Challah (“Hah-luh”) bread – my absolute favorite bread ever! Or, as my kids call it: ‘eggy-bread’! This bread is a traditional bread used on all Jewish holidays, except Passover. It can be eaten anytime of day/night, with any toppings or added cooking style (it’s especially delicious in french toast form), or just eat it straight off the cooling rack! Even thought it’s delicious, I will say it’s not an easy recipe to make because of how finicky bread can be in general plus the braiding of it, but it’s so worth it. So so worth it!
When I was growing up, we used to eat challah every weekend and we would get it from the most amazing bakery: Rockland Bakery. Honestly, it’s more of a factory that makes literally any kind of bread or baked good you can imagine. You pick the bread right off the conveyor belts as it’s coming out hot. It’s literally the freshest bread ever. Can you tell I adore this place? Every time I visit the Northeast, I head back for a quick taste of my childhood, and I always get a loaf of challah.
But, since I live states away now, I decided it’s best if we start making our own. Now, there are a lot of recipes for challah, for braiding, for loaves vs. rounds, etc… but this is a tried a true, never fail recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I have been making for years. It never ever goes wrong! But be warned, it makes 2 very large loaves!!
If you like challah bread, this is definitely the recipe to make! Happy baking and enjoy!
Challah Bread
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (about 1 1/2 packages)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
- 1/2 cup olive or avocado oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
- 4 large eggs + 1 large egg to finish bread
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 8 to 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in water; set aside for 5 minutes until a bit foamy.
- Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)
- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.
- To make a 4-braid straight challah, separate dough into 4 equal balls. Roll each ball out into a log shape and pinch four rolled dough ropes together at the top. Number them 1-2-3-4. Then, repeat a sequence: move rope 2 over to position 4, move rope 1 over to position 2, move rope 3 over to position 1, and move rope 4 over to position Continue this “2-over-4, 1-over-2, 3-over-1, 4-over-3” pattern until you reach the end, then tuck the ends underneath.
- Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour or overnight in the fridge.
- If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.
- Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.
- Enjoy!
Season Generously 