Challah
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Learn how to make my favorite challah recipe with this step-by-step guide, including how to create a beautiful four-strand braid. Perfect for Shabbat, holidays, or any special occasion.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Challah is the bread of celebration in Jewish tradition, but I put it in the matzo ball soup and bagel category: it appeals to everyone. It’s a rich, slightly sweet loaf with a shiny, golden crust and pillowy-soft interior. But what makes it truly special is its distinctive braid, which symbolizes, among other things, the joining together of family and friends.
Rest assured, challah looks like far more trouble than it actually is. Think of it as a once-in-a-while baking therapy project. Kneading and braiding the dough, smelling the challah baking in the oven—it really is satisfying. And when the long braided loaf is presented at the dinner table, it is a sight to behold!
I owe much of the credit for this recipe to Nanci Hirschorn, one of my lovely readers, who has been perfecting her challah recipe for over thirty-five years. Thank you, Nanci, for all the pointers! Heads up: this recipe makes one 16-in loaf. It’s huge! If you have leftovers, use it to make challah French toast.
“This was my first attempt at challah and it was AMAZING! Easy to follow directions and looked and tasted great.”
What You’ll Need To Make Challah
- All-purpose flour: Gives the challah structure while keeping the crumb soft and tender. For the most accurate results, I recommend weighing the flour with a digital kitchen scale; if measuring by volume, spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off.
- Instant/rapid-rise yeast: Can be mixed right into the flour—no proofing required. Note that the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, which is more than one standard packet.
- Lukewarm water: The water should feel warm, not hot, so it encourages the yeast without damaging it.
- Vegetable oil: Keeps the challah soft and moist without adding a competing flavor.
- Honey: Gives the loaf its subtle sweetness and helps create a beautiful golden crust.
- Eggs: Give challah its characteristic richness, golden color, and tender crumb. Be sure they’re at room temperature; cold eggs can slow the rise.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Challah
Step 1: Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Whisk the water, oil, honey, eggs, and egg yolk together until well combined.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
Step 3: Mix and knead the dough. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and knead on medium-low speed for 5 to 7 minutes. The finished dough should be smooth and elastic but still quite sticky—it will cling to the bottom of the bowl and may look wetter than you expect. Resist the urge to add more flour; that soft, sticky dough is what gives the challah its tender, pillowy texture.
Step 3: Let the dough rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, adding just enough flour to form a soft, smooth ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours. Go by how the dough looks rather than the clock—a cool kitchen may take longer.
Step 4: Divide the dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into four equal pieces. For the most even-looking loaf, weigh the pieces; each should be about 9 ounces (255 grams).
Step 5: Braid the challah. Roll each piece into a rope about 20 inches long. Arrange the four ropes vertically, side by side, and pinch them together at the top. Starting with the strand on the far right, weave it to the left using an over-under-over pattern. Repeat with the new strand on the far right, continuing until you reach the bottom. Pinch the ends together and tuck them underneath the loaf. Don’t worry about a perfect braid—it will smooth out as it rises and bakes.
Step 6: Let rise and egg wash. Transfer the challah to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover loosely, and let rise until noticeably puffy and about 1½ times its original size. Brush generously with beaten egg, making sure to get into the crevices of the braid. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, if desired.
Step 7: Bake. Stack the baking sheet on top of a second baking sheet; the extra insulation helps keep the bottom from getting too dark. Bake until the challah is a rich golden brown and the center registers 190°F to 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer to a rack and let cool before slicing.
Challah keeps well at room temperature for a few days; freeze it for longer storage. If you’re making challah for a holiday meal, you’ll find plenty more inspiration in my collection of Jewish recipes, including brisket, crispy latkes, and apple cake.
More Homemade Breads You’ll Love
Homemade Challah
Ingredients
- 4¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon instant/rapid-rise yeast (see note)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the lukewarm water, oil, honey, 2 of the eggs, and the egg yolk. Add to the dry ingredients and knead on medium-low speed until you have a sticky dough that clings to the bottom of the bowl, 5 to 7 minutes. The dough may seem too wet but have faith—it’s supposed to be.
- Dust your hands generously with flour, then scrape the sticky, elastic dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour and knead briefly into a soft, smooth ball. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl, flip it over once so the top is lightly oiled, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it's puffy and doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.
- Invert the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and dust with flour. It will deflate. Cut the dough into four even 9-oz (255-g) pieces, and then stretch and roll each piece into a rope about 20 inches (50 cm) long. Lay the ropes parallel to one another (vertically). Pinch them tightly together at the top, and then fan them out. If the ropes shrink a bit, just work them back into their original length.
- Begin by taking the strand farthest to the right and weave it toward the left through the other strands using this pattern: over, under, over. Take the strand furthest to the right and repeat the weaving pattern again: over, under, over. Repeat this pattern, always starting with the strand farthest to the right, until the whole loaf is braided. Tuck the ends under to give the loaf a finished look.
- Carefully transfer the braided loaf to a parchment-lined 13 x 18-inch (33 x 46-cm) baking sheet. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free spot until about 1.5 times the size, 1 to 2 hours. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. (Note that the loaf will continue to rise significantly in the oven.)
- In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg and brush the beaten egg generously over the risen dough. (Note: If you like, sprinkle poppy or sesame seeds onto the challah before putting it in the oven.) Place the baking sheet atop another baking sheet; this will prevent the bottom crust from browning too much. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the crust is a rich brown color and the internal temperature is between 190°F and 200°F (88°C and 93°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a rack to cool. Challah is best enjoyed fresh, but leftovers will keep for a few days in a sealed plastic bag.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jenn! I’ve made this recipe a few times and the challah has always turned out great! But my dough is never wet and sticky enough to cling to the bowl. Do you know why that could be? Or why the challah still turns out so well? Thanks!
Hi Zoe, Perhaps you’re using slightly more flour than necessary and that’s why you’re finding the texture to be less sticky, but if it turns out well, I wouldn’t worry about it. 🙂
I have this challah in the oven right now, and it smells delicious! I made the recipe into two loaves of three strands instead of one larger loaf because I have a small family, and two loaves are essential for Shabbat, which is tonight.
I found the dough to be very dry, and I had to add water. Next time, if we like the flavor, I’ll just add another egg.
I always use the overnight rise in the fridge for the second rise, and it worked well. I used active dry yeast and did the first rise in my oven on “bread-proof” which sets the oven to 100 deg F, and it worked very quickly. The dough doubled and I left a dimple after only 2 hours. I don’t think instant yeast would have been any faster!
So if it’s as delicious as it smells right now (it’s out of the oven now), this will be my go-to challah recipe. Thank you!
Could we put raisins in this bread? How much would you recommend and at what step of the recipe? Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Alaina, Yes, you can add some raisins. I’d start with about 1/2 cup and if you like the results, you can increase the amount the next time you make it. I’d add them right at the end of when you’re kneading the dough in the mixer. Please LMK how it turns out!
I just made up this dough and I am wondering why all the warnings about stickyness? There was not enough liquid in the dough for 4.5 cups of flour to be sticky. I am wondering if I did it wrong and will my bread still be soft enough on the inside.
There is always some variation in bread baking, Jeanne. How did it turn out?
Mine was dry too! I added additional water and next time will use an egg.
Hi Jenn! I’d love to try this challah recipe but have a few questions. If I feel uncomfortable leaving the dough out for more than an hour or so because it has eggs in it can I do any of the rising in the refrigerator? I also don’t have a stand mixer but saw you said we can do it by hand though it might look a bit different than yours. Do you mean it might be flatter and if so is there anything we can do while mixing to try and avoid this? Lastly, I’m using Publix All Purpose Flour and live in Florida (I saw you said humidity can impact the rise) so I’m trying to decide what the best adjusted water and flour amounts may be. Publix All Purpose flour states it has 3g of protein on the ingredient label, I believe King Arthur which you recommend is 4g, but then I read something about differences between gluten-forming protein and nutritional protein so now I’m not sure how to compare them. Trying to put your suggestions into place, maybe I should reduce the flour by 1/2 cup as I’m mixing it by hand/it’s a different brand flour and reduce the water to 2/3 because of the humidity? Thank you for helping me troubleshoot in advance!
Hi Alyssa, if you knead the dough by hand, the dough may look a bit different but the finished challah should not. And regarding your questions about the type of flour and the level of humidity where you live, I wouldn’t make any changes to the amount of water or flour you’re using. If anything, because you’re kneading it by hand, you may need to add a bit more flour in order to be able to work with it. Please LMK how it turns out!
Thank you so much! I’ll leave the recipe as is and only use a little extra flour if the dough becomes hard to manage. If I’m uncomfortable with leaving the dough out for more than an hour or so because of the eggs could I do the first rise in the refrigerator?
I wouldn’t recommend doing the rise in the fridge. It will be too cold and inhibit rising.
I used this recipe for my first ever challah and it was incredible. My boyfriend must have eaten half of the loaf in one sitting. Thank you for the thorough and clear instructions. Making it again this week and hoping to master the braid! hehe.
Fantastic Challah Recipe. Super easy and yummy.
Hi there! Big fan 😊 I only have bread flour, what would be the measurements and directions please? Thank you!!
Hi Mumbles, I wouldn’t recommend bread flour here – I’m sorry!
What kind flour do you recommend? I’m new to baking.
Hi Jennifer, I’d go with the all-purpose flour that the recipe calls for. Hope you enjoy the challah!
This is the easiest bread recipe. I am not the best measurer and this bread always turns out. We live at over 5,000 feet, and it seems like things need a bit more flour than normal. I use the bread flour from King Arthur. When making this dough, let the dough tell you if you need a bit more flour. See how smooth it looks in the last picture (in the bowl), it will feel smooth and satiny. My braid has never been as pretty as hers, but it still tastes good.
And for adding a bit of flavor…
To ensure the flour did not dry out the dough, I greased the counter, hands, and rolling pin with a bit of butter.
Made the legs of the braid, rolled each flat (think long rectangles), sprinkled in some cinnamon sugar and craisins, rolled the legs back up, and braided as normal. After cooking, drizzle some frosting made from powdered sugar, orange zest, and orange juice.
Or for a savory loaf, use a bit of cheese. We used an Irish white cheddar. The boys thought it needed diced jalapenos.
The bread is fantastic as is and can be dressed sweet or savory.
Made this challah recipe for the first time. Recommend you follow the instructions for the flour measurement so you get it just perfect ! The 4 braid instructions were easy to follow too. Delicious challah – my new “go to” !