- 4 cups (500g) Bread flour
- 3 tsp (10g) Active dry yeast
- 2 tsp (10g) Salt
- 5 tbsp (106g) Honeyliquid
- â…“ cup (70g) Olive oillight-tasting
- 2 Large eggs
- 2 large Egg yolks
- â…” cup (150 ml) Water
- 1 large Egg yolksfor glazing
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
Easy Challah Bread
Easy Challah Bread is bread, traditionally eaten by Jewish people on the Sabbath which is Friday night and Saturday lunch meals as well as special, religious holidays such as New Year when the challah is shaped into a round loaf sometimes containing honey and sultanas, for a sweet, round and full new year!
Unlike other white breads, challah contains so many eggs which gives it its distinct light yellow color. Renowned for its soft, squishy texture with a darker, egg washed shiny outer crust. Jewish women often get together for challah baking days and braiding the dough, together. Once the braiding technique has been mastered, this very special occasion bread will be adored by one and all.
To make Easy Challah Bread, you will need the following ingredients:
So, how to make Easy Challah Bread?
Steps to make Easy Challah Bread
1 | Warm water | 1 |
Warm the water to 115 °F. | ||
2 | Combine dry ingredients | 1 |
In a large mixing bowl, place the flour in the center and the salt and yeast on opposite side. Use your fingers to stir and combine. | ||
3 | Add wet ingredients | 2 |
Add honey, olive oil, eggs and yolk. Gradually mix with an electric beater at low speed or by hand with a wooden spoon and add the warm water, a little bit at a time to make a sticky dough. You may not need all the water. | ||
4 | Knead | 10 |
Turn the electric spread to medium-low and knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough smooth with a glossy surface. You can knead using your hands on a lightly floured surface for about 10-15 minutes. | ||
5 | Windowpane test | 1 |
Break off a piece of dough and use your hands to shape a windowpane - If the dough stretches without breaking, it’s been kneaded enough, if its breaks, knead for a minute longer and test again. | ||
6 | Rise | 2h |
Roll dough into a ball shape and place in a bowl greased with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for about 1½-2 hours to rise and double in volume. Once risen, punch it down to remove excess air. | ||
7 | Shape challah | 5 |
Divide dough into 5 equal peace and roll them into 20-inch long ropes. | ||
8 | Begin braiding challah | 1 |
Lie the 5 ropes side by side and join them together at the top. | ||
9 | Braid challah | 5 |
Divide the strands into 2 groups, 1 group with 2 ropes on the left and 1 group with 3 ropes on the right. Crossover the third rope from group 2 and place it next to the second rope in group 1. Then, crossover the first rope from group 1 and place it next to the first rope in the second group. Repeat this process until the whole challah is braided, then pinch the ends to seal and tuck the ends underneath. | ||
10 | Close braid | 1 |
Join ends together by sealing them and tucking them underneath the bread. Gently transfer to a lightly floured 11x17-inch baking sheet. | ||
11 | Prove challah | 1h |
Cover baking tray with plastic wrap tightly and place in a warm area to prove for about 1 hour to double in volume. | ||
12 | Preheat oven | 10 |
10 minutes before the proving is complete, preheat oven to 375 °F. | ||
13 | Egg wash | 1 |
Brush the risen challah with some egg wash (egg yolk beaten with a little water). Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Place baking sheet on top of another baking sheet to prevent baking too quickly. | ||
14 | Bake | 30 |
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. If bread is getting too dark too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Lower temperature and bake at 325 °F for a further 15-20 minutes until rich golden brown and an internal reading of 190 °F. | ||
15 | Serve | 1h |
Allow challah to cool completely for about 1 hour before slicing and serving with salt or butter. | ||
Recipe Reviews
I thought for sure this would be an impossible task for me and that I'd need to just purchase some sort of bread maker instead of trying this out but the steps were so simple to follow and it went well, ate it all in a day with my kids!
My family gobbled this whole thing up fresh out of the oven, it was delicious!
Try this out if you have a lot of time on your hands and you really love bread, it's worth it trust me.
Amazed with how easy this turned out to be, I thought for sure I would have messed something up but nope! it was really good.
Best Jewish bread I've ever made myself, going to be baking this beautiful challah bread again next week.
Had this with some tea in the morning and spread some peanutbutter on it, was very tasteful.
Didn't know this would be so good, had it with salami on top for lunch at work, was amazing..
Ramona was right when she said bread makes you fat, LOL! Props if you get the reffrence, love this bread.
Takes a very long time to make and i mean a LONG time, but it was really good nonetheless.
Yummy is the only word I thought about when eating this bread, highly recommend it!
Does anyone have any idea how to keep bread from going stale? I made this and the first day it was great but after a day it was hard as a rock.
Best braided challah bread EVER! Recommending this to all the bread lovers out there, try this out!!
First time making Jewish challah, hope everything goes well, thanks for sharing.
Going to be baking this again and again, delightful Jewish bread just as good as the Hanukkah jelly donuts! Love me some Jewish food!
I love it! Thanks for sharing!
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