Bread Machine Challah Recipe

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My family is really big on challah bread so, I decided to try to make a few loaves using my bread machine. Let me tell you…it made ALL the difference! It was so easy to make, no need to buy challah at the bakery!

Bread Machine Challah Recipe

Bread Machine Challah Recipe

Challah is a traditional Jewish Sabbath bread that dates back thousands of years. It’s a very soft and slightly sweet loaf of bread. It gets its color and flavor from eggs and honey.

It’s seriously my favorite kind of bread to have at home!  It is so soft and fluffy, you’ll want to devour the whole loaf!

baked challah bread

Don’t have a bread machine? Follow this recipe to homemade challah bread recipe baked in the oven!

Looking to buy a bread machine?  Click here for the model I recommend.

divided dough to make challah braid

How To Make Challah In A Bread Machine

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the extra egg. You’ll need to save that for later.

Add the bread dough into the bread machine. Select the “Dough” cycle and press “Start”.

prepping challah bread in bread machine

When the bread machine is done with the dough cycle, remove the dough from the machine.

After you have removed the dough from the bread machine, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts as this recipe makes 2 whole loaves.

Divide each part into 3 equal parts, shaping each section of the dough into a long snake.

3 long pieces to braid challah bread

After you have done that to all three sections, braid them into a braid as you would on hair (so you have 2 braided challahs).

braiding technique for challah bread recipe

making challah bread

braiding bread machine challah bread

braided challah bread

three braid challah bread recipe

finished braided challah bread

making braided challah bread with a bread machine

Place the braided challahs onto the prepped baking sheet.

two loaves of challah bread and one with chocolate chips

Remeber that extra egg? Crack and whisk the egg in a bowl and use a pastry brush to add a layer of the egg wash to the challahs.

adding egg wash to challah bread recipe with pastry brush

Let the challahs rise at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.

After the 30 minutes are up, place the challahs in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

baked challah bread loaves

Cooking Tip

Toppings You Can Add To Challah

While I love challah bread just the way it is, I sometimes like to change it up and add a few more ingredients to the dough. Since this recipe makes 2 loaves, I will take one of them and add a couple of chocolate chips over the top as a treat for my family.

making challah dough with chocolate chips

They love it!

chocolate chip dough to make challah bread

Here are a couple of other toppings you can add to your challah dough:

  • Raisins
  • Pistachios
  • Kosher salt
  • Dried fruit (apricots, cranberries)

braided chocolate chip challah bread

What To Serve With Challah Bread

There are so many different ways to serve and eat challah bread. In our household, we like to slice it up and it with a schmear of butter and homemade orange marmalade for breakfast.

For lunch and dinner, I will cut some nice thick slices and top it off with some thinly sliced beef brisket and red cabbage slaw to make the best sandwich!

baked challah bread

More Bread Machine Recipes

If you loved this sweet bread machine challah recipe, you will also love some of these other bread machine recipes!

These are some of my family’s favorites:

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Bread Machine Challah

This bread machine challah is amazing! So easy to make challah dough in the bread machine! Super soft fluffy challah that tastes mouthwatering! This is the only challah recipe you'll ever need!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Dough Rising Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 50 minutes
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Jewish
Keyword: bread, bread machine, challah
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 12
Calories: 205kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 1 tbsp active dry yeast
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 4 cups flour
  • extra egg for brushing challah before baking

Recommended Kitchen Tools (click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe)

Instructions

  • Put all ingredients in a bread machine. Select the "Dough" cycle and press "Start".
  • When the bread machine is done with the dough cycle, remove the dough from the machine.
  • Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Divide each part into 3 equal parts, shape each part into a snake, then braid into a braid (so you have 2 braided challahs).
  • Put braided challahs on a baking sheet. Whisk an egg in a bowl and brush the challahs with egg using a pastry brush. Let the challahs rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Put challahs in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
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Nutrition

Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 303mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 2mg
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8 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi, I have made this recipe many times and like it very much. I have a few questions – can you use bread flour instead of white flour? Can you replace some of the white flour with whole wheat flour? Another recipe I read said to leave the dough in the bread machine for an hour to an hour and a half after the dough cycle is finished. Would this help make the bread lighter?

      1. Hi! Does it need to rise more after the dough cycle before I separate and braid it? Or separate and braid straight from the machine?

5 from 3 votes

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