Challah (Braided Egg Bread)

Challah (Braided Egg Bread)

  • Prep Time: 3 hrs
  • Total Time: 4 hrs
  • Yield: 4medium challahs

    • About This Recipe

    “Challah bread is one of the most satisfying things I make. I usually knead it in my Kenwood mixer, but there’s nothing like kneading by hand to help relieve stress.”

    Ingredients

  • 8 -9cupsflour
  • 3/4-1cupsugar( or ¾ cup honey)
  • 1tablespoonsalt
  • 1 (2ounce) packages yeast
  • 2 1/2 cupslukewarm water( , or 2 cups only if using honey)
  • 1/2 cupoil
  • 5eggs

    • Directions

  • Mix together 2 1/2 cups flour with the sugar (honey), salt and yeast.
  • There is no need to dissolve the yeast first.
  • Add the water and oil.
  • Mix in 4 eggs.
  • Beat in another 1 1/2 cups of flour very well.
  • Add 4-5 cups of flour, until a very soft dough is formed.
  • Knead for about 10 minutes.
  • If using the dough hook, knead for about 7 minutes.
  • Let rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
  • Alternately, let rise in the refrigerator overnight and then let warm to room temperature for about 1 or 2 hours.
  • Decide how many challahs you want, how many strands you want to braid in each.
  • Make a dough ball for each strand; roll them into ropes and braid.
  • Let rise covered for 1/2-1 hour.
  • Beat the remaining egg and brush on the challah.
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 325 F (150 C) for 30 minutes.
  • Apply egg wash once more and bake for another 30 minutes at 350 F (175 C).
  • This dough is enough for 4 medium sized challahs.
  • You can really let your imagination run rampant here, making intricate braids, placing the braids in a loaf pan, even then winding them into a circle.
  • You can add about 1/4 cup of raisins to the dough, but we leave them out.

    • Reviews

  • “i made this last night and it was so good that it was gone by morning. mirjam you’ve done it again!! my husband was thrilled with this recipe as it comes from his homeland. TRY IT!!!!”

  • “This bread tasted great and it was easy to make.The only thing we did different was bake it for 40 minutes at 325 degrees.We will make it again.”

  • “I am finding that I like my challah to be pretty sweet – I’d probably be inclined to make this one a touch sweeter.”

  • “This is one of the best recipes I have ever made, and it looks so good!My husband could hardly wait to taste it, and he gave it five stars with the first bite!It grills beautifully for sandwiches and makes delicious French Toast (soak slices about 1 minute before grilling.)”

  • “I had lost my Challah recipe. Tried this one for Thanksgiving, it has now replaced the one I lost.I made one large braided loaf and one small loaf.I only baked it for 35 mins. It also makes a great pieced of toast the next day!”

  • “I have used this recipe many times in last weeksits a major hit and I am now providing bread for several households. A note on adding fruitdried fruits work wellbut DO NOT use any wet or frozenmake sure anything addedis DRY. The frozen blueberry fiasco is warning enough I unknowingly added about 8 oz. of frozen blueberries to the doughjust before making the ropes .Which entered fine but upon rolling the ropesthe berries began shooting free from the dough. wet and cold does not adhere well to dough I discovered. In the endof the 8 oz. maybe 2 oz. remained, the bread still came out incrediblebutill skipthe berriesits wonderful without them. Andthe berry story will be one I can always look back to and laugh as I continue learningof breads. thank you very much Mirj for sharing such a wonderful recipe!”

  • “I started this bread at 7pm one night, and when it came out of the oven at 1, I was relieved and eady to head to bed. I didn’t get to taste it until the next morning, and it was delicious! I used .5 oz of yeast and the honey instead of sugar. I loved this bread with butter (I know, that’s a no no, but I’m not Jewish, so I figure I can get away with that!) and strawberry jam. It also shined cut thick and dipped in egg and milk for french toast for dinner one night. This recipe made 2 6-strand loaves and one 3-strand loaf. I used a tutorial I found on youtube to braid the 6-strand loaves as well as a hint for adding the seeds to the top. The cook recommended that you dip your finger in the egg wash and then in a small amount of the seed you want to use and then press the seeds into the top of the loaf. It helps cut down on the amount of seed that scatters instead of sticking to the top of your bread. this does make quite a bit of bread so be prepared to share! Thanks for posting your recipe, Mirj!”

  • “Just recently DH started making breads…this is his first attempt at egg bread and it is fabulous!!The recipe made 1 large, 1 med and 1 smallish loaf :)(he’s still learning!)Thank you for posting an easy to follow delish recipe Mirj!”

  • “I’m so excited this worked.I, too, was a bit mystified by the yeast quantity, but I used two packets that totalled around 10 grams. I also weighed my flour using 135 grams to equal a “cup”.It worked fine.I used a KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough, and for that soft/smooth/elastic texture I let it go for slightly over 10 minutes–though I was alternating between low stirring speed kneading (as I added cup #5 of flour) and a more brisk medium speed. I am happy to finally have had a bread turn out great.Four loaves were definitely more than I was bargaining for (helps to read the whole recipe thoroughly!), but the extras will make good gifts (even though sweet yeast bread is not really a concept here in Macedonia–doesn’t go so great with Ayvar and Sirenje!).”

  • “I am a little confused on the yeast measurement. The recipe calls for 1 (2.00 ounces) pkg yeast. Well, my yeast pkgs do not weight 2.00 ounces each. Mine weight 1/4 ounce. Should I have used 5 pkgs.? I used only one pkg and it was, if I do say so myself, pretty good. But I would like clarification on the amount of yeast.”

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