1/4 cup canola oil or 1/4 cup butter, oil creates a softer loaf, butter creates a crustier crust; butter-based dough is firmer and possibly easier to work with than oil-based, but I have no trouble with oil-based and prefer softer challah and use canola oil
3/4 tbsp salt or to taste, the full recipe is 1 1/2 tablespoons salt, halved is 3/4 tablespoon, not teaspoon, which I think is way too much; I used no salt with great results
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour I used 2 1/2 cups bread flour, and 1 cup all-purpose; the authors indicate that bread flour may be substituted if a chewier bread is preferred