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I first shared this bread machine challah recipe over two years ago, when I was just starting the blog.
So much has changed since December of 2010 – including the number of egg yolks in my challah recipe!
You see, my original recipe called for five yolks – YOLKS, but somewhere along the way, I started to get sick of eating egg white omelettes for lunch on Friday and decided to experiment with using whole eggs instead. Success has been achieved – see below!
Since a number of readers have recently purchased a breadmaker (thankyou Amazon for your eternally great deals – we love you!), I thought I should update my recipe for those of you looking to make challah in your newest appliance.
Oh, and please let me clarify that when I say “make your challah“, I really mean, “make your challah dough“.
Because until my husband realizes his dream of inventing a bread maker that will mix, knead, rise, braid and bake your challah, you will need to do those last two steps on your own.
Bread Machine Challah
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups water
- 3 large egg
- 1 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup sugar, honey or sucanat
- 1 T dry active yeast
- 1 large egg, beaten for glaze
Instructions
1. Place water, egg, salt, oil, flour, sugar/honey, and yeast in bread machine. Do so in the order recommended by your bread maker’s manual.
2. Select the dough cycle and go about your business for the next, roughly, 90 minutes.
3. Remove the dough promptly when the machine beeps.
4. Preheat over to 350°. Divide dough into three pieces for medium-size challot.
5. Braid and let rise for another 20-30 minutes.
6. Brush with egg and sprinkle with seeds.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, preferably on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat (my newest obsession). Watch to make sure your challah doesn’t get too dark too fast. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy.
Note: If you don’t have a bread machine, you can also make this in a KitchenAid. Just proof the yeast first, then add the other ingredients (flour last). Use the dough hook to bring all ingredients together, then continue kneading with the dough hook for about 3-4 minutes. I like to finish off the knead on the countertop for another minute or two. Let rise for one hour, or until doubled in size, then proceed with step #3.
Do you have a favorite bread maker challah recipe? I’d love for you to share below in the comments section!
Thanks, Mara – much healthier!!!!!! I didn’t do your last recipe bc we watch cholesterol.
Have you tried using whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour or a mix of whole wheat and all purpose?
I have done half and half when I make this in the KitchenAid, but I haven’t tried it in the bread maker. I bet it would work! Especially if you have a dual-paddle model (since that tends to work really well on denser flours like whole wheat).
I love adding whole wheat to my challah, but I usually replace just 1/3, not 1/2 the flour.
I also don’t use eggs. If you let it rise extra long, it’ll be just as fluffy. A lot of people can’t tell my challah is egg-free.
@R Klempner: When you don’t use eggs do you use additional liquid to replace it in the recipe or do you just use a regular bread recipe that didn’t call for eggs in the first place? I have a good whole grain bread recipe and I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be shaped into a braid and called challah!
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 & 3/4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup sugar or honey
2 tsp salt
2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp instant yeast
1/3 cup canola or grapeseed oil
Regular whole grain bread usually has less sugar and oil and doesn’t come out with the soft, fluffy texture my kids crave on Shabbos. They eat rye and whole wheat during the week, so this is a real splurge!
R Klempner, can you make your eggless challah in the bread machine or does the yeast have to be proofed? thanks!
Here is the recipe I use. It makes two small loaves or one large loaf. I will also give you the measures to make two larger loaves below.
Whole Grain Challah
3 cups whole wheat flour, home-milled
1/2 Tablespoon finely-ground sea salt
1/4 teaspoon Vitamin C powder
1/4 cup softened butter
2 Tablespoons honey
1 egg, plus
1 egg with enough water added to make 1 cup
2 Teaspoons instant yeast
Place all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order recommended by your machine’s instructions. Usually it’s wet ingredients first, then dry, then yeast on top. Unless you will be using a timed setting, you can just mix yeast into the flour. I usually whisk all my dry ingredients together, including yeast, then add to pan.
Run dough cycle for whole grain bread. I always keep an eye on the dough as it begins mixing, to make sure it won’t need extra water or flour. After a dough ball forms and all the flour has been mixed in, lightly touch it with your finger on the top of the ball. If it feels tacky but does not stick to your finger, it is just right. Not tacky and seems dry, add water, a tablespoon at a time, check again. Too moist? Add a little flour, about a tablespoon at a time, until it is right. You need to get it right in the beginning of the cycle, before it starts kneading and then is time to rise. Practice makes perfect in this.
Remove to a very lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, make 3 long ropes approx. 12-15″ long. Pinch 3 ends together and braid. Then pinch ends together. Or use the number of strands you like Most people can manage the 3-strand braid the easiest. Cover with a light cotton cloth and put in warm oven (I turn my oven to lowest temperature – 170 and then turn the oven off) and put a pan of hot water in the shelf under your bread. Let it rise for approx. 1 hour. Remove and set oven to 375F. Beat 1 egg and using a pastry brush spread it on top of the loaf and sprinkle your choice of sunflower, sesame, or poppy seeds on top. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Will not rise as tall as white flour loaves, but it is delicious!
Note: If you have it, you can add a teaspoon of diastatic malt to give the texture and rise a boost. It’s just sprouted wheat or barley berries that have been dehydrated, then milled into flour. I keep a jar of it in the freezer and it lasts a long time.
To make two larger loaves, use these measurements:
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, home-milled
3/4 Tablespoon finely-ground sea salt
3/8 teaspoon Vitamin C powder
3/8 cup softened butter
3 Tablespoons honey
1 egg, plus
2 egg with enough water added to make 1 1/2 cups
3 Teaspoons instant yeast
Looks good! And a very good reminder about checking in on your dough at the beginning of the cycle!
Here’s what I do — my family loves this:
1 c water
1/3 c sugar
1 T yeast
2 eggs
4-1/6 c bread flour
2 tsp salt
1/3 c oil of your choice (it works best with lighter oils such as canola than, say, olive oil)
Add the ingredients in the order above and run the machine through a dough cycle. Braid, let rise in the oven at 170F for about 20 minutes, then bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes, until top is golden brown.
Makes 2 large-ish, 3 medium or 4 small loaves.
This is a good (eggless) sandwich bread recipe:
1-1/3 c water
1/4 c sugar
1 T yeast
4 c bread flour
2 tsp salt
1/3 c olive oil (it has to be olive oil)
Again, add the ingredients in the order above and run the machine through a dough cycle. You can cook this in the machine for a large square loaf — if so, use the appropriate cycle.
Or put it in loaf pans, let rise in the oven at 170F for about 20 minutes, then bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes, until top is golden brown. Makes 2 large-ish, 3 medium or 4 small loaves.
I like doctoring both of these up a bit by adding flavoring/spices. A few examples:
- 1 tsp each vanilla and cinnamon
- 2 cubes each of Dorot frozen basil and garlic
- 1 c nuts, plus 1/4 c honey
Thanks for your sandwich bread recipe, too!
Mara, your recipe is almost exactly my recipe. I wore out my last bread machine a long time ago and replaced it with a new Kitchen Aid (thank you for your awesome deal!). I think I started with the recipe that came with my bread machine and tweaked and tweaked. I use 5 cups white and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I also toss in 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed and only use 2 eggs. Other than that, it’s the same. I’m enjoying seeing all these recipes–may have to try them! BTW, your challahs are gorgeous!
Here’s my 2 cents –
1. Use agave nectar — more healthy than honey/sugar and better for diabetics.
2. Be lazy and skip the glaze. No one misses it and it cuts down on eggs.
3. Enjoy the fall yom-tovim — round challahs are faster/easier to shape!
Mara, will your recipe fit in a 2 lb bread machine?
A friend who heard about my new toy (bread maker!) sent me this link and I’ve made this recipe twice now. I’m in love! We live at high altitude, though, so I think next time I’m going to add in another half cup of flour. The dough was pretty sticky. But the loaves always bake up beautifully and taste divine! I’ve got three in the oven right now and I can’t wait to taste them tonight. Shabbat shalom!
YAY! I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipe (and your new toy). It’s definitely our favorite.