Here is my now-famous traditional challah recipe, scroll down for the full recipe, but first let me answer a few questions I am frequently asked.
What is challah?
Challah is the Jewish egg bread served every week on Shabbat and is usually braided. You don’t have to top it, but I love it with everything bagel topping and I have a heavy hand. I make this recipe every week and I get so much satisfaction out of the kneading and braiding it is the one dish I don’t mind spending time on. And don’t forget to get the kids involved. Not only are they in my prayers, but they each get their own little mound of dough to shape and decorate as they like. I like everything spice, they like sprinkles, we are all happy. Enjoy this challah bread recipe this Shabbat and for many years to come.
What makes challah bread different?
Challah baking is part magic, part science and 100% spiritual. It’s not simply an egg bread that is made dairy-free with oil instead of butter. Challah touches the soul. Challah is one of those foods that is a spiritual key, placing it front and center at the start of all our Shabbos and holiday meals. We eat challah every Shabbos as an allusion to the manna that G-d showered on the Israelites in the desert after they left Egypt. The manna would fall every day, but it was just enough for one day. The Israelites had to learn to trust in G-d for their daily sustenance and not worry about tomorrow. That’s a pretty good lesson in itself. But the kicker is that every Friday a double amount would fall, so there would be enough to eat on Shabbos morning. We put two challahs on the Shabbos table, as a reminder of the Friday double portion of manna. Every week, we enjoy our challah. At the same time, we deepen our faith in G-d, who loves us so much that He provides us with everything we need day after day, from paying the mortgage down to my daughters’ Hello Kitty alarm clock. We reaffirm our allegiance to Shabbos, a day so special that we don’t cook or bake; we just eat delicacies we prepared on Friday.
Bread is for the body, but challah, challah touches the soul.
Can you eat challah bread anytime?
While challah is on the table for every Shabbat and holiday meal, it can be eaten any other time as well.
Why is challah bread so special?
There’s a reason challah pays spiritual dividends, but to understand it we have to visit ancient Israel for a minute. (Don’t worry. I’ll bring you back.) Back in the days of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, people called Kohanim (a huge extended family, really) did not own farmland because their sole task was to serve in the Temple and teach the holy Torah to every Jew. The mitzvah (law) of giving them tithes and food gifts was mandated so they could devote themselves exclusively to this calling.
One of those gifts was called “challah,” which meant that whenever someone baked bread, he or she was to give a small portion of it to a friendly local Kohein. And the baker did not just drop a package on the doorstep and run. He would learn some Torah with the Kohein, maybe have a cup of tea and schmooze a while. This exchange not only fed the Kohanim and their families; it fortified the bond between average Israelites and their spiritual mentors.
Scroll to continue
More Love
Etrog Preserves
Turn your leftover Sukkot etrogs into preserves or jam to last the whole year. …
Classic Cholent
The Best Classic Cholent Recipe: Shabbat Morning Comfort, Just Like Bubby Made Growing up, …
It was a great system.
Today there’s no Holy Temple, but we still keep the mitzvah, called hafrashat challah, to elevate that simple act of baking bread to a spiritual activity.
How do you make challah bread?
Watch me make this challah dough in the video above and then learn to shape so many different ways with our Challah Shaping and Braiding Videos.
If you want to try the easiest challah ever, check out my No Knead Challah recipe here.
Looking for a healthier, 100% whole grain challah with all natural sweeteners? Get our Spelt Challah Recipe.
A few more things to consider before we get to the actual recipe.
The Flour: I always use flour that is high in gluten because gluten adds stickiness and sponginess to the dough. High-gluten flour will give you a nice chewy texture. Bread flour or bread machine flour are interchangeable with high-gluten flour. All-purpose flour can be subbed if necessary. This recipe calls for a 6-pound bag of high-gluten (bread) flour. But fear not if you can’t find a 6-pound bag: 3¼ cups of high-gluten flour equals 1 pound, and 3¾cups of all-purpose flour is equivalent to 1 pound.
You can find oval baking pans on Amazon to help keep the classic braided challah shape.
.
Jamie Geller’s Challah Recipe
Servings
Ingredients
- 2 ounces ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (57 grams) + 3 tablespoons sugar (40 grams)
- 6 cups warm water divided (1,440 grams)
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt 72 grams
- 1 6-pound bag high-gluten flour (2.7 kg)
- 2 cups sugar 400 grams
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cup canola oil divided (260 grams)
- 2 whole eggs lightly beaten
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup poppy seeds
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and 3 tablespoons of sugar in 2 cups of warm water, cover loosely with a towel and set aside.
- Place salt in a huge plastic bowl.
- Add flour to bowl.
- Add sugar and egg yolks.
- Yeast should now have bubbled/foamed and doubled in size, if yeast has not bubbled or does not seem active repeat the process again.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour yeast and sugar water mixture into the well. Then add the remaining 4 cups of warm water into the well. Make sure the water is not too hot. It should be no warmer than you would use for a baby’s bath.
- Start kneading ingredients together and add a ½ cup of oil.
- For the next 10 minutes, knead, adding another ½ cup of oil slowly during that time as needed to create a workable dough. Dough shouldn’t be too sticky and also should not be dry. It should become one cohesive mass.
- Loosely cover dough with a large kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, lightly oil your hand and knead again for another 5 minutes adding a touch more oil to the dough if necessary. The dough should now be easier to work with and will become smooth and satiny.
- Rub a little oil over the top and around the dough. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel. Place covered bowl in a medium plastic garbage bag and place open ends of the bag loosely underneath the bowl, trapping in air.
- Place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Punch dough down and knead (lightly oil your hands if necessary), flipping it and releasing any air bubbles. Cover again, using the towel and the bag, and let rise 1 more hour.
- Lightly oil your hands, and punch down again. With a sharp knife divide dough into 4 equal parts.
- Liberally spray 4 (9-inch) round baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
For Round Challah
- With lightly oiled hands, place 1 piece of dough on a smooth work surface. Play with the dough a bit, squeezing out any air bubbles. Then roll the dough into a long, thick rope, adding oil as needed to keep it from being too sticky. Don’t use too much oil; a little sticky is fine.
- Place one end of the rope up against the edge of the prepared pan and coil it, ending in the middle. Set aside.
For Pull-Apart Challah
- With lightly oiled hands, place 1 piece of dough on a smooth work surface. Play with the dough a bit, squeezing out any air bubbles. Separate into 8 equal parts. Roll each part into a round ball, adding oil as needed to keep it from being too sticky. Don’t use too much oil; a little sticky is fine.
- Place one ball in the middle of the prepared pan and surround with remaining balls. Don’t worry if they don’t touch. They will rise into each other while baking. Set aside.
- Repeat either method with remaining dough so that you have 4 challahs.
- Brush challahs with beaten egg and sprinkle with a combination of poppy and sesame seeds.
- Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes and then lower your oven temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, until challah tops are dark golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve while still warm. Once the challah has been sliced, you can store the slices in sealable plastic bags for about 4 to 5 days.
- Recipe Courtesy of JOY of KOSHER Fast, Fresh Family Recipes by Jamie Geller (William Morrow/HarperCollins 2013) – BUY NOW
Notes:
- Make half the recipe as follows:
- ¾ ounce (21 g) active dry yeast
- 8 ounces (227 g) (or up to 10 ounces for sweeter challah) plus ½ ounce granulated sugar, divided
- 3 cups (708 g) warm water (90° to 100°F), divided
- 1-ounce (28 g) kosher salt
- 3 pounds (1,360 g)high-gluten (bread) or all-purpose four
- 2 large eggs, separated
- ½ cup (120 g) olive oil, more as needed for kneading and shaping
Substitutions
- Flour
- Spelt Flour: Step 2: Add 2 ¼ cups of water.
- 100% Whole Wheat Flour: Step 2: Add 2 ½ cups of water.
- Egg-Free
- Simply eliminate the egg yolks from the recipe and brush or spray the challah with water in place of egg wash for egg free challah. No other adjustments required.
- Sweeteners
- Less Sugar: Decrease the sugar to 4 ounces with no other adjustments required.
- Brown Sugar: Substitute brown sugar, for the granulated sugar in equal parts with no other adjustments required.
- Honey/Syrup: Substitute silan/date honey, bee’s honey or maple syrup in part or in place of sugar. Reduce water by the amount of “liquid” (moisture rich) sweetener you are using. For example, if using ½ cup honey decrease water by ½ cup.
- Yeast
- ¾ oz dry yeast = 2 oz fresh yeast
Hi. No matter what I do my challah does not rise. Please help. Thanks.
And BTW sometimes I even make 6 medium sized challahs from this amount of dough.
Hi Dina Bracha IN EGYPT!!!!!! (Where do you live there? What do you do there? Tell us everything!!!) – yes high gluten flour is also known as bread flour. Great luck!
OH SUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry. But I thank you so much for watching and trying AND commenting back when you figured out what the issue was bc I couldn’t tell from your first comment what went wrong. OY VEY – I know Challah is a lot of work and I am sorry it didn’t come out for you the first time. I sure hope you will try again. Thanks for being such a great sport.
I am from South Africa and i really cant find this High Gluten Flour here.I dont know what to use
Hi Janine – you can use all purpose flour.
Hi Jamie! thank you so much for all your lovely recipes B’H.
When I went to buy flour the guy told me to get 00 flour. is that high gluten? he said it was for breads and that it was the purest. I live in Egypt so American brands won’t be avialbale
Hi Jamie,
Well now I am embarrassed with my last question. I followed you on your video without looking at the written recipe where it says it is fo 4 challas!! I had no idea. So, I split the huge dough into 6 braids…HUGE BRAIDS. No wonder it did not bake right!! I feel so lame. LOL
Hi Jamie,
I spent my entire Sunday watching your 3 videos (thoroughly enjoyed) as I have never made Challa, nor am I usually good in the kitchen unless I follow a recipe exactly. So thats what I tried to do. Within 15 min my yeast got so big it over-flowed my large bowl. And my dough was gigantic. I still tried to make the 6 braids with the giant braids. It cooked for an hour but outside was super dry and inside still doughy. The loaf weighed 8 pounds. Do you know what I did wrong? Thank you so much.
OMG OMG OMG!!!!!! I am SO SO SO SO happy!!! Thanks for sharing – I really appreciate it!
My family LOVES this recipe! Thank you so much for it! I had tried making challah before (a different recipe I found online somewhere) and you could tell everyone was just trying to not hurt my feelings while eating it because it just was not very good. I made this and now my family can’t wait until Friday night to have it!
oh Mary!!!! I am thrilled!!!!!! So happy your hubby is happy! Blessings and Shalom back to you and yours!
Thank you, dear Jamie for sharing your wonderful challah recipe! I’ve always had such difficulty with it…but today…BAM! Success! My husband is really enjoying it. Blessings & Shalom upon you and yours!!!
OY!!! Natalie…. add another cup of warm water and it will lighten the dough and make it easier to work with all around 🙂
I have made this challa before and its amazing, but everytime i make it the dough is very hard, it softens up a bit after the 15 minutes rest time but still, compared to other chala dough i have made this one is very hard to knead, hard enough that my stand mixer almost broke… weird enough it ends up being very tasty and great texture, but i don’t make it as much bc the process of kneading it is so challenging. What could i be doing wrong that its so hard?
oh I am so thrilled! ok so… you can add raisins at one of two points 1) while you are kneading (this will give you the most even distribution) or 2) (if you don’t want to make the entire batch raisin) you can add when you are shaping – so if you make a pull apart add some raisins to each ball you form.
Hi love your recipes,just a quick question,if I want to add raisan at what stage should I add it?
YAY!!!!!! The brand is called Magic Mill Non Stick Challah Pans – you can find them on amazon in all sizes. (I bought them in my local kosher supermarket in Monsey.)
Hello Jamie.
Thank you for posting your challah bread recipe. I tried it using King Arthur flour. I came out great.
Q. where did you purchase your pans.
thanking you in advance.
Alana
OMG crazyyyyyy! I can not believe it happened to you too! It could have something to do with the altitude (but I don’t really think so – just grasping at straws here….) So guess what? You don’t have to worry — since making aliyah (just over 2 years ago!) I half the recipe all the time and it comes out perfect!!! I was so scared the first time but Baruch Hashem it worked!
Thanks Debbie. I am terribly sorry the name of the recipe feels insensitive. It is not one of mine but rather a recipe generated from our community and named after a popular drink. The author explains here in the comments: http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/irish-car-bomb-cake/
Hi Abe – I hope you are able to see my response above.
hey Susie! yes: shape and bake immediately, and yes: this does help to prevent oven spring BUT when I use whole wheat flour and/or am making round challahs I do let the shaped challahs rise again before baking.
Abe and Suzanne!!!! First you should both be happy and healthy and baking together until 120!!! I can not apologize enough for not commenting sooner (I have been traveling like crazy leading up to the holidays and then took some time off to be with my family). I can not tell you how this comment warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I was especially close to my grandparents and when my grandmothers passed away I became even closer to my grandfathers. They were both amazing cooks (one was a gourmet chef and restaurateur and my paternal grandfather’s name was Abraham, a butcher by trade his nickname was actually “chef”). I wasn’t interested in cooking before they passed and I feel like I missed out on special time with them in the kitchen. To read about you and your beautiful Suzanne baking together is so super special and emotional for me. I am so honored that my recipe is one that you enJOYed together. I did just comment in the reply above that this recipe can easily yield 6 large challahs instead of 4 extra large challahs – and in fact that is what I have been doing of late (or even 4 large and 4 medium sized rolls). I love!!!! the turmeric idea and double egg wash. Please please please hug Suzanne for me and her boys. I am sure you treasure your time together both in the kitchen and out – but it’s worth noting that I now treasure this experience together with you (from afar). Lots of love, Jamie.
oh Fran! I am sorry this is a dense challah. There are two options here 1) cover the challah loosely with foil to allow the inside to bake longer before burning the outside or 2) make smaller challahs in the future: Instead of having this recipe yield 4 extra large challah you can make 6 large or even 4 large and 4 medium sized rolls.
Chanie!!!!!!!!!! TOO cute, too awesome, too adorable! I love your comment and am so thankful you baked challah together and took the time to write me here. PLEASE give you tot a squeeze for me!
hi Natalie!!! I am so sorry I had been traveling like crazy and I am only getting to this now. Yes overnight rise in the fridge should work well here too. As for cups: 3 1/4 cups of high gluten flour equals 1 pound. But I have a scale and usually weigh my flour for accuracy which is ideal if you can.
hi Miriam!!!! I am so thrilled to hear!!! 1 cup is the standard 8 ounces. Great luck – enJOY, enJOY, enJOY!
Shalom from Israel. 1 Kilo is 2.2 pounds. So it’s a little less than 3 bags – you should weigh the flour for accuracy.
WOW thank you so so so much!!! Please hug your 17 yr old granddaughter for me. As for challah cinnamon buns etc… you are right! Thanks for pointing it out. Hope you enJOYed the challah!
hi Chanarochel!! Thank you thank you thank you! BH we are loving Israel and so happy and honored to live here. OK so I have also been using a mixer now that I am here mostly bc I changed to whole wheat flour and the mixer incorporates air into the dough and produces a lighter/fluffier whole wheat challah than hand kneading. So here is what I recommend: Half the recipe exactly and use only 3 pounds of flour (not 3.3) – weigh it for accuracy if you can. Proof the yeast in the bowl of the mixer, once proofed add the flour and then start the mixer. Slowly add in the rest of the ingredients (in fact have them ready to go) and mix with the dough hook for 8 – 10 minutes.
not that I am aware of – that is to say Israel is full of poppy seed challahs.
I am intrigued by all the reviews and want to give your recipe a try. Just want to confirm that you shape and bake immediately without another rise after they are shaped. Also, does the no rise before you bake help to avoid “oven spring” (when the braids look they have expanded too much)?
Above see memo
Dear Jamie
My Granddaughter and I do a lot of baking Pastry, Challah etc. Today we decided to use your recipe 6lbs of flour. I must say that it is a little different than most recipes we use, buttttt the 4 Challahs were the best we ever made. They rose beautifully, we actually could have made 6 challahs. We did not put them in the garbage bags. We did cover them in a damp warm cloth and kept them near a sunny window. We also added tumeric and egg washed it twice also we used 5 egg yolks
Thank you
Abe Baron (age 92) and my beautiful Granddaughter Suzanne(mother of 2 active boys
Can you help me. I followed the directions but the inside of my challah is not done but the outside gets to dark what should i do?
Thank you Jamie! My tot and I watched your video and then followed the steps to make the challa dough. Right now we are ‘snacking’ on a yummy piece of challa! I better hide the rest of the batch quickly, if I want to still have some for yom tov!
Hello, I am planning to try out your recipe for rosh hashana. I normally make the challa dough a day in advance and let it rise through the night in the fridge until the next morning, can I do the same with your challa?
Also, can you specify how many cups of flour you use? I can’t find a 5 or 6 pound bag.
Hi Jamie,
thanks for your website and videos, it makes me willing to bake challahs every Friday 🙂
though you’ve explained everything very detailed, could not guess the size of cup, could you please clarify how many ML or OZ you mean in one cup of water??
thanks
hi, living in Israel how many bags of 1kilo flour is this?
thanks!!! cant wait to try
I noticed that some people use some of the challah dough for baking Mezonos.
But it’s really a Motzei.
Maybe you should point that out.
my 17 yr. old granddaughter made your recipe. When i asked her where she got the recipe, she said Jamie Geller.
It looked so professional and the taste was out of this world.So,even though I’ve been baking for a long time. I decided to try it.I only had a 5 lb.bag of flour (Kemach) so I cut back a little on the ingredients.
(I used 5 Tbls.of yeast)
I got a tremendous yield of dough.
I think putting it in a large bag was the reason.
Can’t wait to taste it.
BTW your potato kugel is out of this world.the secret? the pyrex dish!
keep up the good work!
YAY YAY YAY AND YES! You can refrigerate it before or after rising. Either way you should take it out early Friday morning and keep it covered with a towel and in a bag in a warm cozy corner of your kitchen (I used to put it on the counter on top of the dishwasher and now I have a cover for my range this way the heat from the oven and/or dishwasher warms the dough). Point is you need to let it come to room temp before punching it down and shaping it. You can let it rise again once or twice if you have time but it’s not necessary – most important is that it’s at least room temp and not cold when you go to shape it. Also important: make sure you coat it with oil before it goes in the fridge and keep it covered in the fridge with at least a towel (bag is also good) and then when you take it out coat again with oil and cover with a towel and bag – this will keep the dough from forming a skin. Hope this makes your Friday Challah prep easier – come back and let us know. enJOY!
I’m made this recipe a bunch of times, and each time everybody loved it! Thanks so much for posting! My question is whether the dough can be refrigerated over night (ie. Thursday night to be made on Friday) and if so, at what point during the process can it be refrigerated?
It all depends what I am in the mood for and now I also make free form challah which means I just shape my challahs and bake them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. But generally when I am using the oval pans I opt for the medium size – for large challahs and the small pans for small challahs/”rolls” – I find if you need a LARGER challah you are better off making it free form on a baking sheet bc that amount of dough in a large pan doesn’t have enough room to expand and the outside burns before the inside has had a chance to fully cook through. Whatever size you use don’t over stuff the pan bc of what I just described above – give your gorgeous challahs room to grow.
yes but you MUST HALF the recipe (so your don’t kill your machine and/or have you ingredients explode all over your kitchen – AHHHH!)
can you make your challah in a bread machine?
HI, i see you use nonstick oval pans for the challah in your video…they come in many sizes so was wondering if you know which size you use?? Thanks
Hey Mushka – we have had great success with 50% whole wheat and 70% whole wheat. 100% will of course make it even more dense but that’s just the nature of whole wheat. EnJOY.
how can i make this recipe whole wheat?
hi there all the way from Antwerp Belgium!!!! so that absolutely should NOT happen. in fact it should rise and puff up while baking… sometimes mine almost rises too much in the oven — perhaps your yeast wasn’t active — did it double is size when you proofed it and did your dough rise nicely?
Thanks for your response. My yeast did double in size when i proofed it and my dough did rise as well. But while rising in the oven the braiding shapes slowly disappeared which resulted to a flat top. 🙂
ok so another “trick” to retain the braid shape is after braiding do not let it rise again but rather bake it immediately. let us know how that works for you.