Challah Recipe

Challah is the braided egg bread of Jewish tradition: glossy and mahogany on the outside from an egg wash, soft and faintly sweet inside, with a tender pull-apart crumb that makes exceptional French toast the next day. It is enriched with eggs and oil but, unlike brioche, deliberately holds back on richness so it stays light enough to braid cleanly and tear by hand.

The defining choice is that challah is pareve — made with no dairy at all, so it can be served at a meal with either meat or milk under kosher dietary law. That is why the fat here is oil (10%) rather than butter, and why the liquid leans on eggs (25%) plus a modest 34% water. Total hydration reads low for an enriched bread, but the eggs and oil carry much of the real moisture; counting only the water undersells how soft the dough actually is. Sugar sits at 10% and can be swapped one-for-one for honey, which is traditional and adds a rounder sweetness and slightly deeper color.

The work of challah is the braid. A six-strand braid is the classic and the one documented here; it looks intimidating and is really just a repeating over-under pattern that becomes muscle memory after one loaf. Roll the strands even, keep them from drying as you work, and do not over-tighten — the braid needs room to swell during proof and bake. Two coats of egg wash, one before proofing and one just before baking, are what build that lacquered shine.

Beyond the braid the dough is forgiving and beginner-friendly to mix, which is why it lands at intermediate rather than advanced: the ratio is easy, the shaping is the skill.