My baseline for the challah series - my original recipe
Before I embark on a series of challah recipes to learn to make this bread without my bread machine, I have posted a recipe for the original challah. I have been making this bread for about 15 years. It comes out so well that my daughters have gone on record that I should not even try to make anything different because I already make a perfect challah. It is not often that my practically-adult offspring are so positive about their mother's knowledge and ability. So, while they are away, I will be playing around with different recipes and attempting to make challah with only a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast. Oh, and I am also supposed to be making regular breads at the same time. There might be some vacation days used for this.
Inside the Jewish Bakery, by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg, has a Challah chapter. These are the recipes found there: Bakery Challah, Rich Sourdough Barches, Honey Whole Wheat Challah, Sweet and Rich Challah, and Eggless Water Challah. I've made all of them except the Bakery Challah and so far the Sweet and Rich Challah is my favorite. I would highly recommend the book (Stan hangs out here on TFL from time to time). You might want to Google Barches and see if that provides any help.
Dwayne