Community Pick
The Best Bread Machine Challah

photo by betsyberger18





- Ready In:
- 2hrs 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Yields:
-
2 challot
- Serves:
- 12
ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 1⁄8 teaspoons salt
- 1⁄3 cup oil
- 4 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour (I use bread flour) or 4 1/4 cups bread flour (I use bread flour)
- 1⁄2 cup sugar (I use brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- sesame seeds or poppy seed
directions
- Place the water, egg yolks, salt oil, flour, sugar and yeast in the bread machine pan, according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Process the ingredients in the dough cycle.
- Remove immediately when the machine beeps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Divide each piece into three sections.
- Roll each section into a long strand.
- Braid the three strands, pinching the top and bottom ends together.
- Place on a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining dough, making the second challah.
- Let the challot rise, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Brush the challot with the beaten egg.
- Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or a combination of both.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Questions & Replies

-
Why, despite many complaints about the excessive water in this recipe, has it not been altered? As written, this recipe should only be attempted by experienced bread makers. A substantial amount of flour was needed to make the dough remotely workable. Challah often is a sticky dough, but this was ridiculous. It should be more like 1/2 or 3/4 cup water. PLEASE FIX THIS!!!
see 3 more questions
Reviews
-
Mirj, must tell you that this has become my go to recipe every Friday. I have made it using brown sugar and I've tried using honey though I do use less sweet than called for in the recipe. I do have to add quite a bit more flour after the cycle is done to make the dough workable. My trick for a beautiful brown challah is to bake for 10 minutes at 375 and then the next 20 min. at 350. Turns out beautiful every time. Last week I made chocolate meringues out of the left over egg whites. They were a hit also.
-
Wow! This was so good and really suprisingly easy. We buy challah bread whenever we can because I thought it would be too hard to make, but I was wrong! I did use regular white sugar because I wasn't sure if you use packed or loose brown sugar. TIP for the NOVICE BAKER LIKE ME :) The dough is very easy to work with and you don't need to put flour down on the surface to roll it out. Just take each strand in your hands and roll it between them like you would to make a play-doh "snake" - letting gravity do some of the work. Next time I might put some foil on top for part of the baking because we like a really light colored crust, but the bread does turn out really beautifully so don't feel that you have too. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe, Mirj!!!<br/><br/>Update: I made these again today - wonderful - but I added a cup less flour than it needed, so I kneaded about a cup into the dough after the bread machine cycle. Then I let it rise for about an hour in a slightly warm oven. I baked it at 350 for 20 minutes with the convection oven and it was To-Die-For!!! Thanks again!
-
I add the full amount of water, and yes it makes a very wet dough. It just needs more flour added until it holds together into a smooth ball. This is super common with bread recipes (depending on the humidity inside of your home and other variables). Once you get used to tweaking the flour amount to get the dough to the proper consistency, this is the best and easiest foolproof challah recipe, that makes 2 giant gorgeous loaves!
-
-
I read the comments carefully and followed the recipe almost exactly. The only thing I changed was slowly adding more flour as the dough kneaded in the machine--just until it stops sticking to the side--probably 5 cups total flour. The dough came out perfectly and was very easy to handle with just a little flour to prevent sticking as I rolled the pieces. Definitely the best challah I've ever made. Very easy!
see 69 more reviews
Tweaks
-
I split this recipe into 3 total loaves of Challah. They bake a lot more even throughout. I have also found that once I add the water, egg yolks, salt, oil and brown sugar into my machine, I whisk it all together using a fork before adding my flour and yeast. I also do an egg wash with the leftover egg whites. I do not feel that it needs a yolk added to the wash. I re-apply the egg wash at the 15 minute mark while baking so that any middle section that has turned out also gets a nice coating. Turns out great. This recipe has never failed me. My family really enjoys sharing this with others!
-
-
Have extra flour on hand and add it as needed, a little bit at a time, until the dough is holding together in a ball and pulling away from the sides of the bowl as it kneads. With some tweaking to the flour/ water ratio (which is almost always necessary in bread making), this is a phenomenal challah recipe!
-
I split this recipe into 3 total loaves of Challah. They bake a lot more even throughout. I have also found that once I add the water, egg yolks, salt, oil and brown sugar into my machine, I whisk it all together using a fork before adding my flour and yeast. I also do an egg wash with the leftover egg whites. I do not feel that it needs a yolk added to the wash. I re-apply the egg wash at the 15 minute mark while baking so that any middle section that has turned out also gets a nice coating. Turns out great. This recipe has never failed me. My family really enjoys sharing this with others!
-
My very first attempt at this challah was successful! I did use a bread machine (breadman pro) to do all the work, I simply let it run through the cycles til after the first rise and then I took over. I did the recipe exactly like the one posted here but instead of 1/3 cup of oil I used 1/3 cup of melted butter. It was marvelous but next time I will try the recipe with honey instead of brown sugar. I prefer my challah on the sweeter side. Otherwise, it was a complete success. I gage my recipe's as successful when I would be proud to make a gift of it to a friend!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Mirj2338
Givat Ze'ev, 0
<p><strong><span style=color: #ff0000;>Come and visit me on my blog: </span></strong></p>
<p><a href=http://www.miriyummy.wordpress.com><strong><span style=color: #ff0000;>www.miriyummy.wordpress.com</span></strong></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>October 2011: It's been 10 years since I came into Zaar one day at the recommendation of someone on another website. If you ask my husband (or my coworkers), I haven't logged out since! <br /><br /><a href=http://www.TickerFactory.com/><br /><img src=http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;15;0/st/20011021/e/I Joined Zaar%21/dt/6/k/f656/event.png border=0 alt= /></a> <br /><br />So what's happened in the ten years since I became addicted to Zaar? Well, I've been happily married, happily divorced, and happily married once again. (Wanna see wedding pictures? Click <a href=http://community.webshots.com/user/mirjamdorn>here</a>.) <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=chuppah2.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/chuppah2.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />Originally from the Bronx, I've been living in Israel since 1983. I'm married to a brilliant man with the most yummy British accent (this is the part where he rolls his eyes and says, Yeah, yeah, yeah). Let's call him Sushiman, even though he hates that name. <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/52282>Chia</a> gave him that nickname when I was trying to create a dinner to show off my culinary talents. I posted here on Zaar with questions about the menu and since sushi was the main focus of the meal, he became Sushiman. That dinner was just the first of what I hope will become a lifetime of meals together. <br /><br />This is a picture of us taken in September 2005 in Kew Gardens in London. It my favorite picture of the two of us. <br /><br /><a href=http://photobucket.com/ target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/Kew.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting /></a> <br /><br />This comes in as a close second, taken March 2009: <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=Wedding6.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/Wedding6.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />I have 4 of the most gorgeous daughters in the known universe (tfu, tfu, tfu, that's me spitting three times to ward off the Evil Eye). Sushiman has 4 kids of his own, so together that makes us a family of ten, together with my dog and my step-dog (sadly, since I first wrote this my step-dog, Honey, crossed the Rainbow Bridge). We're the Brady Bunch on speed. Not all eight live with us, but everyone is in and out all of the time, so we're thinking about replacing our front door with one of those revolving thingies.</p>
<p>If you need help figuring out the whole complicated mess, you can check out <a title=Miriyummy -- A Guide to the Perplexed href=http://miriyummy.wordpress.com/about/ target=_blank>Miriyummy, A Guide to the Perplexed</a>.</p>
<p>Here are my four beauties -- from left to right: Adiya, Sara, Nomi and Tehila <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=111.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/111.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />On March 18, 2009, my oldest, Sara, got married to Ariel. The wedding was a clash of cultures and traditions, and we had a blast! <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=171.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/171.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />Over 500 people attended our little party... <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=237.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/237.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />... and Ariel was welcomed into our family in style! <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=225.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/225.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />If you want to see the photo album from Sara and Ariel's wedding, just go <a href=http://family.webshots.com/album/571020179JBDlvf?vhost=family&vhost=family&action=refreshPhotos&albumID=571020179&security=JBDlvf>here</a>. <br /><br />We're just one big happy family, most of the time, really! <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=098.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/098.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />Here on Recipezaar I am the host of the <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=29>Kosher & Jewish Cooking forum</a>. Come on in, and let the Jewish Mothers of Zaar feed you senseless! <br /><br />I hope you enjoy my recipes. I have only posted recipes of food that I am willing to eat myself. Therefore, you won't find anything unkosher in my recipes. You won't find any stinky bleu cheese or goat's cheese either. You will find a lot of comfort food, I believe that comfort food is very important. <br /><br />Gay and Troy are always thanking us for making Recipezaar such a great place. I firmly believe that it's Gay and Troy themselves that deserve a multitude of thanks, from us! And I hope I live up to their expectations! <br /><br /><strong>Miscellaneous Stuff</strong> <br /><br /><a href=http://www.TickerFactory.com/><br /><img src=http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10300;6/st/20050624/e/Since We Tied The Knot/dt/7/k/f6c1/event.png border=0 alt= /></a> <br /><br /> <a href=http://www.shinystat.com target=_top><br /><img src=http://www.shinystat.com/cgi-bin/shinystat.cgi?USER=Mirj border=0 alt=Free website counter /></a> <br /><br />What time is it in Ra'anana? <br />
<object width=300 height=25 data=http://www.clocklink.com/clocks/5001-red.swf?TimeZone=IST&Place=&DateFormat=DD-mm-YYYY& type=application/x-shockwave-flash>
<param name=data value=http://www.clocklink.com/clocks/5001-red.swf?TimeZone=IST&Place=&DateFormat=DD-mm-YYYY& />
<param name=src value=http://www.clocklink.com/clocks/5001-red.swf?TimeZone=IST&Place=&DateFormat=DD-mm-YYYY& />
<param name=wmode value=transparent />
</object>
<br /><br /><a href=http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/40180.html?bannertypeclick=miniWeather2><br /><img src=http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/miniWeather2_both_cond/language/www/global/stations/40180.gif border=0 alt= /><br /></a></p>