The whole family enjoys this! This wonderful dish is made comprised of macaroni, shrimp, and vegetables.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 2 loaves |
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, or more if needed
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (Optional)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (Optional)
- ½ teaspoon poppy seeds
- ½ teaspoon dried minced onion
- ½ teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Mix the yeast, water, and sugar together in a large bowl, stir to dissolve the sugar, and let the mixture stand until a creamy layer forms on top, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oil, and sprinkle the yeast mixture with 2 tablespoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds, 2 tablespoons of dried onion, 1 tablespoon of dried garlic, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add the flour a cup at a time up to 6 cups, then add more by half-cups if needed to make an elastic but not sticky dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a compact round shape, and place in an oiled bowl. Turn the dough over several times in the bowl to oil the surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a cloth, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the dough into 2 equal size pieces. To make 3-strand braided loaves, cut each piece into 3 pieces. 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. Place the loaves on the prepared baking sheets. Cover the loaves, and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix sesame seeds, kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of poppy seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of dried onion, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried garlic in a small bowl. Brush the loaves with beaten egg, and sprinkle with the seed mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the loaves are cooked through and golden brown, 45 to 60 minutes. Check for doneness after 45 minutes of baking time.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 193 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 8 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 626 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I found the recipe easy to follow along with with detailed instructions. Despite my over running hot, I think the bread turned out great. A bit darker that I liked, but the flavor is there. Will make some adjustments for the next time.
first time making bread with yeast… I enjoyed the process and will make this again. The steps were well laid out and easy to follow. I used a fan forced oven with all elements and the cooking time was only about 30min. Next time I’ll keep the temperature but lose the fan. The idea was to eat one loaf and give the other away – but after tasting ours my family had other ideas about gifting the 2nd loaf. (sorry about the photo – was set on ‘food’ and the outside blurred).
I just took the challah out of the oven. The WHOLE house full of the spices’ smells and it reminds me of old times, Shabbat dinner with my family. It’s just perfect 🙂
Good Bread But it sure does not taste like Challah, there is no richness to it. It taste like a lite bagel
this is the only water challah recipe i could find on this site, & we’ve tried it with & without the seasonings. it’s ok with, but i think it’s better without. either way, it’s a tasty water-challah recipe!
Excellent tasting bread. My braid pulled apart some, but it tasted fine. Very flavorful!
Delish! First time ever making a braided bread and I’m so happy with the results. It was light and fluffy and sweet.
I used my bread machine to mix the dough and it was pretty tricky since it was overflowing, but I’m glad I did it! I let it cycle through the dough setting while following the directions until Step 2 when I took it out and let it rise in a huge bowl. My loaves looked like they came from a fancy bakery! I love the way the inside is twisted and has an airy texture. I’m going to make it again and serve it with veggie cream cheese!
This was so easy to make and looked so beautiful that I felt bad cutting into it! Everyone in the family loved this bread and so did the neighbours. Since there was 2 large loaves we had one to share.
I was very happy to find a recipe that was exactly what I was looking for…”everything” bread, and I’ve made challah for years. It was very good, but my garlic and dried onions came out kind of burned. I’ll just need to tweak my cooking temp/time a little, or maybe spray the loaves with cooking spray after putting on the topping. I will definitely be making this again. My family loved it.
I put in some whole wheat flour in place of some of the bread flour, and used 1/2 cup honey in place of the sugar. Realistically, this makes 3 or 4 loaves, not just 2! Great taste! I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the salt in the topping! I braided both loaves differently, for variety’s sake! I’ll be making this again!