| Level: | Intermediate |
| Yield: | one 16-to-18-inch loaf |
Ingredients
- 2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus a pinch
- 7 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the yeast, a pinch of sugar and 1 cup warm water in a small bowl. Set aside while you measure out the other dry ingredients, or until frothy.
- Whisk 3 1/2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Add 1 egg, the vegetable oil and 1 cup warm water; stir until combined. Gradually stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups flour until the dough starts to come together. Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour, 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a ball, then roll each ball into a 1 1/2-to-2-inch-wide strand, about 16 inches long. Lay the strands side by side on a sheet of parchment paper and pinch them together at one end.
- Braid the 3 strands: Cross the right strand over the middle strand. Then cross the left strand over the middle strand. Repeat, crossing the right strand over the middle strand, then the left over the middle, until all of the dough is braided. Pinch the dough together at the end.
- Slide the loaf (with the parchment paper) onto a baking sheet. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl, then brush the egg wash all over the loaf. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Reviews
I have made many recipes of Challah. So many are terrible! Too dense, too complicated, etc. This is hands down the BEST. Simple ingredients and the dough is very easy to work with. It comes out delicious every single time. People beg me to make more. Huge hit!!! Light, airy, not too sweet. Add more chocolate chips if you want more sweetness. Perfect for Rosh Hashana, Shabbat, Chanukah. It’s absolutely addicting. So delicious with coffee. Everytime I try a new recipe I’m disappointed and return to this one. It’s a no fail. Enjoy.
For the bread machine: halve everything: then add an addition ½ c water, 1-2 eggs, and ⅓ cup of flour.
This recipe is not right. There should be a second rising, after the challah is braided, until doubled, before baking. Do that and I’m sure those of you who ended up with a dense loaf, will be pleased.
I am a Purist.Rather have Babka which Is Filled than Challah.
this bread is sooo good! my family loves it!
I have a bread maker, which usually calls for half of this recipe’s ingredients per loaf, so I halved it from the start, and omitted the chips.(BTW, @ 1/2 ingredients, you get ~1 lb. loaf) My first loaf was much better than bakery-bought, but the second was dense. The rise time must be observed. 1.5 hours total at least. My second only rose about an hour, and had not doubled in size. Oops. Well, for less than $.60/loaf, can you go wrong?
I have the Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the dough hook, which kneads the dough for you in the bowl. I found that after knead/mixing, I floured the bowl, and ‘swirled’ the dough (like you’d swirl a drink in a cup) and it made a nice round lump, easily transferred into the oiled-bowl.
Overall, I was surprised at how easy it was to make.
I have the Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the dough hook, which kneads the dough for you in the bowl. I found that after knead/mixing, I floured the bowl, and ‘swirled’ the dough (like you’d swirl a drink in a cup) and it made a nice round lump, easily transferred into the oiled-bowl.
Overall, I was surprised at how easy it was to make.
I have never had Challah bread before so I had nothing to compare this bread to. It came out looking beautiful. I took it to a family Christmas party the day after I made it. It was well received. One person compared it to Mrs’ Fields cookies. I had no issue with the texture, but again I had nothing to compare it to. It was an incredibly heavy loaf and I ended up bringing it back to my own party the next day and STILL had leftovers. Breaking it up in to 2 smaller loaves sounds like a great idea. Overall I think it was an impressive loaf and worthy of feeding a large group of people.
I’m not quite sure where the comments come from that say that the texture was bad, or that it was heavy; but I don’t think that either was the case with the loave that I made. This bread was incredibly easy to make, it is really good. I do agree that it makes a lot, so maybe make two smaller loaves or individual loaves instead. I honestly could sit and eat the entire loave myself.
This is the best challah recipe I have tried in a while. It’s easy and fun to make and really yummy, even without the chocolate chips. It makes great challah rolls — for Shabbat, for gifts — I put them into Chanukah gift bags for the teachers at my childrens’ school and they loved them!
This challah bakes up huge so you could make it into two smaller loaves and freeze one for later. I agree that you could let it rise twice for better texture, but I followed the recipe to a “t” the first time and it turned out fine. Makes for amazing french toast!