The Best Traditional Braided Challah Bread Recipe

Sliced loaf of challah bread on a serving plate

5 from 9 votes

The Best Traditional Braided Challah Bread Recipe

Have you ever had Challah bread? It is a traditional Jewish bread that originates from Eastern Europe and can be served on Shabbat and major Jewish holidays like Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah. With the help of this easy step-by-step guide, you will be able to create soft, fluffy, and delicious challah bread in your own kitchen. Once you have all of the ingredients ready, it's time to get started!

Prep Time45

Cook Time30

Rising8

Total Time9 15

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Eastern European

Servings: slices

Calories: 249kcal

Author: Sabine

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour, spooned and leveled
1 ¼ teaspoon salt*
1 ¾ teaspoon instant dry yeast
1 vanilla bean**
3 large eggs
5 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup orange juice
3 tablespoon honey
egg wash (1 large egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water)
Optional: coarse nib sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a hook attachment, add the flour, salt, yeast, vanilla, eggs, olive oil, orange juice, and honey, and knead on low speed until it comes together about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Knead on high speed for about 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth, releases from the sides of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test. It's a soft, heavy, and smooth dough that is slightly tacky to the touch.
Lightly spray a straight-sided container with oil and transfer the dough to the container; lightly oil the top of the dough as well. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours until it has doubled. Then put it in the refrigerator and let rest overnight, about 8-12 hours. It will continue to grow until it has about tripled.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil. Set aside.
Remove the dough from the container with a dough scraper and place it on a very lightly oiled work surface. Roughly shape the dough into a square and divide it into 4 equal pieces.
Apply a little oil to your fingers, place one piece of dough on the lightly oiled work surface in front of you, and use your fingers to flatten it into an 8x13-inch (20x33cm) rectangle that is about ¼-inch (0.5cm) thick. Starting from one long side, roll up the dough tightly and seal the edges by pinching them together with your fingertips. Then use your hands to roll the dough into a 15-inch (38cm) long rope. Repeat with the other three pieces of dough.
Place all 4 strands side by side and pinch the top of the 4 strands together. To simplify the following explanation, let's number the 4 strands. We're going to use numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. The leftmost strand is 1 and the rightmost strand is 4. Now take strand number 4 and cross it over strand 3, then under strand 2 and over strand 1. So you basically weaved strand number 4 into the others from right to left by going over strand 3, under strand 2, and over strand 1. Start again with the rightmost strand and cross it over, under, and over the other 3 strands from right to left. Continue until all of the bread is braided.
Pinch the end together and tuck the tip under it so it has a nice shape. Then open the top of the loaf where you initially pinched all 4 strands and braid it just like the other end of the loaf to get two nicely braided ends.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and let rest at a warm room temperature (77°F / 25°C is ideal) for 45-60 minutes until it has doubled.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Brush the dough with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse nib sugar if desired, and bake for 30-35 minutes until the loaf is deep golden brown and it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf. To prevent heavy browning, cover loosely with aluminum foil after 20 minutes if necessary.
Remove from the oven and cover with a clean and dry kitchen towel for 15 minutes. Then uncover and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Video

Notes

Cooking Time and Temperature

Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 30-35 minutes. The loaf should be deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Loosely cover it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes if the top is getting too dark.

Taste & Texture

This challah is lightly sweet from the honey, with a little extra flavor from the orange juice and vanilla. The inside is soft but still has some chew, while the outside gets darker and firmer as it bakes.

Storage, Freezing & Reheating

Room temperature: Keep the challah in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Wrap the whole loaf or individual slices tightly twice in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thawing: Unwrap it and leave it at room temperature for a few hours or overnight.
Reheating: You don't need to reheat challah, but I like warming leftover slices slightly if I'm serving them with honey or jam.

Serving Recommendations

I usually keep it simple with challah because it doesn't need much added to it. A little honey or jam is enough for me, especially when the loaf is still fresh. If there are leftovers, I cut them into thicker slices for French toast. Slightly older challah is actually useful here because it soaks up the egg mixture without falling apart as easily.

Recipe Variations and Substitutions

Cinnamon challah bread: Add 2 teaspoons (5g) cinnamon to the dough. For more cinnamon throughout the loaf, sprinkle the rolled dough with ½ cup (100g) dark brown sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon (8g) cinnamon before rolling the pieces into strands.
Raisins: Add ½ cup (73g) to the dough, or up to 1 cup (145g) if you want more.
Chocolate chips: Add 1 cup (170g), or use however much you prefer.
Sesame seeds: Sprinkle ¼ cup (36g) over the loaf before baking.
Poppy seeds: Add 2 tablespoons (18g) to the dough or sprinkle 3 tablespoons (27g) over the loaf.
All-purpose flour: You can use it instead of bread flour, although you may need another 1-2 tablespoons.
Fruit juice: Pineapple juice or apple juice can replace the orange juice. You can also just use water.
Honey: Sugar can be substituted 1:1.
Vanilla: Leave it out if you don't have it or don't want the extra vanilla flavor.

Proper Storage Tips

Don't pack the loaf away while it's still warm. I wait until it's completely cool so I'm not trapping steam inside the container.
Keep homemade challah bread airtight once it's cool. Leaving the cut end exposed will dry it out much faster.
If you've sliced the loaf, keep the slices together rather than spreading them around a large container. There is less exposed surface area that way.
Freeze whatever you don't think you'll eat within 3 days.
I find freezing individual slices more practical if you only want one or two at a time.
Wrap it twice before freezing. Challah is soft, and it picks up freezer odors fairly easily if it isn't properly covered.

Pro Tips

Don't skip the 20-30 minute rest between the first and second stages of kneading.
Use the windowpane test rather than relying only on the 6-8 minute kneading time.
If the dough needs longer in the mixer, give it a short break between kneading periods so it doesn't overheat.
Don't try to turn slightly tacky dough into dry dough by adding handfuls of flour.
Oil your hands and work surface before shaping. It makes this dough much less annoying to work with.
I prefer the 8-12 hour overnight rise when I have the time. Besides the flavor, cold dough behaves much better when I'm trying to get four even ropes out of it.
Roll each strand to about 15 inches (38cm). Keeping them fairly even makes braiding easier.
If you lose track while braiding, stop and find the rightmost strand again. Then go back to over, under, over.
Let the braided loaf double during its 45-60 minute final rise. Don't put it in the oven just because the timer has gone off if it hasn't risen enough yet.
Start checking the color after 20 minutes in the oven. The loaf still needs its full baking time, so use foil if the outside is getting dark too soon.
Leave the towel over the baked loaf for the full 15 minutes, then let it finish cooling on a rack before storing it.

Baker's Percentages

This is an enriched bread dough that means that oil and eggs are used, so it’s different from lean sourdough bread, which is just water, flour, and salt.

Ingredient	Weight	Percentage
Bread Flour	375g	100%
Salt	8g	2.13%
Instant Yeast	7g	1.87%
Eggs	180g	48%
Olive Oil	75g	20%
Orange Juice	60g	16%
Honey	63g	16.8%
Vanilla Bean	varies	varies

Nutrition