Ingredients
- 3 to 3 1/4 cups (15 to 16 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
- 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs, one egg separated (reserve the white for the egg wash)
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water, at room temperature
Directions
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In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the 2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk, melted butter, and 1/2 cup of the water until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough comes together. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding up to a 1/4 cup more flour if the dough is too wet and sticky. Mix the egg white and the remaining 1 tablespoon of water and cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
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Shape the dough into an even ball and place in a lightly oiled ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Gently press down on the dough to deflate it then cover with plastic and let rise until doubled again, about 40 to 60 minutes.
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Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one about half the size of the other (the small piece should weigh about 9 ounces, the larger should weigh about 18 ounces). Divide the large piece into 3 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 16-inch long rope. Line up the ropes and pinch them together at one end. Braid the rope pieces, pinching the other end together to seal the braid. Place the braid on a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet. Repeat the exact steps with the remaining 3 smaller pieces of dough. Brush egg wash onto the large braid then carefully place the smaller braid on top. Loosely drape the loaf with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes.
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Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat to 375°F. Brush the loaf with the remaining egg wash. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and registers an internal temperature of 190°F with an instant read thermometer. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing.
Recipe Notes
If you need to keep a kosher table substitute olive or vegetable oil for the melted butter.
From The New Best Recipe
I love making homeade Challah bread, it so good and pretty! Your video is really awesome!
I JUST had challah on the brain, so this will be going onto my weekend to-do list : )
This is my favorite challah recipe, I’ve made it so many times and always with great results! I just love your videos, so well done 🙂
A little time consuming but worth the wait. It wasn’t too hard to do the braiding and the finished challah looked incredible and tasted AMAZING
Your bread looks beautiful. I’ve got several recipes for Challah French toast, but plain would certainly do the trick, too!
I am definitely going to suggest this as my family’s next weekend recipe when we get together. 🙂 We don’t always have a chance to cook together, so it’ll be perfect!
Check you out! I dont’ know that I’d ever dare make challah from scratch, but it is for sure one of my favorite recipes. Love the fast action of the egg wash in the video 🙂 stellar job!
I’m absolutely saving this for later. Definitely want to give it a try 🙂
I LOVE that you made a video! Because I MIIIIIIISS you. Waaaaaah 🙁 come to nyc, and bring challah please?
such a gorgeous bread…. and i love, love the video!
Great video! I’ve never tried making challah bread before but now I need too!
Im Jewish and dont worry its an authentic recipe! New fan, found you via The Lemon Bowl, looking forward to trying some of your recipes!
That’s great to hear! Welcome over – say hi to Liz for me 😉
You are so cute in that video! And dude, I’m one of those people intimidated with challah bread but you totally convinced me that it’s doable, even by me!
Oh and your disclaimer is hilarious.
two note:
1) use honey instead of sugar for an even more awesome challah.
2) what is this thing you refer to as “day-old challah”? It simply does not exist, unless you make TWO loaves.
can i use salted butter instead??? thanks for replying. the bread is gorgeous just wanna make one and eat right away.
Yes you can – I would cut the salt called for in the recipe by up to half though.
thanks for repling!!!! i made it and it came out great, just like yours. thanks again
That’s awesome!! Thanks for the comment.
My dough didn’t double in the 1 1/2 time. It got bigger but def not doubled. What did I do wrong?
I really wouldn’t worry too much about it doubling exactly, as long as it puffed up nice and big. Did you use instant yeast? Maybe your kitchen was too cold? Hard to say without being there with you.
I’ve made challah before—but your recipe looks sooo much more simple and easy. I really enjoyed the video too—you made it look so easy! Planning on trying this tomorrow! 😀
I woke up early to try this recipe and it’s fool proof! I remember using Challah bread for French toast and it was perfect. Then the store stopped selling it, so I decides to make it. I was intimidated and this is my first loaf of bread and it came out perfect! Thanks.
The easiest non complicated egg challah recipe I have done , I have tried others in the past without success. As soon as I touched the mixed dough I knew I had a winner this time…
Thank you so much for sharing your expertise!!
How can I share the pic with you ?
By the way I just took it out of the oven….lol
Thanks again,
Emily
Hi, Tessa!
I made this the other day for my family and I just wanted you to know that it turned out awesome! I watched the video several times and did exactly as you told. I have never had challah bread in my life, so that was the first time. Is it supposed to be not sweet? Because I felt that it needed a lil’ more sugar, but that’s my opinion. Anyway, we could easily just sprinkle sugar on our buttered bread, so no biggy. Thanks for the awesome fullproof recipe!
That’s awesome! It’s really only supposed to be slightly sweet. If you make it again feel free to add 2 tablespoons to a 1/4 cup more sugar. Thanks for commenting 🙂
what happens if you use bread flour instead of all purpose?
The challah would probably have more of a chewy texture.
Tessa, I just found you about three weeks ago and I have made this fantastic Challah each week since. Your recipes are great and easy to follow and my husband is certainly enjoying the benefits
Thanks so much!.
That’s awesome, thanks so much Amber!
My dough is sticky after adding extra 1/3 c flour
What did I do wrong??
How long did you knead for? Perhaps the gluten wasn’t able to develop. You are better off with a sticky dough than a dough with too much flour. Did the loaf end up shaping and baking well?
kneaded for 5 min in mixer. Had to add more flour to work with, but baked beautiful! Thanks for your video which is a great help!! Hope it taste good!
Plan on selling @ our church bake sale..
Glad to hear it!
I put the challah in the oven and decided to clean the bathroom while it was baking. All though I was using chlorine and other chemicals I could still smell the bread baking, with all the doors closed. When I went in the kitchen, I fell in love! The smell is amazing, the challah looks amazing and the taste.. no words for it! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Can you tell me why you do 2 braids, one on top of the other instead of one larger braid. I’ve never made this before and wondered why most do one big braid versus one on top the other. Does it cook differently?
WOW!!! FABULOUS AND EASY.THANK YOU!
What beautiful bread!. Great video, by the way – makes it so much easier for beginners to follow and actually “see” what to do. Thank you so much!!
Hi, congratulations for your great videos. You sure make all this baking easy. I use fresh yeast, how much will be the 2 1/4 ts dry yeast? I´m glad I found your blog. I already registered to recieve your new posts. Thks so much.
Thank you! This is a great tool for converting dry yeast to fresh yeast measurements: http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/yeast_converter.html
So you know, butter can be kosher It just needs to be certified kosher butter. Using oil instead of butter doesn’t seem like it would make nearly as good or rich of a loaf,
Thanks for making this video it was great. I love using challah bread for my Limoncello bread pudding
Wow. My family will think I’m a professional bread maker now thanks to you. This was a great recipe, a wonderful video and amazingly good bread. Thank you. The two mistakes that I made as a rookie were 1) adding the salt before seeing that the butter should be unsalted. oops, and 2) not seeing that the last tablespoon of water was to be reserved for the egg whites. Both were easily done by someone who reads through an entire recipe
How was oil must I use as I don’t want to use butter for kosher reasons
Hi, the recipe is great. I had a little problem cuz the dough wouldn’t rise but it finally did after one night in the fridge 🙂 I braided it the next morning, let it rise one hour and baked it. The result is great and tasty, thanks a lot!
Hi Tessa!
Thanks so much for the recipe, really looking forward to trying it!
I don’t have a KitchenAid at home… is it possible to make this bread without a mixer?
Thanks!!
Lauren
You can make any bread by hand kneading. The mixer isn’t necessary, it just makes things easier and less laborious. It’ll probably take about 7+ minutes to knead this Challah by hand depending on your upper body strength 😉
i amazed myself making this! It was a hit and I am making it tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning! ?
this was the best ever bread! I am making it again for Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Hi!
I love this recipe so much but I just had a quick question. While I was in my kitchen and the challah was baking I smelled something burning. And sure enough the bottoms were completely black! I even only had it on the middle rack. Is there anything I might be doing wrong?
Thanks
Oh and also it had only been in the oven for 20 minutes? What’s wrong?
Looks perfect going to try this.ty.
This is the second time I have made your recipe and it was great again. It was easy to understand and my daughter had a ball helping.
Love to hear that!!
I suck at baking [ seriously, even when I make brownies they come out bad 🙁 ]
I gave this bread a shot today and I had not one drop of hope hahaha, but it actually came out pretty good. Thank you so much!! Will be looking at your other recipes also! Maybe your videos will better my baking skills 😀
Awesome, Lina! Happy to hear it 🙂
Bonjour Tessa 🙂
I just watched your video on how to make Challah Bread. I have tried to make Challah Bread before and it was a disaster! My future son-in-law is Jewish and I’d love to surprise him with a delicious Challah Bread. I am French from France and make croissants and baguettes no problem, so I hope, with your recipe, to be able to add Challah Bread to my répertoire.
Thank you so much and keep up the good baking!
Danielle
Hi Tessa,
I found your recipe on reddit and decided to give it a shot. After adding half of the flour mix the dough became insanely dry and impossible to work, my mixer started making weird clicking sounds… I ended up adding 1 more egg (to be fair my eggs were more medium than large), 2 ts butter and 50ml milk, to be able to work in the rest of flour and have more normal consistency of the dough. I am not sure what happened. I am European so had a bit problems with the weights of ingredients but I used my 1/2 cup measure and stack with spoons for the rest (which should be of universal size I guess). Anyway, after that the dough rose but had visible flour lines when I was rolling it into strands for braiding. I wet my hands in water to help with that.
In the end I baked in 190 Celcius degrees for 25 minutes and that was aprox. 2 minutes too long! Challah got slightly too burned from the top in some places.
All in all – I am happy with the end result! Shame I can’t post a crumb shot here! It looked really nice, tasted great, nice soft middle. Next time I’ll start with 3 eggs and probably reduce the amount of flour to 2,5 cups.
I’m glad you made the recipe work for you! Thanks for letting me know how it all turned out 🙂 And I’d love to see a photo! Maybe on Instagram (tag @handletheheat or #handletheheat) or on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HandletheHeat/
I love this recipe!! Is the second time I have made your recipe,It was easy to understand and it was great!
Thanks!!
Made this last night eat it today for Easter very good. Thank you for sharing God Bless you.
I will make the french toast with the rest of it.
will let you know how it comes out.
THANK YOU AGAIN HON HAPPY EASTER TO YOU
wish I could do something for you for sharing
.
I made this twice this week! I wanted to make French toast out of it but only had a little left so I will have to make a double batch next time. The teenagers LOVED it! Thank you for posting this recipie and video I absolutely loved it!
si es muy rico se parece al pan fino de colombia
Dear Tessa, I just made the Challah bread this morning. It came just as yours, even the colour. Sooo good. This bread intimidated me for a long time. I studied your video and comments for a long time and this morning was my trial. It really is easy the way you explain the recipee to us.
It only took a long time to prepare (from 8.30 till 12.30), but in the meantime I made some 30 minutes rolls, washed clothes, and so on. The Challah is for tonight.
Thank you one million times.
I made this bread today and boy is it delicious! I ate it with honey and butter and I’m trying not to devour it all right now. Thank you for sharing the recipe and for the wonderful video! 🙂
The two concerns for making this kosher are 1) if you use butter, does it have a kosher symbol, a hechsher, on it, and 2) use oil instead if it will be served with a meat meal.
Can I use quickrise yeast?
Yep! That’s the same as instant.
Thanks so much for the video…have tried making bread several times and not good. This will be so much easier when I can use my bread hook and mixer and it all goes in at once, awesome. Happy Holiday!!
Do you think the braided loan sit overnight before baking it? Sorry if already asked- so many comments! Thanks!
Alright, so- follow up to my comment question above. I made this last Christmas and it didn’t rise as much as it should. It was still delicious! However, I live in Seattle… In an old apartment with thin windows so my apartment is often cold. This year I started mixing at 9am. Let the ball rise for 12 hours total, braided and then let it rise for another 2 1/2 hours. Took a long time and I had to set the dough near a heater vent the whole time, but it rose much better this year! Thanks for the recipe!
Tessa, I really enjoyed the video on making Challah Bread. I always wanted to make this and never had the nerve. Now I am going to attempt it. I am now on Paleo and am working to better my bread making and pastry making abilities. Every once in a while I miss having good bread and so does my family. I am only using King Arthur flour for this. I worry about pestisides and GMO’s in store brands. I will welcome your newsletters to get me fired up for those special weekend goodies. Thanks
This video is awsome! I will try this for sure. Thank you for taking the time to make your video, my grandson and I will have a great time making this.
How fun! Enjoy the bread, and your time together 🙂
Hi This will be my first atempt at making bread. I was wondering if i can bake the bread in a 9×5 loaf pan instead of braiding it and if so do I let it rise the second time in the pan then bake it? thank you
Thanks for sharing this amazing and easy recipe!!
I have a question if I would like to replace butter for olive oil, could you tell me the amount?
Thanks
Hi Tessa
I found you years ago on YouTube. I watched your videdo on how to make Challah Bread. I have been making it ever since. I love, love your videos. You also mention questions that I was wondering about. You covered the recipe wonderfully. I just made it yesterday. This morning, French Toast!
Thanks for everything. Your doing a great job
Peace, Bonnie
Thank you so much, Bonnie! I really appreciate your kind words 🙂
Can this dough be made in bread machine cycle and then finished by hand and oven-baked? I’m short on time!!
I don’t see why not!
Thank you for this recipe and video. I followed the recipe exactly except for the cooking time.
The color, texture, taste is fantastic. My loaf of bread was cooked in a 350 degree oven for 13 minutes. After letting it rest and cool, I sliced it and it was fully cooked on the inside. The bready is sturdy and tender and slices beautifully. Wonderful recipe!
Yay! Happy to hear that, Lucille 🙂
Just wanted to say how much this bread is loved by my family ! Sooo easy, too! I made it years ago with your easy to follow video and recipe, and now my family remembers it from 3 years ago Ha ! I have to make it again for Thanksgiving at their request !
Oh that’s so awesome!! Thanks for letting me know, Marci xo
This is the easiest challah bread recipe and is also delicious. It is foolproof and ticks along throughout the day. It is cooler here in Plymouth England than where you are, but dough still rises, just takes a bit longer!
Thank you Tessa for this recipe. It is a delight. X
I Tessa, I love your challad recipe, I am wondering if I can put dry fruits inside, if so, when should I put in?
Aw! My top loaf fell of the bottom loaf while cooking….it’s totally fine though. I’m using this loaf for Pioneer Woman’s Baked French Toast on Christmas morning. Maybe I braided too tight and the bottom loaf was too narrow? I’m actually going to make this again, after watching a video for a 6 strand braid.
Just made my second loaf, with a six strand braid. Very pretty. My French toast bake with this bread was absolutely fantastic. Would highly recommend both recipes.
I will say, this isn’t the longest bread recipe I have. I started this at 730 am. And it will be Baked and done at 1230ish.
Thanks for a great recipe.
I have always wanted to mke Challah bread, but the recipes seemed to take too long. I loved your video and found it quite helpful. You made it look so easy. I have my Challah at the last rise now. Can’t wait to taste it. Thanks!
This is such an amazing recipe!
I’ve had many challas in my life (from Israel)
And this recipe makes such a good soft loaf! I used oil instead of butter and upped the amount of oil to 6TBSP instead of 4. Its a must try! love it.
This is my very favorite recipe for Challah. I have been making Tessa’s recipe for about 5 years. I love her videos. This way I can understand better. I have searched around for other Challah bread recipes and always come back to this one, I feel more relaxed with this recipe Always turned out for me. I live in a cold climate and high altitude. When cold, I alwys double the time for rising. I also keep my oven on to warm and let my bread rise there. must keep an eye on it though, you only want to keep the bread warm, not too warm. Enjoy
Hi! I am wondering if it’s possible to prep the dough on say a Saturday then bake it on Sunday?
Great recipe, worked perfectly! My first challah looks beautiful, and I’m going to turn it into French toast casserole tomorrow!
Wow Tessa, this is a beautiful loaf! I’ll have to try the way you make it!
Yummy! ╮(╯▽╰)╭
OMG!!! Thank you so much for this lovely Challah recipe. I made it yesterday and it is beautiful. Soft on the inside and not too hard on the outside. I followed your recipe exactly except I added a smidge more of sugar. My husband likes it sweeter. Totally A GREAT RECIPE Thank you again.
Hi, I’ve made your recipe twice. As the braided bread and rolls. My favorite is the rolls. Both are delicious. The bread was made with spelt wheat, so is a little dark, but delicious. I made 2. One was used for French toast. The second batch I made rolls. Bake only for 20 minutes. They came out beautifully. Thank you for a wonderful and easy RECIPE. Your video is excellent. Bless you. (I tried to send pics but sight won’t let me attach them.)
Love your recipes and I can’t wait to try this one!
What is the reason for allowing the dough to do two rises before dividing and braiding?
Because you want to knead out air bubbles before you braid it.
I’ve made this several times. Each time comes out better than the time before! My friends & family LOVE it! It goes the same day I make it! Never anything left for French Toast or Bread Pudding! I’m going to have to quadruple the recipe for Rosh Hashanah, just to get to make those things for a very sweet New Year! Thank You so very much Tessa, for a VERY EASY & special recipe! PS… To all making this recipe for Jewish New Year, make sure to add an element of sweetness to it, like raisins or apples! And it should always then be shaped round, as an added symbol of the sweet circle of life should continue forever.
Wow. I mean really. I LOVE Cholla bread, but until today I just bought it. I can make a decent white loaf, but I thought this was beyond me. I read maybe ten other recipes before deciding on yours – some had 5 eggs! Some had tonnes of sugar. Instinctively your recipe sounded best and I was right. I did everything just as you said to, and am now eating a fluffy, light, delicious, decent-looking Cholla. THANKYOU! I will try your other recipes definitely. Very impressed.
Hi I made your challah 3X last week, but I just can’t get it right. The reason I kept trying was because it tasted delicious. All 3X the same thing. It weighed about 5 pounds. Was super dry and cakey. Not the slightest bit like a challah bread. Any ideas what happened? I followed your recipe and watched your video. Help!!!
Try using bread flour instead of all purpose flour
Looks delicious…gonna try it
Looks delicious. Gonna try it
Your recipe was very easy to make. It just came out of the oven and looks fantastic. Now to let it cool before tasting. I am sure it will be great.
First time naming bread EVER! I had to hand knead since I don’t have a mixer so that took FOREVER. But the recipe is AMAZING! Will definitely be making again for the upcoming holidays !
Family loved it they said it was the best bread ever
I like the flavor, but no matter the oven I’ve baked it in, the outside has burned by 30 minutes. I’m going to try it at 350 next time, maybe 5th times the charm.
Been trying tons of recipes on and off for years. Finally found the perfect one. It is so delicious and perfect.
Outstanding and well explained
can you use active dry yeast?
I’ve made this twice within the last 2 days. I used oil instead of butter. And a tad of honey in my eggwash. Its absolutely amazing. Hands down the best recipe ever!
This is probably the best challah I’ve ever made! I’ve never been able to make a challah that was good; so, I was so shocked when this one was. I had to write a review.
I didn’t follow the recipe exactly because I accidentally added too much water at the beginning, but it still came out great. I also used honey instead of sugar. Texture was good, light but sort of stringy, beautiful color. It was only in the oven for 20 or so minutes, but my loaves were smaller.
I will definitely make again! I might actually follow the recipe next time lol, or see how oil instead of butter changes things.
Shape the dough into an even ball and place in a lightly oiled BALL
don’t you mean ‘place in a lightly oiled BOWL ??
If I have regular dry (not quick) yeast, should I put it with the water and sugar to foam? Then how should I proceed?
I was going to try to make Babka, but its intimidating. This bread sounds delicious and I have all the ingredients right now. Will try this tomorrow. Love the video. Thank you.
Hi Tessa, this bread looks amazing! I was trying to find recipes to make Challah french toast for Easter, and this one looks like the winner. In the video, you recommend using it day-old for french toast. I was just curious how it should be stored. If we took it out of the oven right before bed, would we just leave it on a rack overnight exposed, or should we let it cool a while and wrap it in plastic wrap or something. Thanks for putting together this video — cant wait to tackle my first challah!
Made this for Easter dinner and it was amazing. I was worried I did something wrong with my dough because it didn’t seem to double inside the way it should. In the end everything came out great. I wouldn’t change a thing.
This was my very first time making break and it turned out great! I used a little bit more sugar (1/3 cup instead of 1/4). I also helped the rising process by microwaving some hot water and putting the dough in the microwave with the steaming water with the door shut for a while. Really sped up the rising process!
Hi! Thank you for this recipe. One question – Why did you not let the yeast rise and bubble with water and sugar first? I know my yeast is “live” as I made bread the other day and it was perfect. However when I made this recipe the dough did not rise or grow at all. I followed the instructions to a T which told us to add yeast directly to flour etc I was just wondering the reasoning as I learn how to bake with yeast. thank you!
Tastiest and most moist challah recipe we’ve tried in lockdown so far! Thank you. It does require patience and the full rising time for great results. Just as well were not going anywhere!
After trying so many different recipes unsuccessfully, I’ve decided to give yours a try. It turned out absolutely delicious! I used 6 TBSP of oil instead of the butter, but followed the rest of the recipe to a T.
Thank you Tessa. It’s definitely a keeper!!!
I’m about to pop mine in the oven, and I’m wondering why the times are all over the place. The recipe says 30-40 minutes. Some people are saying it’s burnt by 30. Others are saying it is done at 20 minutes. One said 13 minutes. What is right? I know ovens vary a bit, but 13 versus 40 seems pretty drastic.
Tessa thank you for this recipe easier than others !! My issue, after 5 minutes of kneading with dough hook and adding 1/4 c. more flour, it was still sticky. I didn’t want to add any more flour in fear bread would be tough. I scooped the sticky dough onto lightly floured board and hand kneaded about 1 minute. Sure enough it finally came together. I watched your great video and for some reason my dough didn’t quite come together like yours on the dough hook. It is now covered and on first rise. Fingers crossed it will be okay. Will let you know.
You are the best and thanks for all of your recipes !!
Great bread. We love it so much that I’ve made it twice in 5 days. Simplicity and quality. Thanks!!
Very nice recipe
The crust was much too dark for my taste by the time it reaches 190° internally. Could I turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for the same length of time? How do I avoid this in the future?
I loved it –
Hooray!
If i make the dough 2 days in advanced and refrigerate it until ready to bake is that okay?
I found the video first and was frustrated that it doesn’t provide the measurements for the ingredients. And no place to leave a comment. I do not have a stand mixer so used my hand mixer. Dough was EXTREMELY sticky and almost half of it was lost due to sticking to the plastic wrap. I will try again and add lots more flour.
The full written recipe with measurements will always be on my site! And if you’re watching a video on YouTube, the recipe link will always be in the description of the video. I’m sorry your challah didn’t turn out right! Did you try adding an additional 1/4 cup of flour as I suggest in the recipe if your dough is sticky?