Braided Challah Bread

This glorious Braided Challah Bread from Baking with Julia brought back childhood memories of my first bites of this delightful, dense, and chewy loaf! It’s a Rich Egg Bread that’s served on the Sabbath and certain Jewish holidays.

Try this Challah and dazzle your friends and family with this gorgeous Jewish bread. Your kitchen will fill with a tantalizing aroma as this egg bread bakes in the oven.

Why You Must Make

• Braided challah was my absolute favorite bread as a child, it’s delicious!
• Soft, chewy, eggy. I loved it from my first bite.
• It’s perfect for French toast and other breakfast casseroles, but just as tasty smeared with some creamy butter.

This wasn’t a loaf commonly found in Ames, Iowa, where I grew up. It was on our annual family summer vacation to Aspen, Colorado, where I was exposed to my first challah bread recipe.

Wired up with anticipation, my sisters and I could never sleep the night before departure. 4 girls, dosed with banana Dramamine, piled into the back of our green Plymouth Satellite station wagon with my dad at the helm and my mom at his side.

No seat belts, no radio, no air conditioning, just each other singing, bickering, and bugging my parents for the duration of the 12-hour ride. The stretch across Nebraska was unending, but when we finally caught a glimpse of the foothills of the Rockies, our excitement was palpable.

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – Sugar, Lukewarm Water (about 110°), Salt, Warm Milk
• Active Dry Yeast – 2 packets; I use Red Star Yeast
• Unsalted Butter -This bread is not pareve due to the addition of butter.
• Honey – Local honey may help with allergies. Adds sweetness to the loaves.
• Extra Large Eggs plus one Yolk – Adds richness to this bread.
• Bread Flour – I use King Arthur Brand.
• Cornmeal – For dusting the baking sheets before the third rising.
• Sesame Seeds and/or Poppy Seeds – Optional, to garnish after brushing unbaked loaves with an egg wash.

Note: With the addition of butter, this challah recipe is not considered parve, so more of a brioche than challah. But whatever it’s labeled, it’s a winner. Parve or pareve is a Yiddish term that means the dish does not contain meat or dairy. 

I made challah pretzels with half my dough, and those disappeared even faster than the loaf. Whole Wheat Challah is wonderful, too! I’ve also made a delicious, autumnal Pumpkin Challah.

Expert Tips

I’ve never been formally trained but these are some tips that have helped me braid challah bread. It certainly helps if you grew up braiding hair, although it’s simple enough to learn even if you’re a novice braider.

• PRO-Tip: Start with the easier 3-stranded braid. There are some fun 6+ stranded loaves, but they’re for the more advanced bread baker.
• PRO-Tip: Practice with some defrosted frozen bread dough. The results won’t be quite as tasty, but you won’t have to learn both the making of the dough and how to plait at one time. I did this when teaching some friends how to braid bread and it worked well.
• Begin with forming 3 evenly sized ropes of dough. Roll them on a very lightly floured work surface, but do not stretch. The lengths and diameters should be the same.
• Start by placing all 3 ropes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pinching the 3 ropes together on one end.
• Start the braiding process by crossing the rope on the right over the center rope, then the rope on the left over the center rope. Repeat until the braid is complete.
• Pinch the ends of the ropes together and tuck them under for a clean look.
• Allow the bread to proof per your recipe’s instructions, then glaze and bake.
• Sprinkling the top with sesame or poppy seeds is a nice finishing touch. Do this immediately after you brush on the egg glaze so they stick.

Frequently Asked Questions

You May Also Like:

• Pretzel Rolls
• Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
• Swiss Butter Braid
• Whole Wheat Country Bread
• Homemade Pita Bread
• Potato Bread Recipe
• Japanese Milk Bread
• More Bread Recipes

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The Recipe:

Braided Challah

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Yield 2 loaves

A delicious braided egg bread.

Ingredients

• 2 packages of active dry yeast
• ½ cup lukewarm water (about 110°)
• ⅓ cup sugar, plus a pinch
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, thinly sliced, plus 2 tablespoons, melted
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 ½ teaspoons salt
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature, plus 1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 extra-large egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water, for glazing
• About 6 cups of bread flour
• Cornmeal, for dusting
• Sesame seeds, Poppy seeds, optional

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar and let it stand until it starts to bubble.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sliced butter and the milk. Warm over low just until the butter melts.
3. Stir in the remaining ⅓ cup of sugar, honey, and salt. Pour the milk mixture into a large bowl and stir in the yeast and the 4 eggs.
4. Add the flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring vigorously with each addition. Stop adding flour when the dough has cleaned the sides of the bowl and it is difficult to stir.
5. Grease a large bowl with 1 ½ tablespoons of the melted butter. Place the dough in the buttered bowl and brush the top with the remaining ½ tablespoon of melted butter.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a thin towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 2 hours.
7. Punch down the dough, then cover and let rise until doubled again, about 1 ¼ hours.
8. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle the paper with cornmeal. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough in half.
9. Cover one half with plastic wrap and divide the other half into 3 equal pieces.
10. Using lightly floured hands, roll each piece into a 10-inch-long rope with tapered ends.
11. Arrange the ropes side by side and just touching. Starting in the middle and working toward one end, braid the ropes together, bringing the outside ropes over the center one. Pinch the ends to seal and tuck them under.
12. Turn the loaf around and repeat with the other half, this time braiding the outer ropes under the center one. Seal the ends, tuck them under, and transfer the loaf to a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cover the loaves with thin towels and let rise for 35 minutes.
13. Preheat the oven to 375°. Brush the loaves with the egg glaze. Let stand uncovered for 10 minutes, then brush again with the glaze.
14. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if desired.
15. Bake the loaves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, switching the pans halfway through baking, for 35 to 45 minutes, or until they are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
16. Tent the loaves with foil if they become too brown during baking.
17. Transfer to a rack and let cool thoroughly before slicing.

Notes

Total time does not include proofing times.
This recipe contains butter so is not dairy free so not kosher.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

2 slices
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 186Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 250mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 7g

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