Most Amazing Challah Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Most Amazing Challah Recipe
  • READY IN ABOUT 2¾ hrs

Most Amazing Challah

Read Reviews (44)

"I made up my own Challah that is amazing! I have tried countless combinations to finally get it right. It uses quick rise yeast to save you a bunch of time. Enjoy!" —  

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Original recipe makes 4 loaves Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a large bowl, and stir gently to moisten the yeast. Stir in salt, sugar, margarine, and 4 eggs, and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour, 1 cup at a time, up to 12 cups, until the dough becomes slightly tacky but not wet. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.
  2. Grease baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper and set aside.
  3. Cut the bread dough into 4 equal-sized pieces (or 2 pieces to make 2 large loaves). Cut each piece into thirds for 3-strand braided loaves. Working on a floured surface, roll the small dough pieces into ropes about the thickness of your thumb and about 12 inches long. Ropes should be fatter in the middle and thinner at the ends. Pinch 3 ropes together at the top and braid them. Starting with the strand to the right, move it to the left over the middle strand (that strand becomes the new middle strand.) Take the strand farthest to the left, and move it over the new middle strand. Continue braiding, alternating sides each time, until the loaf is braided, and pinch the ends together and fold them underneath for a neat look. Repeat for the remaining loaves.
  4. Place the loaves onto the prepared baking sheets, and let rise until double in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  5. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk 1 egg with vanilla extract in a small bowl, and brush the loaves with the egg wash. Sprinkle each loaf with about 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are shiny and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 40 mins
  • COOK 30 mins
  • READY IN 2 hrs 40 mins
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Reviews More Reviews

Dec 28, 2011

Best challah I've ever eaten. Very easy too! A few tips: don't mix dough in a metal bowl. When I do this, it doesn't rise as well. Not sure if it's because it dissipates the heat from the hot water and doesn't active the dough as well? Also, use "rapid rise" dry yeast, not just the regular dry active. And, if you 1/2 or 1/4 the recipe, err on the side of having more sugar, rather than less, so you're sure to get the yeast active. Also if you halve or quarter the recipe, add the flour in 1/2 cups at a time, rather than one cup at a time - it will be easier to work with. I have also found that you can actually allow the loaf to rise TOO much before baking - if this happens, the loaf will be flatter, and you wont get that impressive doming of a 6 braided loaf. An hour of rising time is plenty.

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Jan 03, 2011

This is phenomenal! I cut the serving size to 8 as I only needed one loaf. I also used my bread machine to mix the dough. The resulting dough was wonderful to work with and easy to braid. The finished bread has a light, airy texture and the crust has just the right amount of bite. This is truly amazing! Thanks for a great recipe! Update: I used the leftover bread to make the best French toast I've ever eaten! Delicious!

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52 Ratings

Sep 14, 2010

OUTSTANDING! We celebrated the Jewish New Year at a popular Jewish Deli called Herald's last Thursday evening with my husband's extended Jewish family. I am Episcopalian, so have been learning about the Jewish Holidays and foods over the past 10 years that I've been with my husband. My five year old tried Challah for the first time and liked it. This being the case, and also wanting to thank my in-laws for babysitting, I tried to attempt making Challah from scratch for my daughter to eat and to give a loaf to my in-laws. I have never worked with yeast before. I just followed the directions and it came out outrageously fantastic! The whole house smelled great, my in-laws and sister-in-law loved it and best of all, my five year old declared, "This is much better than it was at Herald's!"

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Sep 03, 2011

AGREED! I have probably made 30-40 challahs over the past few years and this recipe is probably the best! As others stated, I also cut the recipe in half to get two generous sized challahs. You do need to have a little experience with bread dough to know how much flour to add. Cutting it in half, I still added about 1 more cup (7 total) to get that perfect baby bottom consistency. Instead of seeds, I added course sea salt on top....YUM! THANKS FOR SHARING!!!

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Jan 03, 2011

This Challah is Awesome! Everyone who has tasted it has LOVED it and can't stop eating it. I lived in Israel for awhile- and have tried many a'Challah in my time and this one is my favorite recipe so far. I half the recipe and it gives me two prefect sized loafs. I also use real butter. And usually add a bit more sugar- or honey - when I wet the yeast. Its great! Enjoy!

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Dec 10, 2009

THIS WAS SO FAST AND EASY AND OF COURSE AS DELICIOUS AS IS GRORGEOUS! i HALVED THE RECIPE AND IT MADE ONE 24" GIANT IMPRESSIVE LOAF. bIGGEST TASTIEST BREAD i EVER SAW OR ATE.

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Dec 03, 2010

Raises wonderfully!! Looks and tastes great. I've made Challah bread before and it was good, but this is by far better. I cut the recipe in half and still was able to get 2 very nice size loaves.

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Nov 04, 2010

This came out very nicely. I cut the recipe in half and used my bread machine to mix the dough. I then moved it to a bowl to rise. One loaf was made into french toast bread pudding and one will be eaten in the normal fashion. The bread is nice and fluffy.

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 274 kcal
  • 14%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 42.7 g
  • 14%
  • Cholesterol
  • 33 mg
  • 11%
  • Fat
  • 7.8 g
  • 12%
  • Fiber
  • 1.5 g
  • 6%
  • Protein
  • 7.7 g
  • 15%
  • Sodium
  • 515 mg
  • 21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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