Challah Bread

When I started making challah on Friday nights, I searched for over a year for a good recipe. I actually bought cookbooks with one challah recipe in hopes that it would be "the one". Then I found this recipe. It is without a doubt, the best challah I've ever made (and much better than most of the store-bought ones in the Boston area). It is especially wonderful with raisins, topped with cinnamon sugar. One caveat though: be careful about the baking time. Mine never takes more than 25 minutes in the oven.

We live in Israel and this receipe's taste is as authentic as the loaves we buy in the shop for Shabbat!!! Great taste and simple to do ( first time I have ever made bread). One loaf I flavored with onion and the other with herbs. Superb.

Very, very good bread. I have made this twice, once with rapid rise yeast and one with traditional active dry yeast. Active dry yeast works 100% better. Make sure to let the yeast/warm water sit for ten minutes with a tsp of sugar before adding other ingredients. Using bread flour also produced a better product than using all purpose flour. Used one egg, three egg yokes for the dough per another reviewer's suggestion, and added a Tablespoon of honey to the egg bath at the end. Definitely take the suggestion of baking for 30 minutes only, and cover with foil after 20.

REALLY GREAT!!! When i found that my local bakery was out of the round challot for Rosh Hashana, i made this recipe simply by searching for "honey challah" in a search engine. After years of fruitless attempts at making challah that were either too yeasty or just tasteless and hard, this is a REAL WINNER, and my kids think so too!!! Thanks a bunch! ...i just would have liked it to come out fluffier..

I love making bread and often trying new recipes has given me a good point of reference. This bread was easy to make and turned out really nice, with abeautiful crunch and great flavor. I added a bit more honey than called for, for a great sweet bread. The dough was great to deal with and easy to shape.

My grandmother made Challah for Sabbath, so I was hoping to get the same type she made from this recipe. The bread looked fantastic and was a perfect piture of Challah, but as soon as I tasted it, I knew it wasn't the same. I'm not sure how to fix it, but it sure needs more egg yolks and honey, it lacked the honey eggy flavor Bubbe's did! Also, the dough was far too sticky with the 8 cups of flour, and found I had to add quite a bit more in order to work with it. I am thinking of using egg yolks only, more honey and cutting down on the water. The good news is that it did make excellent french toast and croutons, so not a total loss!

I had never made challah before, but I think this is a really good recipe. Next time I think I'll add a pinch more salt, or maybe more honey--just to give it some added flavor. I also thought it was a good basic recipe to add herbs and spices to, I think I'll add dill next time to see what happens. I didn't know if I was supposed to separate the third egg for the egg wash, so I kept it whole; as a result, I ended up with a few bits of scrambled egg on the top! I think I'll just do the yolk next time? Any ideas?

Definitly a keeper! After reading 7 pages of reviews, I used milk instead of water, 1 pack active dry yeast, 1 egg and 3 yolks, ( saved the egg whites for the wash), cut salt to 3/4 teaspoon, added 1 cup plumped raisins, and added 6 drops of yellow food coloring. I realize I made a few changes, but it was awesome! Made into 2 loaves. Thanks Joan!

I needed a pretty loaf of bread that didn't take a long time to make and this was it. My family loved it and I got lots of compliments from friends who thought it looked beautiful. I have never braided bread before so I didn't know what to expect but it was so easy. Thanks for this recipe!

This bread is spectacular. It tastes wonderful and looks stunning. I addad kosher salt to the top after the egg glaze and that turned out well.

Was a little sweeter than i expected, but the texture and taste were both great. I'll definately be making it again.

It was amazing; I used 4 eggs instead of 3 and 1 cup of honey instead of 1/2. I also substituted 2 1/2 water with 1 milk+1 1/2 water.

This was my first time making challah and it came out just the way I remember it from my childhood in NY, where we purchased it from neighborhood German Jewish bakeries. I made 4 changes to the recipe, which worked out beautifully: 1) I used 3/4 cup honey because I like a sweeter dough, 2) I let the dough rise three times because I live in Salt Lake City, which is a mile above sea level. The first time was 1 1/2 hrs., the second 30 min., and the third time an hour. I kneaded the dough for about 5 minutes after each rising. 3) I braided the loaves with 6 instead of 3 strands of dough for a gorgeous appearance, after studying YouTube videos. 4) The final change was to use 2 sets of egg wash - one after the final kneading after the dough was braided and set to rest for an hour, and the second was immediately before baking. The 2 egg washes provided a beautiful lacquer that made the bread look irresistable! My husband and I consumed half a loaf in a single sitting, agreeing that it was the best challah we've tasted since leaving NY in 1978. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!

Easy to make and very yummy! Made this for friends for Hannukah, they loved it!

I made this wonderful bread for a potluck Christmas party. I followed the directions exactly, except that it only took about thirty minutes to bake. It turned out beautifully--gorgeous to look at and delicious. Everyone remarked on it, and it just disappeared. I served it with freshly made sweet butter. A wonderful recipe--makes stupendous french toast the next day, too.

did anyone else find they needed to add way more flour in order to knead? my dough was farrr too sticky with only 8 cups of flour

This was my first time making and tasting challah and it is delicious! It reminds me of a rich brioche. I was able to make 4 large 6 braided loaves with this recipe. I took other reviewers' advice and added 2 extra egg yolks. I also used whole milk instead of water and butter instead of the vegetable oil. All 4 loaves took 25 mintues to bake. I rotated the pans halfway through baking for even browning. A really great tasting bread!

As a Japanese recently moved to US, I know little about Jewish culture. But if this beautiful and delicious bread is their traditional food, I am so jealous.

This was so fabulous! I made 2 loaves. It came out fluffy and so sweet. I forgot to add the eggs until I had already formed the dough so I added anyway and it still came out great! I took the advice of other reviewers and added 2 extra egg yolks and also mixed honey into the egg to brush on top of the loaves. It was so good it reminded me of my favorite Jewish bakery where there is a ridiculous line on Fridays to get challah. Anywho I was so excited to get this out the oven and try it that I burned my arm:( Yes I should add that I am extremely impatient! Thanks for the recipe!

I don't make bread often so I was a little scared to make this but it turned out great and I can't wait for it to cool down! I'm going to eat it right now! Although I don't know if anybody made this mistake but I put a little of the egg mixture on the bottom of the dough as well as the top, it was a bad idea... the bread ended up sticking to the pan! It did eventually get scraped off, but was annoying to do so don't make my mistake!

Very good! I omitted the poppy seeds and added plumped yellow raisins (see below). I also brushed the bread with an egg wash (see below) prior to baking. How to plump raisins: Place raisins in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover & let the raisins stand for about 5 minutes. Drain & use the raisins as directed in the recipe. Egg Wash: Stir egg yolk with 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. water. Brush over loaf PRIOR to baking. These little tricks will make the bread as beautiful as it is delicious.

Love this recipe! I made 6 loaves for a 50-person dorm and they were gone within five hours. I proof the yeast in the honey and water for 10 minutes before adding everything else. I use a stand mixer and knead with a dough hook for 10 minutes. Use the recipe as a guideline for flour amounts. I start with 8 cups as recommended, but it varies every time I make it with humidity, temperature, etc. I simply add more flour until the dough reaches a workable consistency -- it should pull away from and "clean" the inside of the bowl as the dough hook kneads it. I generally only have to bake for 25-30 minutes at most. The bread is incredibly moist, sweet and eggy, and folks are always impressed by the beautiful braid. Try rolling cinnamon, sugar and raisins into the dough as well. This makes the best French toast!

Excellent!!! Just a note: keep a watch while baking...the challah only took 30 minutes to bake in my oven.

I halved the recipe and put the ingredients in a bread machine on the dough cycle. When the cycle finished, I simply made the braid and impressed the guests. Very easy.

I have made this recipe several times and it's always delicious. I always sprinkle a little cornmeal on the pan before baking. Don't skip the egg wash before baking, it makes the loaves look and taste better. Take note, this makes a lot of dough, enough for two large loaves. Depending on how fast your family gobbles it up, you can always bake one loaf and freeze the other.If freezing the dough, let it rise one time, punch it down, knead it, and shape your loaf before freezing. I've tried it both ways. I have to admit I liked it better when the dough hadn't been frozen. You can always share the extra loaf with a friend, or it makes great french toast a day or two after baking. If you want to make a beautiful braided challah there are a lot of "how to" videos online you can refer to. Takes a bit of practice but the results are impressive. I'll make it again and again - it's a family favorite. This was the first "from scratch" bread I ever made; mixed up the dough in my kitchenaid, and it wasn't hard at all - don't be afraid, try it!

The bread was tasty, although a little dry. Will try again

Fantastic recipe! Of course I made a few changes. I added 3/4 cup of honey along with 3 eggs. I also let the bread rise three times. The first time and hour, the second time 1/2 hour, braid and brush with egg wash then rise a third time for one hour. This is a large recipe so I make 4 smaller loaves and freeze 3 of them after they are braided. Allow 5 hours to thaw and rise then bake. I also reduced the baking temperature to 350 and reduced the baking time to 15-18 minutes for the smaller breads. Thanks for this recipe. It's wonderful.

I didn't read this all the way thru and didn't realize it makes two VERY large loaves. As they are very GOOD loaves, I think it'll be ok. The dough did climb my KitchenAid while kneading, so I had to finish it by hand. Dough was easy to work with and baked up beautifully. I checked this at 27 minutes and it was done perfectly. It would have burnt at 40 minutes, but otherwise I followed the recipe. Will make again.

We (embarrasingly) ate two loaves of this in one night! Beware: It's completely addicting.

Great recipe! After I had already mixed my dough, I read many reviews that suggested increasing the amount of honey; next time, I may opt to do that, but it really is great as is. The loaves are absolutely HUGE! I was too intimidated to try the 6 braid method, and instead chose to braid with 3 and it looked wonderful. So glad I only baked for 30 minutes as 40 would have been too long. I tented the bread with foil after 20 minutes so as not to have a really dark crust. Thank you for posting this recipe!

It may have been because I had just enough flour for 8 cups, and any remainder I had to add for stickyness, I used whole wheat (that's all I had). But it just tasted like really bad bread. It was nothing like challah, and the flavor was awful.

This was my first attempt at making bread from scratch. It was quite easy, and very tasty when complete. I generously sprinkled cinnamon/sugar over the egg wash before baking--utterly spectacular!!!!!

a wonderful recipe !!! i have tried it 3 times, and each time the results are DELICIOUS!!Thanks for posting it!!!

FANTASTIC!!!! Sooo good! I doubled the recipe - and use a 6 lb bag of high glutten flour. I also sometimes use 1/1/2 cups of honey and sometimes use 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead of the honey...depending on what I have available. We like our challah sweet. I make the double batch the night before I want to bake the challah, I spray a garbage bag with PAM and put the dough in the bag. I pour about 2 tbsp. of oil into the bag and then place the bag into the fridge to rise overnight. In the morning - I don't have to wait for the dough to rise! It rises and is ready to be breaded and is a wonderful consistency to work with!!! I love this recipe and make it all the time! I braid the challah and let it rise for about 20 minutes, and bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, depending ton the size of the challah. i have also used some of this dough to make "Cinnamon Rolls I" from this website! Amazing recipe as well!!!!

Recommendations- For those who commented it wasn't quite sweet enough, I agree. Added an additional 1/4 C honey, baked it for 32-35 minutes. Noticed the first bread I baked was a bit overdone at 40 minutes. The second time baking it for less time and with a splash more of honey was what took the cake!!!

I loved this recipe. It was delicious. The recipe will need more flour and less baking time. About 25min at 375°F

First of all, as a rule, I can NOT bake bread. This recipe has cured me of that! YUM! Easy, and beautiful. I rolled my dough out, buttered it lightly, grated cinnamon over it, sprinkled it with light brown sugar, rolled it up, let it rise, and baked it. I hope to make french toast from it tonight for dinner, if I can keep my family out of it long enough. :) THANKS!

It's been about 25 years since I last baked homemade bread. I chose this recipe because I wanted an eggy bread similar to an egg bagel. I got 2 HUGE loaves of bread out of this recipe. I did read the review of FeedingFrenzy below, and followed her tips except I did not half the recipe and I did not add extra honey. Next time, however, I will half this recipe and follow her tips because I would have liked this a tad sweeter. Even as is, this bread is delicious! I would definitely make this bread again. I did not have a bread machine or the mixmaster with the hook, I did it all by hand, and still it came out so good I could not ask for a better loaf of bread for my holiday table! I would recommend strongly the use of parchment paper to line your baking sheet rather than greasing one up. It will eliminate the bottom of the bread burning. I gave it five stars because it yielded such generous loaves and it tasted really good. I am storing it in the freezer wrapped in foil for the upcoming holiday. It freezes well. 5 Stars. Well done!

I made this Challah for 800 people (that's right, 800!!) and it was a HIT. It was loved by all. I added 3 eggs instead of 2, 1 cup of honey instead of 1/2 (which makes the dough super sticky and harder to work with but well worth it in the end) and lots of golden raisins that I allowed to plump in hot water before adding to the dough. I added a little honey to the egg wash and then sprinkled with poppy seeds. (I used a bread machine to do all of the kneading and raising for me since I had so many loaves to do.) Thanks for the recipe!!

My second attempt (first successful attempt) at ever making bread- this recipe was so easy, calls for easily accessible ingredients, and tastes delicious. I turned down the heat halfway through baking, transfered to a lower shelf in the oven, and put foil over the top to keep it from browning too much. Besides that, I can't wait to try this again with cinnamon, raisins or poppyseed! One note: the dough rises a LOT, i got two HUGE loaves out of this recipe. I'd suggest making three loaves with the dough, or two loaves and some smaller rolls. Delicious.

Delish!

Wow! This is the best Challah! I halved the recipe and added an extra egg to the dough per reviews and knowing I love the rich egg flavor of challah. I also added about an extra 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour because of the extra egg. I made the dough in my bread machine and then braided it, let it rise for 1 hour, and baked according to directions. Everyone loved it! I've tried a lot of recipes for Challah and this is the best. Thanks so much, it makes a beautiful, giant loaf that I can't wait to give as gifts (or eat!)

this was so easy. Followed the recipe exactly and it tastes great. Mine wasn't as egg-y as the bakery though. Made 2 enormorous braids.

This is a really great Challah recipe! The only thing is that the baking time too long. It usually only takes between 20 and 30 minutes (about 25 when the dough is divided into 3 loaves). You can tell when they are done when the braid starts to stretch in the middle and you can see white. Then it will be nice and moist!

Awesome recipe. It kills everytime! My whole family looks forward to when I cook this. My one tip though: bake at 350 degrees instead of 375. At 375 the bottom gets too hard to even bite! At 350 it's and pliable.

wasn't in love with this recipe, followed exactly. It was more dense and crumbly than I like.

this was awesome. the bread came out picture perfect. ill make this again for sure!!! i did a 6 strand braid for a thicker bread for sandwiches.

these were so yummy. i did make a couple of changes, though. i halved the recipe, but i still used about 1/3c honey. i also used an additional egg yolk. and i proofed the yeast in the warm water with a little sugar before mixing everything together. i didnt make loaves, i made them into little rolls instead (got 13 GIANT rolls with halved recipe). i brushed them with a little melted butter before letting them rise a second time, then brushed them again with an egg/honey wash before baking them. i didn't have any issues with them rising either time, and they turned out delicious and flaky. thanks so much for sharing this recipe!

This challah was so good! I made it for the holidays and everyone loved it! It was soft and delicious! Thanks Joan!

I made this for a school class on breads around the world. It is SO good! Try it sliced and toasted with honey. My 7 year old helped, and though she didn't knead anywhere near 5 minutes, it still turned out fine!

I've made this twice now, the first time it came out crumbly and not light and fluffy like I prefer, though the taste was pretty good. This time around I added 1 whole tablespoon of dry yeast (I halved the recipe so as to only have one loaf) and used half a cup of honey. I added the honey to the warm water to let the yeast go nuts on it, and once I got a nice thick foam then I added the rest of the ingredients. This time I was also much more careful about my mixer overworking the dough, and my oven runs hot so I baked the loaf at 325 for maybe 25 minutes, then checked it, and had to put it back in for another ten. It turned out just as beautiful and fluffy as I like it to be, and I'll definitely be making this very often from now on.

Really good sandwich bread.

This tasted amazing! My only complaint is that it came out waaaay too sticky, and I had to add a whole lot of flour, but it tasted great anyway! For the egg wash I use the yolk from the egg, add some water and sugar, beat it all together, and wallah! It comes out just like at the bakeries!

After reading some of the other reviews and practicing a couple of times I made this recipe just the way I like it. I really like a sweet and fluffy challah, so I also halved the recipe and used a whole packet of rapid rise yeast. Instead of 4 cups of all-purpose flour I use 3 and 1 cup of self-rising flour. I also use 1/2 cup of honey. I allow the dough to rise 1.5 hrs the first rise and 1 hours the second, but I find that it doesnt actually look a whole lot bigger, so dont be scared if this happens. Make sure to cover the challah half way through baking as the top tends to burn.

the best, made for x-mas, made 2 huge loaves, let rise a good long time both rises, make in mixer, start with paddle and switch to dough hook, needs hardly any hand kneading

WOW! So easy! So delicious! Only adjustment was the baking time (30 minutes, not 40). Consider baking on paper - easier to transport off pan. Good crust, soft center. PERFECT!

This doesn't taste anything like challah... it tastes like italian bread.

It was good not great. For me it seems like it is missing something (my memory of good challa was at my grandma's house), I am not sure what! Cook time was only 20 minutes. When I make it again I think I will add a bit more honey and an extra egg. But, it is very easy to make. Me and my twin 3 year olds were able to make it with no problems....I made it again with an extra egg in the dough and it was wonderful....

I made 1/4 of the recipe, ending up with 8 buns. I used half a packet of quick rise yeast, doubled the honey, used 1 whole egg, & used 1.5 cups white bread flour + 1 cup all purpose flour. The texture of the buns was beautiful, but it was too dry. Next time I will definitely double the amount of oil. Maybe I will cut back on some water too, using only 1/2 cup for 1/4 of the recipe, since the dough was ridiculously sticky (hence the additional amount of flour used).

Every time I make this recipe it is a big hit.I follow the recipe exactly except that I use either all whole wheat or mostly whole wheat flour and I leave off the poppy-seeds. It also seems to bake MUCH faster then the recipe suggest that it will. I usually take it out at 25 minutes and it's perfectly done. I don't know if this is because I bake it on a pizza stone. I like peoples ideas with adding honey to the glaze. Maybe I'll try that next time.

It's really easy and tasty! I loved it!

good. better than other recipes I've tried. not as sweet as sugar recipes, but the honey is healthier and I like that.

This bread is phenomenal. It was my first time ever making bread and I chose to try this recipe out. I was a little intimidated knowing I'd have to "braid" dough but it really wasn't hard at all. I added a little more honey (3/4 cup) than was called for and for my egg wash I added a little milk (1/2 tsp) and honey (1/2 tsp) to it. It gave it this nice golden brown glow. I made one with golden raisins and one without and they both tasted great. My whole family loved it!

this is so, so delicious! that said, i did (groan) modify it a bit. ;-) to begin, i halved the recipe (not to worry, a half-recipe loaf could feed an army), and then, having re-calculated the proportions, switched out just over half the amount of water for 2% milk, used 1.5x the amount of honey called for, and used one full egg and two egg yolks. i also used white bread flour instead of all-purpose, and for me, it's perfect! actually, for any torontonians out there, it reminds me of yitz's (which is the highest compliment possible in the world of challah!). to really, really get that perfect sweet, richness, the dough could stand to have one or two egg yolks more still, and a bit more honey, but as it is now, it's pretty darn good. i will definitely make this again!

I'm not a baker, but this recipe made me look like a pro. I unashamedly admit that I nearly ate the whole loaf. I was initially worried that the flour started clumping when adding to liquid, but it was fine. I used my Kitchen Aid, but put it away prematurely - after initial rise, will knead one by hand and one with Kitchen Aid next time. I baked my first loaf for 28 min and it was almost burnt; the second for just under 20 min. The second loaf TRUMPED the first. DO NOT BAKE FOR RECOMMENDED TIME!!

Tasty, but needed a little less time in the oven.

I enjoyed making it. My first bread to bake and it turned out really well. The bread's delicious!

Great challah bread recipe. I made dinner rolls out of the dough by making small "snakes" and tying them in knots. I placed them on a greased cookie sheet, brushed with beaten egg, and sprinkled with poppy seeds. They came out really pretty, and were more gourmet than regular dinner rolls.

Wonderful recipe and wonderful Bread! I have only failed at all the bread/dough recipes I've had prior to this one! This dough was silky and smooth, rose well and was easy to prepare and knead. I used my kitchenaid to mix the dough then turned it out and kneaded by hand. I let it rise in the over with a pan of just boiled water on the bottom rack, easily doubled in size. The baking time was exactly right and the loaves were golden brown and lovely! The only change I made to to recipe was to use half honey and half brown sugar (but only because I ran out of honey). I will definitely be making this again!

I have been baking challah for 35 years. This is the BEST RECIPE I have ever made. I made 4 loaves for Rosh Hashanah and bearly had enough left for french toast in the morning. This is a WINNER

First time making Challah. Oh my GOODNESS! This bread was FANTASTIC! Even though I halved the recipe, it made a HUGE loaf...and we managed to eat half of it this evening! Wonderful! Will absolutely make again! I can't wait! 5 Stars! My husband is quite fond of it, and I wanted to surprise him by making it for him. I found a video online to show how to braid a 6-strand Challah loaf. I also used the advice of one of the other reviewers, and halved the recipe, but used 1/2 cup of honey, 1 egg, and 3 egg yolks in the dough.

This may be the best challah bread recipe I have tried to date. The flavor was good and the texture perfect, especially for bread puddings and French toast which is one of the reasons I make it. I only made half the recipe and used two whole eggs. Four cups of flour makes a big enough loaf of bread for us. Because Thanksgiving is coming, just for a chuckle, I thought I’d attempt to make a turkey shaped loaf of bread getting in the “Respect the Bird” spirit of AR. Thank you for sharing not only a delicious recipe, but a great adult version of Playdough. :-)

Now THIS is traditional Challah! Delicious and so easy to make that even a 12 year old child can do it (my little one often makes it, and without my help). We make it every week for Shabbat. It's so good that our non-Jewish friends rave about it and several have standing orders. And left-over Challah (if you are lucky enough to have any) makes for the most divine French toast!

This bread was AMAZING! I cut down the servings from 30 to 20 and kept the eggs the same. I put all the ingredients in my bread machine and turned on the dough cycle. When that was done I punched it down, kneaded it for a while, and then braided it into one large loaf. I only baked it for 25 mins, the full 40 would have definitely burnt it. It was picture perfect! I cannot wait to make french toast in the morning!

fabulous! i did make some changes, used warm milk instead of water, butter instead of oil and added an extra egg. i also sprinkled tops with salt. i plan to make this one of my main bread recipes!

I used 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks in the dough, and I also took the advice of adding some honey in with the egg wash. Delicious!! I let it rise for a bit too long and they were probably twice the size they should've been, but the baking instructions were perfect. Very tasty! :)

I've made this twice now. Came out dry the first time. This may have been my error since this time it came out perfect! Just as good as my favorite bakery and better than the local grocery store. Make sure to knead it as long as you can possibly handle. The head baker at the bakery said it needs 45 minutes if doing it by hand. I didn't quite do that long but I did it about 30 minutes. Will be making tghis every Friday night!

This recipe tasted very bland and the cook time was too long. Both of my loaves were burned and I took them out at 34 minutes.

I have prepared this recipe so many times, I am back to print a new one! It is very good just as written. I have halved it, doubled it , frozen the dough, frozen the baked loaf and it is always delicious! It does bake quicker in my oven too, usually about 30 minutes. Thank you for sharing!

Excellent recipe! Did follow the advice of others and added 1/2 cup more honey and 2 extra egg yolks. Cooking time was only 30 min. and I had to cover with foil to prevent to dark a crust. We used the second loaf as french toast the next morning and it was DIVINE! Thanks!

pretty good, but i made some alterations so that it was really good. i half the recipe, because it makes A LOT of challah if made as written. also, i use a lot more eggs (4 i htink) and i only use yolks. and i use melted butter or margarine instead of the oil, for the fat. i think it adds more flavor, and it raises the temperature to help activate the yeast.

I made this over the holidays and it turned out wonderful! I made it exactly how mentioned except I made three loaves instead of two...wonderful recipe and easy. Thanks Joan

I followed as directed but my bread was very dense and dry. I don't know what I did wrong. First time making it and probably the last. After all that hard work, I was disappointed. Will not complain next time I splurge $6 for a 2lb challah loaf from the local jewish bakery!

It was wonderful. 25 minutes of cook time was plenty, not 40. I halved the recipe (of the 3 eggs, only 2 are used in baking and 1 in decorating, so just use 1 egg for baking when you halve it), and the one loaf was HUGE. I made it last night, and it's still moist and delicious. I don't really know what challah should take like, and I wouldn't mind an eggier bread (1 egg does't make too eggy a bread, as you might expect), but, really, it is light and fluffly and flavorful. If this were eBay, I would rate this "A+++ will do business with again"

A good, standard challah. For a richer taste, I used two additional egg yolks, and a bit of extra honey doesn't hurt. I tried another variant for this week's shabbat, and added 1/4 cup of half & half, which produced an excellent texture. (A kosher note--only include the dairy if you're house doesn't serve meat on shabbat!)

This challah is very good. Much better than another egg bread recipe I tried from this site. I am trying all challah recipes to recreate one that a coworker used to make that was eggier and sweeter. But this will be a great substituion till I get my hands on her recipe.

So good! I used a mix of all purpose flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour and unbleached bread flour. Used canola oil and almond oil and topped with flax seed. Only needed about 20 minutes in the oven. I also did a 6 strand braid. Fantastic bread!!!

This is my go to for bread I make one huge loaf for family get together I love using the honey but sometimes I'll use sorghum molasses instead of the honey and it comes out this beautiful caramel color and tastes great. It it a always comes out right recipe for me and my family.

Fantastic recipe!

I made this recipe exactly as directed. It was my first time making challah and I was making it for Rosh Hashanah at my hubby's cousin's place. I'm not Jewish and was not sure if it would be authentic but everyone there thought it was perfect! Someone had brought a store-made challah but no one ate it - mine was ripped to shreds and devoured very quickly. I was praised up and down for this challah and told that it had a very authentic taste and texture. Definitely recommend this recipe - especially for first-timers and gentiles wanting to impress the in-laws. :)

This bread is awesome. I think it will be our new family staple. Nice rich flavor. i followed some other reviewers and used milk instead of water, 2 1/4 t. yeast or one pack, 3 whole eggs in the dough one for wash and 4 T. butter instead of vegetable oil. It is easy to make and came out great the first time. It got scarfed down by anyone and everyone. It makes 2 huge loaves which is a plus in my book. Also, it kept well in the fridge for at least one week. I am going to try making cinnamon braids next time. It makes incredible french toast and bread crumbs too. Like I said I think it will be my new go to all purpose bread for the family. MMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Thank you for the recipe,it turned even better than I've expected ,my hubby thought I got them from a bakery. They took only 30 min to cook though.

yummmmy!!!!! i divided the dough into two loaves and it turn out great! this is the first time i tried making challah and it was a success! though i did made some adjustments to the recipe like other reviewers like adding more egg yolks and honey... i also baked it at 350 because it was browning too fast at 375... i also baked it for 40-45 minutes.

This bread came out wonderfully! I mixed mine in my mixer with the dough hook on speed 2 and had to add 2 more cups of flour, but it came out perfectly! It's a lot of bread, so maybe next time I will half it

Holy cow. A while back, I decided I was going to learn how to bake bread, and this was the first recipe I used. I had four roommates and a number of friends over at any given time, so every time I made this, it was gone well before anybody went home or to bed. I was thrilled at how easy it was to make! One time, I was out of honey, so I tried molasses instead. It gave it a unique, but no less delicious, flavor.

Very delicious! This was so soft. Cover the bread after baking it for 15 minutes as it was quite dark after 20 minutes. Would definitely make again and maybe into bread for sandwiches. If so, cut down the honey.

I really like this Challah recipe. I added a little OJ instead of warm water to give the bread some extra flavor. It turned out amazing!

I followed the first review that so many found helpful and my bread was very flavorful- but very dense and the texture was all wrong. I'm sure the original is much better and I will be trying that next time

I loved this bread! It made a couple loves, and I tried two different braids on them, and they both worked really well.