• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Grumpy's Honeybunch
  • HoneyB's Kitchen
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Low Carb Keto Recipes
  • Disclosure & Privacy Policy
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Snapchat
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Videos
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Meal Plans
    • Shop
    • Contact
    • Videos
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Baking

    Challah Bread Recipe

    Published: Dec 9, 2012 Last updated: Aug 12, 2021 by Shelby Law Ruttan · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Sharing is caring!

    11 shares
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    A braided egg bread that is traditionally made for the Jewish Sabbath.

    Yesterday a young girl I work with came over to bake with me.  She wanted to make Challah bread.  Although I have never made it before, I was game.  After all, aren't most of us foodies game for anything to do with cooking/baking?

    Rose showed up in the afternoon,  just as I was about to put my Kale in the oven to make Kale Chips.    She was patient with me as we waited for each batch of kale to crisp up and once the kale was finished, we set to mixing the bread in the Kitchen-Aid.

    We found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  The original calls for honey but I didn't want to use what I had left of the honey so we substituted brown rice syrup.  We also used half white whole wheat and half all purpose flour.

    Baby Challah

    While I knew Challah bread was a Jewish recipe, I never really knew what the background was to making it.  I was also curious as to how other people ate it.  Did they just eat it as regular bread?  Rose said she loved to spread jam on hers and another friend at work tells me she loves to make bread pudding with it.

    I did a read up to see what the background of Challah bread and found that it is a Jewish tradition for the Sabbath and holidays.  They make a double loaf to commemorate the manna that fell from heaven while the Israelites were in the dessert for their 40 year wander.  On holidays, or the day before the Sabbath, double the manna would fall and the Israelites would collect twice as much so they would have enough over the Sabbath also.  We didn't do the loaves with 6 strands of bread, instead we did the 3, but will definitely make one with the 6 strands now - especially since I found that the meaning of 6 strands was a representation of the  twelve tribes of Israel (6 strands each loaf totaling twelve).

    Rose told me that she had a "learning experience" while at my home baking with me which she very well may have, but it was also a learning experience for me.  While I grew up in a religious home, and I was very aware of the stories, I had no idea about the history of the Challah and that it represented the 12 tribes!  I had such a great time and I really hope to do this again with Rose and do something else new!  We will be sharing the baby Challah at work tomorrow however the 1 big loaf that we made was split between us and I'll be trying a piece this morning!

    Challah

    Shelby Law Ruttan
    A braided egg bread that is traditionally made for the Jewish Sabbath.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Go to Collections
    Prep Time 30 mins
    Cook Time 40 mins
    Additional Time 2 hrs 30 mins
    Total Time 3 hrs 40 mins
    Course Breads
    Cuisine Jewish
    Servings 24
    Calories 196 kcal

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 ½ cups warm water
    • ½ cup brown rice syrup or honey
    • 3 large eggs divided
    • 4 tablespoons canola oil
    • 4 cups all purpose flour
    • 4 cups white whole wheat flour
    • 1 package rapid rise yeast
    • ½ tablespoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds optional
    • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds optional
    • 1 tablespoon water

    Instructions
     

    • In kitchen-aid using dough hook attachment, place the water, 2 eggs, syrup or honey, and olive oil.  Turn onto low to stir slightly (eggs will not break up).
    • Place 4 cups white whole wheat flour in mixer bowl. Make a slight well in the flour to cup the yeast.  Pour the yeast into the flour well and add the salt.
    • Turn mixer on to low and mix until dough starts to form. Turn mixer off and scrape down sides.  Continue mixing until you have a wet dough with no flour spots.
    • Once flour is incorporated, continue kneading for 4-5 minutes more. Add a sprinkle of flour as needed if dough starts to look “sticky”. Turn dough out onto clean surface and knead by hand a few times.  Place
      in a oiled bowl to rise until doubled in size.
    • Approximately 1 -½ hours (our rose longer since we were busy making and eating dinner in the process!) Punch dough down after rising time is over and divide in half.
    • Once dough is braided you will want to let it rise another hour.  Prior to baking, whisk remaining egg and water and then brush the bread with
      the egg mixture.
    • Sprinkle with seeds if desired and bake 30-40 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1sliceCalories: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 6gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 155mgPotassium: 60mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 30IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 29mgIron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @grumpyshoneybunch or tag #grumpyshoneybunch!

    More Baking

    • Peach Muffins with Fresh or Canned Peaches
    • Red Velvet Brownies
    • Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
    • Air Fryer Eggnog Cookies

    About Shelby Law Ruttan

    Shelby is the author/owner of Grumpy's Honeybunch. Established in 2007, she shares and preserves family recipes as well as recipes for cooking light and keto. She has authored the One-Pot Paleo Cookbook and The Pescatarian Keto Cookbook. She is an experienced, self-taught home cook who loves to share recipes with others. She also authors the websites Honeybunch Hunts and The Best Vegetarian Recipes. You can see her work on websites such as Veal Made Easy, Parade, Community Table, SoFab Food, Yummly, and FoodGawker.

    Subscribe

    for your weekly recipe fix.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandi P

      March 11, 2014 at 12:40 am

      Thank looks great Shelby! I do love Challah but never made it. It would go perfect with a matzo ball soup that I make! Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great evening! 🙂

      Sandi @ A New York Foodie

      Reply
    2. Andrew's Mom

      December 10, 2012 at 12:14 pm

      What a great looking challah and what a nice experience!

      Reply
    3. LeAndra

      December 10, 2012 at 12:51 am

      Your braids look fantastic, and I love how you substituted ingredients to fit your needs. I made challah for the first time last spring, and I found an entire blog dedicated to the bread was helpful. If you are interested, you can see more of that blog at http://www.thechallahblog.com/p/recipes-at-glance.html.

      Reply
      • honeyb

        December 10, 2012 at 10:30 am

        Thanks LeAndra! I will definitely check it out!

        Reply
    4. Ruth Daniels

      December 09, 2012 at 8:54 pm

      What a gorgeous basket of challahs. Every time I eat challah I think of the first time I made it http://onceuponafeast.blogspot.ca/2005/05/kooking-with-kids.html Now Joanna (my older daughter) makes some every week with her little boys. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.

      Reply
      • honeyb

        December 10, 2012 at 10:32 am

        Your welcome Ruth! Its amazing how fast time flies...I truly hope there was something I did with my kids that they will do and remember me when they do it 🙂

        Reply
    5. Denise @ Creative Kitchen

      December 09, 2012 at 5:08 pm

      Beautiful!! I've always wanted to make challah but just haven't gotten around to it yet. 🙂 Sounds like you had a wonderful afternoon.

      Denise

      Reply
      • honeyb

        December 10, 2012 at 10:33 am

        Thank you Denise! It was so much fun and I think I even can say its the most fun I've ever had making a yeasted bread 🙂

        Reply
    6. Cathy Wiechert

      December 09, 2012 at 3:30 pm

      This is beautiful! It's been years since I've made challah. I will have to remedy that. 🙂

      Reply
    7. claudia lamascolo

      December 09, 2012 at 2:05 pm

      Looks wonderful Shelby. I made that last week using Zoe 5 minutes Challah recipe and it was awesome.. and fast! This sounds tasty love the ingredients!

      Reply
      • honeyb

        December 10, 2012 at 10:34 am

        Thanks Claudia!

        Reply

    Leave a comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome! I'm Shelby Law Ruttan, I'm a mom, grandmother, and cookbook author for HoneyB's Kitchen who started blogging family recipes in 2007 for.... 

    More about me →

    Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
    Southern Sweet Potato Pie

    Trending Recipes

    • Keto Chicken Nuggets with Canned Chicken
    • Baked Red Snapper Recipe with Garlic Topping
    • Air Fryer Roast Beef with Herb Crust
    • Hot Fireball Apple Cider Toddy
    • Crockpot Venison Stew - Warm and Hearty
    • Mom's Rhubarb Sauce

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    About Shelby Law Ruttan

    Privacy Policy

    Terms and Conditions of Use

    Accessibility Statement

    As Featured In:

    Contact Shelby

    Contact

    Work with me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme

    11 shares