Bread Machine Challah
Check out this bread machine challah bread recipe. Talk about a crowd-pleaser! This beautiful braided bread makes a statement. As an extra bonus, using your bread machine makes it easy to make this classic recipe.
Updated December 10, 2023 – Originally posted November 24, 2020
Featured Comment
Unbelievable! I’m actually shocked at how good it came out. I’m a total baking amateur and got tagged to bring the challah to a Hanukkah party tomorrow. I tried a similar recipe with the mixer, total fail. Then, I remembered I had a bread maker! I dusted it off and used the similar recipe. It was better, but not great. So, I found your bread machine recipe, and it came out amazing. My family actually can’t believe I made it, and it was really easy. Thank you so much! ~ Hannah
What is Challah Bread?
Challah bread is slightly sweet and nicely tender.
Challah is a special bread in Jewish cooking. It’s usually braided and eaten on major Jewish holidays (other than Passover).
The bread is usually pale yellow in color because it contains so many eggs. The eggs also help to give it a rich flavor.
Wondering how to pronounce it? The “c” is silent so it’s haa-luh.
Small Warning
If any of you are thinking about skipping the braiding and just baking this as a loaf, I don’t recommend it.
Why? Because I had that thought too and it made a very tall loaf of bread.
This loaf was almost as tall as it was long.
I’ll work on a variant of the recipe that works better when baked as a loaf.
How to Make Challah Bread
This makes a two-pound loaf of bread. Use the dough setting.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. (In my Zojirushi bread machine I add the liquids first.) Use the dough setting.
Check the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. You’ll want the dough to form a smooth, round ball. However, if it’s a little wet, don’t worry about it.
I’ve made this recipe several times. Sometimes I get a dough ball and sometimes it comes close but doesn’t quite make it. 
If the dough is too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until the dough balls up. If really too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks as expected.
When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board. Note that the dough will be very sticky. I used a bench scraper to help me work with the dough. It helped me a lot!
Divide the dough into three equal sections. Make each section into a ball and put it onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover the dough with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
After the dough has rested, roll each ball into a rope.
My dough ropes were about 16 inches long. The next time I make challah bread, I’m going to make them longer.
Pinch the three strands of dough together at the top and begin to braid.
It’s kind of like braiding hair. Take the dough rope on the right and pass it over the center rope That dough rope is the new center rope.
Then take the rope on the left and pass it over the center rope. It’s now the center rope.
Repeat until you get to the end of the dough ropes.
Tuck the ends underneath. Move the braided bread to a cookie sheet that’s been greased or covered with parchment paper.
Cover the bread with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel and let the bread rise for an hour
Remove the towel. Brush the bread with the egg wash.
Bake the bread in a 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes. If the bread starts to get too brown you may want to put a sheet of foil over it for the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking.
Challah Bread Recipe
Again, this makes a two-pound loaf of bread. Use the dough setting.
½ cups water
3 large eggs, beaten
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Egg Wash Glaze
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon water
pinch of salt
Bread Machine Challah
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
Challah Bread
- ½ cups (118.3 ml) water
- 3 (3) eggs beaten, use large eggs
- ¼ cup (59.1 ml) canola oil
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) salt
- 3 ½ cups (437.5 g) bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
Egg Wash Glaze
- 1 (1) egg yolk
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) water
- 1 pinch (1 pinch) salt
Instructions
- This recipe is for a two-pound machine. Use the dough setting.
- Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. (I use a Zojirushi bread machine and with that, I add the liquids first.) Use the dough setting.
- Check the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. You’ll want the dough to form a smooth, round ball. However, if it’s a little wet, don’t worry about it.
- If the dough is too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until the dough balls up. If really too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks as expected.
- When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board.
- Note that the dough will be very sticky. I used a bench scraper to help me work with the dough. It helped me a lot!
- Divide the dough into three equal sections. Make each section into a ball and put it onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover the dough with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.Â
- After the dough has rested, roll each ball into a rope.Â
- My dough ropes were about 16 inches long. The next time I make challah bread, I'm going to make them longer.
- Take the dough rope on the right and pass it over the center rope That dough rope is the new center rope. Then take the rope on the left and pass it over the center rope. It's now the center rope. Repeat until you get to the end of the dough ropes.
- Tuck the ends underneath. Move the braided bread to a cookie sheet that’s been greased or covered with parchment paper.Â
- Cover the bread with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel and let the bread rise for an hour
- Remove the towel. Brush the bread with the egg wash.
- Bake the bread in a 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes.  If the bread starts to get too brown you may want to put a sheet of foil over it for the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking.
Notes
All information presented within this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on breadmachinediva.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. I try to provide accurate information to the best of my ability; however these figures should still be considered estimates.
This is a recipe I use 3x times a week. It is absolutely perfect, foolproof, and simple 🙂 I usually change water to milk and oil to room temp. butter 1:1 to have a buttery, rich flavour. Sometimes I add raisins or chocolate chips .. next time maybe I will sprinkle a little cinnamon + sugar between the strands. Also love to sprinkle the top with sesame. Looks and tastes beautiful 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Unbelievable! I’m actually shocked at how good it came out. I’m a total baking amateur and got tagged to bring the challah to a Hanukkah party tomorrow. I tried a similar recipe with the mixer, total fail. Then, I remembered I had a bread maker! I dusted it off and used the similar recipe. It was better, but not great. So, I found your bread machine recipe, and it came out amazing. My family actually can’t believe I made it, and it was really easy. Thank you so much!
When , I take a few I make mine I take a few strands of saffron and mix it in the water. The saffron gives it a unique flavor, my family loves it.
Just to add, challah isn’t just made for holidays, it’s the weekly Sabbath bread as well. The usual 3 or 4 strand braid is the usual plait, and it gets turned into a circle for Rosh Hashanah.
This is the best Challah I have ever made. Easy to make texture perfection visually perfect. I only gave this a 4 star rating because the bland taste. Next time I make this Challah I am going to add a little more sugar or add in some honey as well.
This was amazing! I wish I could load a picture of the finished loaf. Made just as instructed and it came out perfectly. Can’t wait to make this again and again! Thank you!
Best challah I’ve ever tried!! Both visually and taste. Thanks for the simple to follow directions.
I bake this recipe as one loaf in a cheesecake spring pan. It’s a very impressive loaf!
I have to say that I am so impressed with this recipe and this whole website. I tried this today as a total bread machine and baking amateur. It came out absolutely perfect. Photo-worthy! I am so delighted with the outcome. Thank you!
Thank you so much!! You made my day!
My new West bend bread machine can make a 3 lb. loaf. Do you have any idea how I can alter your recipe for this.
Great question! I’ve got an article on how to convert recipes for differently sized machines.
So help me to understand… you remove the dough from the bread machine before it rests and rises on the dough cycle?
Leave the bread in the machine until the dough cycle has completed. Then take it out.
My oven is not working but I wanted to try this. So I decided to make this as a loaf in my bread machine. I read your warning and I thought about using your conversion process to make a one and a half pound loaf. I took the lazy way out by simply removing some of the dough before it baked. The end result was a slightly smaller loaf that fit in the machine. It turned out great. The best looking loaf I’ve ever made. And my husband says it’s the best tasting!!!
It sounds like a VERY successful experiment! So maybe all people need to do to is to reduce this recipe by a third to get it to fit in the bread machine. I’ll give that a try. Thanks!!