, sugar, bread flour or white all-purpose flour, and salt.
- For brushing/sprinkling, you’ll need Maple syrup, Fine salt, and decorating sugar.

ย How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Challah
Poolish/Pumpkin Purรฉe
The day before: Put the water in a small bowl and stir in the yeast. Add the flour, mix well and cover. Let sit for two hours at 21-23ยฐC (69.8-73.4ยฐF) so the yeast starts to ferment. Continue to ferment in the fridge until the next day. The batter should at least double in size.

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut into cubes, including the shell. Steam, let cool, and purรฉe. Let the purรฉe cool completely. Ideally also prepare the pumpkin purรฉe the day before and keep it in the fridge until needed.
Dough/First Proof
The next day: Put all the ingredients (except the 10-20g of water) in the order shown in the recipe in a mixing bowl and knead for 7-8 minutes at a low speed. The dough will be a bit sticky and even slightly gummy. But don’t worry! Continue to knead gently for 5 minutes and add 10-20g of water to the dough if and as required.
The dough should ultimately be soft and smooth.ย You can also knead the dough by hand to the specified consistency, but this can take a few minutes longer.ย The ideal dough temperature after kneading is 23โ25ยฐC (73.4-77ยฐF). Cover airtight at 21-23ยฐC (69.8-73.4ยฐF) for one hour.
Shaping/Second Proof

Place the dough on an unfloured work surface. Depending on the braiding method, divide it into the number of pieces required (weigh each piece for more precision). Let the pieces sit for 10 minutes covered with a kitchen towel and then roll into strands using as little flour as possible. Lightly flour the strands, braid, and place on baking paper. Cover and let rise for another 30-45 minutes.
Braiding (with video tutorials)
8-Strand Braid Video Tutorial:
5-Strand Braid Video Tutorial:
(Note: the text overlay in the following two videos is in German, but the visuals should be easy enough to understand even if you don’t speak German!)
4-Strand Braid Video Tutorial
Note: The challah loaves in the pictures are 10-strand spiral braids. The method is the same as that of the 5-strand spiral head, only that the two strands are combined.

Brushing/Baking/Topping

Just before baking, brush the braid with maple syrup and bake for 35-45 minutes in a well-preheated oven at 190ยฐC (374ยฐF) without steam. After baking, but while the loaf is still warm, brush again with maple syrup and sprinkle with a bit of fine salt and an ample portion of decorating sugar โ an awesome combination, I swear!
Vegan Pumpkin Challah – RECIPE CARD
Use this recipe card to save or print this vegan pumpkin challah recipe. For additional photos, be sure to read the full post above.

Vegan Pumpkin Challah
Ingredients
For the poolish
- 100 g water
- 50 g white spelt flour
- 50 g bread flour/white all-purpose flour
- 1 g fresh yeast
For the pumpkin purรฉe
- 1 small - shiny organic pumpkin
For the dough
- 1 poolish - cold
- 80 g refined canola oil
- 40 g water - +10-20g water
- 90 g pumpkin purรฉe - You can use the rest of the pumpkin purรฉe for toppings, sauces, etc.
- 8 g fresh yeast
- 15 g sugar
- 400 g bread flour/white all-purpose flour
- 10 g salt
For brushing/sprinkling
- Maple syrup
- Fine salt and decorating sugar
Instructions
Poolish/Pumpkin Purรฉe
- The day before: Put the water in a small bowl and stir in the yeast. Add the flour, mix well and cover. Let sit for two hours at 21-23ยฐC (69.8-73.4ยฐF) so the yeast starts to ferment. Continue to ferment in the fridge until the next day. The batter should at least double in size.
- Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut into cubes, including the shell. Steam, let cool and purรฉe. Let the purรฉe cool completely. Ideally also prepare the pumpkin purรฉe the day before and keep it in the fridge until needed.ย
Dough/First Proof
- The next day: Put all the ingredients (except the 10-20g of water) in the order shown in the recipe in a mixing bowl and knead for 7-8 minutes at a low speed. The dough will be a bit sticky and even slightly gummy. But don’t worry! Continue to knead gently for 5 minutes and add 10-20g of water to the dough if and as required. The dough should ultimately be soft and smooth.ย
- You can also knead the dough by hand to the specified consistency, but this can take a few minutes longer.ย
- Ideal dough temperature after kneading: 23โ25ยฐC (73.4-77ยฐF)
- Cover airtight at 21-23ยฐC (69.8-73.4ยฐF) for one hour.
Shaping/Second Proof
- Place the dough on an unfloured work surface. Depending on the braiding method, divide it into the number of pieces required (weigh each piece for more precision). Let the pieces sit for 10 minutes covered with a kitchen towel and then roll into strands using as little flour as possible. Lightly flour the strands, braid and place on baking paper. Cover and let rise for another 30-45 minutes.ย
Brushing/Baking/Topping
- Just before baking, brush the braid with maple syrup and bake for 35-45 minutes in a well-preheated oven at 190ยฐC (374ยฐF) without steam. After baking, but while the loaf is still warm, brush again with maple syrup and sprinkle with a bit of fine salt and an ample portion of decorating sugar โ an awesome combination, I swear!
Notes
- This recipe makes either one large or two smaller pumpkin challah loaves.
- If you use this recipe to bake two smaller loaves, shorten the baking time by approximately 10 minutes.

Recipe & photography by Katharina Arrigoni (BesondersGut).

More Vegan Challah Recipes You Might Like
If you enjoyed this vegan pumpkin challah recipe, you might also like these other challah recipes by Katharina Arrigoni.
You’ll also find a vegan cacao challah recipe by Katharina Arrigoni in our official Best of Vegan Cookbook.
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Any tips to keep the dough from breaking apart when braiding? I had an issue keeping the pieces from breaking as I braided.. My challah had a lot of cracking during the back and doesnโt look nearly as smooth.. any tips to prevent cracking as well?
Loaves are cooling and I canโt wait to have a piece!