This eggy, hearty challah bread is easy to make and sure to be a hit! Tastes amazing straight out of the oven or as french toast the next day!
It was a bread-bakin', pasta-makin' weekend, folks. I made what felt like a zillion rigatonis (read: 10 servings or so) and a billion buckets of bread (read: 3 loaves + a batch of biscuits), not to MENTION a gigantic breakfast of everything I could think of on Saturday just.because.I.could.
Among the masses of bread I whipped up this weekend was my favorite challah recipe, adapted from Deb at Smitten Kitchen. And FRIENDS. It is THE BEST. So I decided to share it with the world (well...the part of the world that doesn't already creepily stalk Smitten Kitchen's recipe archives, anyway) (not that I do that, whatever) and also with a few select friends who came to dinner yesterday.
The braiding part is tricky, folks - I won't lie to you. It took me a few tries and several batches of challah before I got it to look somewhat right. There's a good tutorial on six strand braiding here - I won't try to explain it myself, because I will fail. But watch the video - it helps! She starts braiding around the 1:40 mark.
Here's what my braided loaf looked like:
WINNING.
I actually started making challah because of a restaurant in Portland called Gravy that makes the BOMB DIGGITY-EST french toast on the planet. (On the PLANET, folks.) They make it with challah bread and a super secret custard-y egg batter recipe that I have been determined to recreate for YEARS. Seriously - I know a lot of places make custardy french toast with challah bread.
But there's something magical about the one at Gravy. It's one-of-a-kind and will never be bested. Stay tuned for my copycat version of their super-duper french toast, though - I'm close to a breakthrough, I can feel it!
And now that I have fresh challah on my counter, I'm pretty sure it's about to be french-toast-o'clock in my apartment (friends and/or french-toast-testing-guinea-pigs welcome).
But until then, make yourself some of this bread. Slice yourself off a piece and butter it up real nice. Sit on your couch, eat your challah, and pat yourself on the back for being so bread-savvy. Refusing to share is totally acceptable - this bread just does that to people.
📖 Recipe
Simple Challah Bread
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Inactive Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: Bread
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This easy challah recipe is perfect for weekend or holiday baking!
Ingredients
- 5 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 ¾ cup warm water
- â…” cup sugar
- ½ cup olive oil, plus extra to grease a bowl
- 5 eggs, plus 1 extra for an egg wash before baking (6 eggs total)
- 1-2 Tbsp. salt, depending on your taste (I use 1-½ Tbsp. or so)
- 8 to 8-½ cups flour, plus extra for kneading/dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast begins to foam.
- Mix oil, sugar, and salt into yeast.
- Add 5 eggs, one at a time.
- Add 8 cups of flour in 1-cup increments, mixing the dough a bit between each flour addition. (If you're using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment here. If you're working without a mixer, stir in as much flour as you can with a wooden spoon and then knead the rest in by hand).
- When you've added 8 cups of flour, take a look at your dough. It should be slightly sticky but should still hold together and pull away from the sides of your bowl as you mix. If the dough is too wet, add more flour in ¼-cup increments until dough reaches the right consistency.
- If you're working with a stand mixer, add an additional 1 Tbsp. of flour to the mixer and continue to knead the dough with your dough hook attachment until the dough is smooth and holds together. If you're working without a mixer, turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead it by hand until it reaches a smooth consistency.
- Oil a large bowl and place your dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place for 1-½ hours or until it has doubled in size.
- When dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it over in your bowl. At this point, you can either let it rise again on the counter or let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. I ALWAYS do one rise overnight in the fridge, no matter what kind of bread I'm baking. It gives the flavors more time to develop and makes for a much richer end product. If you're in a hurry, though, re-cover the dough and let it rise again for 45 minutes on the counter. If you have the time to wait, re-cover the dough and place it in the fridge for 7-8 hours or overnight. After the dough has risen in the fridge, take it out and allow it to come back to room temperature before you proceed with the next step (about 3-4 hours).
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, punch it down slightly, and cut it into 12 equal pieces. (Each loaf will use 6 of those pieces). Set 6 pieces aside while you form the first loaf.
- Roll each piece of dough out into a long rope, about 12-14", and place the ropes parallel to each other on your floured surface. See this video for great instruction on how to braid the pieces. Braid one loaf, set aside, and repeat the process with your remaining 6 pieces of dough. Transfer the loaves to a large baking sheet.
- At this point, you can freeze one or both loaves for baking later or you can let them rise a final time. If you freeze a loaf, remember to let it come back to room temperature and rise before you bake it. If you're moving straight onto baking, cover each braided loaf and let it rise a final time - in a warm place for 1-½ hours or until the loaves have nearly doubled in size (they should be puffed up pretty significantly).
- Beat your remaining 1 egg with 1 Tbsp. of water to make an egg wash. Brush it liberally on each loaf. Place loaves into a 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, pull the baking sheet slightly out of your oven and give each loaf another liberal brush of egg wash.
- Return loaves to the oven for 10-20 minutes or until loaves have developed a deep golden color. Fully cooked loaves should make a hollow sound when you tap them and will have a sturdy outer crust. (Don't worry, the inside will be soft!)
- Let loaves cool for 15-20 minutes. This bread tastes UN.BE.LIEVEABLE. when you eat it warm, but it's pretty dang delicious at room temperature, too. Enjoy!
Notes
*Note: I make challah in my stand mixer, a KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-quart-er, but even my supercharged motor slows down and pulls a bit with the amount of dough this recipe produces. If you have a smaller, standard mixer, I’d recommend cutting the recipe in half or foregoing technology and kneading this by hand.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Nutrition
- Serving Size: â…™ of a loaf
- Calories: 462
- Sugar: 11.4 g
- Sodium: 615 mg
- Fat: 12.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 75.5 g
- Protein: 11.9 g
- Cholesterol: 77.5 mg
Keywords: baking, bread, fall
Audrey williams
I love Challah! Any reason why I can forego the braided part and just cut dough into chunks and let it rise like monkey bread?
Team Life As A Strawberry
We haven't tested this, but it sounds like a tasty idea! Let us know how it goes!
Jessica
It would be lovely if when you shared a recipe like challah, you gave context for those who don't know anything about the bread or the culture that it comes from. Challah isn't just delicious bread, it is something which Jewish people make and eat on a Friday night (2 loaves to represent manna from heaven) and it's an integral part of our shabbat meal. Making the challah, for many, is a spiritual practice. Something which gives meaning, allows us to meditate or connect spiritually, or just put a blessing into the world - it's a beautiful practice and something that's been done by Jewish people (primarily, historically women) for centuries.
Team Life As A Strawberry
We agree! We have been updating many of our older recipes to include cultural and historical information and seeking guidance from experts when appropriate.
Morgan P
I make this recipe ALL the time! My go to Challah recipe! It makes two large loafs… I’d like to make it into 4 small loafs… any idea how that will impact the bake time??
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy you love this recipe! We haven't tested this recipe as 4 smaller loaves, it may take some trial and error to find the perfect baking time in your kitchen, but our recommendation would be to start with baking 15 minutes, do the second egg wash, then bake another 10 minutes. The cooked loaves should have a sturdy crust and make a hollow sound when you tap them!
Linda H
The YouTube video on how to braid doesn't work - deleted. I sure would like to know how to braid it. Is there another link I can use?
Team Life As A Strawberry
Thanks for letting us know! This video has a quick demonstration of how to braid a 6 stranded challah.
Riv
I first found this receipt 3 years ago. First two time I made it, it was perfect! Fluffy and goes with any toppings. However since then, I've made it a bunch of times and it just doesn't come out the same. I've tried changing quantities, timings, tins, brands... It just won't puff anymore and comes out dense. Any help?
Team Life As A Strawberry
Sounds like an issue with your yeast! Check the expiration date, and be sure it has been stored properly. A great way to test if yeast is still good is to be sure it gets nice and foamy as described in step 1!
Sarah Horne
Amazing 🤩 challah recipe! Made the fluffiest, softest challah which my family adored! I’m even giving this recipe to my husband who occasionally bakes challah!
Thanks so much! Thanks- I think letting it rise over night really made the difference and finding the dough explosion in my fridge was funny too!
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so glad you enjoyed it!
Kayla
Waste of flour eggs and sugar. The melted butter and honey recipes are much better and more traditional. This is a very unfriendly dough and zero fun to work with. If you already have a trusted recipe do not switch.
★
Team Life As A Strawberry
Sorry to hear this didn't work for you!
Elisa
I'm not sure how this is going to come out because I'm in the middle of it - the recipe says it takes 20 minutes! I knew it had to be longer than that but I was not prepared for the 4 hours and/or overnight!!! Guess it won't be ready in time for dinner...
★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
Thanks for letting us know! The total time is usually around 2 hours and 45 minutes unless you want to add an overnight rise.
Olya
Can I add honey ? If so how much
Team Life As A Strawberry
We haven't tested this recipe with honey, but a few other readers have added honey substituted the sugar in the recipe with honey! Scroll through previous comments to see what worked for them!
Rachel
I make challah bread each week for Friday Sabbath dinner and this recipe is one of the few I have found that produced gorgeous pillowy soft golden challah bread. I think I stopped at 7cups of flour then added more while kneading by hand and lastly a drizzle of oil on the bench so there's no sticking. About 5 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tb salt. Everything else was the same. Definitely a keeper!
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so happy to hear you love this challah bread!
sandra
I love this recipe as a base - The first time- following instructions exactly, my challah was dry and overcooked (maybe its my oven). Since them, I have made it a few times with modifications and it is the bomb. I am sharing them here in case you have a similar experience and/or like me prefer a moister challah....
Same recipe but
replace all sugar with same quantity honey
add slightly less flour - usually about 1/2 c. less (I am hand mixing)
cook at 360 20 minutes and then typically another 5-10 after brushing with egg wash.
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy you love using this recipe and we love the addition of honey!
Rose
I am about to try this and super excited! I make a lot of challah but this recipe looks like what I have been missing! I wondered what type of flour you used here? Would a high protein bread flour be best?
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
We use all-purpose flour to test this recipe (typically King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill), but bread flour would also work well!