Challah I (Braided Egg Bread)

Name: Challah I (Braided Egg Bread)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 1 large challah
Ingredients: 4.92 ml sugar; 118.29 ml warm water; 14.78 ml yeast; 946.36 ml flour; 59.16 ml sugar; 4.92 ml salt; 78.78 ml oil; 2 eggs; 59.14 ml warm water; 1 egg yolk, beaten with; 4.92 ml water; sesame seeds or poppy seed

Community Pick

Submitted by CardaMom

"I bake challah every week for our Sabbath meal. It's so easy to make in a KitchenAid mixer. Challah tastes great in French Toast or Cinnamon Toast recipes. This challah recipe is my kid's favorite."

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photo by Anonymous

Ready In:: 40mins
Ingredients:: 12
Yields:: 1 large challah

ingredients

4.92 ml sugar
118.29 ml warm water
14.78 ml yeast
946.36 ml flour
59.16 ml sugar
4.92 ml salt
78.78 ml oil
2 eggs
59.14 ml warm water
1 egg yolk, beaten with
4.92 ml water
sesame seeds or poppy seed

directions

Preheat oven to 400°F Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup water in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over water and mix,let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
Add the next 6 ingredients to mixing bowl. Mix with dough hook for 6 minutes. Dough should be a little sticky.
Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk.
Punch down dough. Let rise again until double in bulk.
Punch down again. Divide dough into 3 equal parts.
Roll dough into three long strands. Braid the strands, tucking ends under. Cover with towel and let double in bulk.
Brush with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with seeds. Bake at 400 F for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown. The challah is done when it sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Questions & Replies

What is the 1 tsp of water at bottom of recipe for? Are you supposed to mixed beaten egg with it? I left it out.

Nancy G.
I'm new to bread - this recipe said to mix with dough hook for 6 min. On what speed and did everyone find that long enough? I ended up doing 2 batches, back to back. The first time the dough was very dry and tough. The second time the dough was so wet I had a hard time getting it out of the bowl. I ended up dusting the ball, bowl and hook with flour q couple times before it came to a ball. The only difference was that I opened a new bag of flour for the 2nd batch which I realize make a difference can. The dough is rising now. Can anyone give me an approximate time for the first rise? Or 2nd? I'd appreciate any feedback.

Kelly L.
how long did each prove take?

Amanda S.
Hi ,can I make this with a regular hand mixer? Thank you!

Rebecca B.

Reviews

Well, I thought this dough was just to easy to work with to be true. I forgot to add in the 1/4 cup water! Still came out very well, tad bit dry, but that's my oops certainly. :) The taste is lovely, only slightly sweet. Browned beautifully, with a nice crunch to the outside. I used this for my Ostara bread this year, braided into a circle and added whole eggs within the braid to bake with the bread. It's probably the best recipe I've found yet for this! And very pretty. Took a long time to double though! Thanks CardaMom!!

Nikoma
What an amazing bread!! Very easy to make and came out light and fluffy in the middle with the perfect crispy crust! I ended up making 2 and gave one away.....great gift idea, add a jar of homemade jam and wow them with lovely Sabbath Bread!!
Stephanie R.
A family favourite now and I have given it as gifts a couple times already. So easy and yummy. I only used 3.5 cups of flour though and 4 was too much. Thanks for sharing!

Nymphadora
Thank you, Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I made it on Friday just to see how it would turn out and it was amazing! So on Saturday I made 8 loaves. I made the dough and then I cut it in half then, from the half I cut it into thirds so I could braid, then I made 2 mini-challahs. I did add golden raisins.

Marchellabella
This is a wonderful recipe, I doubled it and all went perfect. It is worth to double it because it freezes wonderfuly and my family will not devour it in one sitting.

pumbabey

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Tweaks

This is the easiest bread to make if you want a sweeter bread i add Italian sweet creamer instead of milk everyone loved it .

njdewnj
Thank you so so much for this awesome recipe! I learned how to make bread for the first time this week and loved this recipe so much that I used it twice! Beautiful tasting bread and so forgiving and easy to make. I agree with the other comments regarding 3.5 cups of flour being sufficuent enough! I also prefer to brush the loaves with melted butter once they come out of the oven instead of brushing beforehand with a beaten egg. Thank you once again.
Saemma F.
Made a nice large Challah. My kids picked this one as a favorite. In our family a soft crust is preferred so instead of using the egg and seeds on the outside, we just brush with butter after baking.

Avoda