The Best Challah

Zahava Zahava
5.0 (3 reviews)

At the beginning, this takes a while. Now it takes me around 25 minutes, start to finish, to make this challah dough, by hand. Adjust sugar according to taste. The recipe as-is makes pretty sweet dough. Yields 6 large challahs.

3h 45m 60
Medium Vegetarian Pescatarian Parve

Contains: Gluten, Wheat, Egg

Directions

Prepare the Dough

  1. Mix yeast, water and tablespoon sugar. Allow to sit until bubbly. If yeast mixture doesn’t bubble, try again.

  2. Add eggs, oil and remaining sugar. Mix. Then add around one fourth of the flour and mix to combine. Add another fourth of the flour and mix. Add another fourth of the flour with salt and mix.

  3. Add remaining flour and mix and knead with hands until flour is combined and dough is smooth (more flour may be required depending on your kitchen’s humidity). Cover with plastic wrap in a warm place until doubled, around two hours.

  4. Punch down dough and allow to rise another hour.

Shape and Bake

  1. Punch down dough and separate challah with a bracha. Shape challah and allow to rise in pans 30 minutes.

  2. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with toppings, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Suggested Recipes

Explore

challa challah Shabbos traditional
Did you make this recipe yet?

What Cooks Are Saying

5.0 out of 5

3 global ratings

5 star
100%
4 star
0%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%

Photos from Our Community

See how these recipes turned out in real kitchens. Photos from home cooks will appear here as they're shared.

Tell Us How It Went: Share Your Experience

5 Comments

Karen •

this recipe is confusing for beginners. there are 2 sections labelled: preparing the dough; the instructions for the dough do not include the yeast, the directions for yeast come after and no amounts of water for the yeast are given.

Raquel Malul Kosher.com Team •
Reply to Karen

Hi Karen, thank you for pointing this out. We updated the recipe to reflect all the changes. Hope it is clear now!

goldie fishman •

I don’t see yeast instructions ?

Esther Ganzfried •

is it normal for dough to have a cakey consistency?

Raquel Malul Kosher.com Team •
Reply to Esther Ganzfried

What do you mean by cakey? Does it feel like a dough? Can it be formed?

Chana Kagan •

Pounds? How many cups is one pound of flower?

sarah •
Reply to Chana Kagan

8

Esther Leah •
Reply to sarah

There are around 7-8 cups in a kilo which is 2.2 pounds. One pound is almost half of a kilo, therefore we are talking about 3 and a half cups. You should measure it and maybe weigh it. If you have access to Tamar Ansh's book on making challah you will find a more precise measure.

Gitty Krupnik •

MIXER? CAN THIS BE MADE BY MACHINE?

Raquel Malul Kosher.com Team •
Reply to Gitty Krupnik

Yes, if you have a machine that will fit 5 lbs of flour.