Here it is—my favorite round challah recipe for Rosh Hashanah! If you’ve visited this page in years past or follow me on Instagram, you might notice that I’ve spiffed things up with a few new step-by-step photos and a more thorough recipe. This is one of the most popular pages on my site (alongside my regular, year-round challah recipe), and I wanted to make sure anyone who arrives here feels thoroughly guided in their round challah-making adventures, whether it’s your first or fiftieth time making round challah from scratch. The new, photo-filled tutorial is both straightforward and comprehensive, making this round challah an ideal option for beginner bakers (or just ones who’ve never baked challah before). And if you take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions section below, you’ll note that I also show you not one, but two braiding techniques—sort of like an “easy” and “boss level” situation—so you can decide exactly how much you’d like to challenge yourself this year.
This round challah recipe is one-bowl, very-little-knead, no-fancy-equipment, and so many other positive hyphenated things. I can’t wait for you to try it out for yourself.
Truly, this is the sort of challah recipe that could make a bread baker out of a non-bread-baker. You don’t need a stand mixer to make it happen, for starters, nor do you need any bread-making experience. Before we get to the recipe, though, a few frequently asked questions:
Why do we make round challah on Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year, and many believe the round shape of the challah we eat on the holiday represents the circular or cyclical nature of a year. That’s always made sense to me, personally, and it’s what I grew up understanding the shape to mean. But there are other theories, some involving the round shape of a crown—as though we’re crowning G-d as we shape and bake our challot. There’s also just something special about setting this challah apart from all of the other challah loaves we bake throughout the year; it heightens and accentuates the importance of the High Holidays. Whatever you take it to mean, though, you’ll agree that the never-ending circle makes for a beautiful, special, decidedly different challah.
Why is Rosh Hashanah challah sweet?
For the same reason we dip apples in honey: to represent our hopes for a sweet new year ahead. My recipe involves a cinnamon-sugar filling (check back 8/1/2021 for revised recipe!) that’s still subtle enough to allow the bread to be served alongside a savory dinner, but many families and bakeries add raisins to their challah on Rosh Hashanah, and others take the theme even further by adding apples and honey straight into the dough.
How do you braid or shape round challah?
I’ve included an easy braiding technique in the tutorial below, but there are many different ways of achieving a round shape. I think anyone can master the 4-strand braid—it’s really much simpler than it looks; in fact, I think it’s one of the easiest challah-shaping techniques of all—but if that’s not for you, you can always stick with the far simpler “coil” method if you’re feeling at all nervous. Here’s a photo of my 2019 Rosh Hashanah challah for reference—it’s a good example of that coiling method. You simply make one strand, then guide it back onto itself in a spiral pattern. Easy!
Is round challah hard to make?
No! Anyone can bake a beautiful loaf of challah without much trouble, even total beginners. In fact, challah is known as one of the easiest breads to bake. However, challah recipes are time-intensive—though most of that time is spent waiting around for the dough to rise—so I’d recommend reading through the entire recipe so that you can plan your morning or afternoon accordingly. You’ll also want to prep your ingredients ahead of time so that everything’s at room temperature (including eggs!) and you’re sure you really have enough of each item. Since time is a crucial component of bread-baking, you don’t want to be running out at the last minute to grab this or that ingredient. I’ve done my best to make the below tutorial really comprehensive and thorough so that bakers with any level of experience can join in.
Can you make challah ahead of time?
Yes and no. Yes, it’s possible (and possibly even a good idea, depending on your schedule!) to make challah dough ahead of time, and then bake it on the day you plan to serve it—find information on doing that over here. But I personally would wait to officially bake a challah until the actual day-of. Don’t get me wrong: A day-old loaf will still be great—especially as French toast (leftovers are actually recommended for that!). But challah can be downright excellent on the day it’s baked. And once you’ve gone through all the work of making a few beautiful loaves, it’s a shame to serve them in a less-than-ideal form.
What tools do I need to make challah?
Challah is fairly straightforward as far as breads go, but if you’re looking to invest in some fancy new equipment to make the process a bit smoother, I’ve linked all of my challah-making essentials over here.
I hope you enjoy making this, and if you love the result, please leave a comment below or let me know over on Instagram or TikTok! I love seeing photos of your creations. You can also find tons of other Rosh Hashanah inspiration here, including Rosh Hashanah table decorations, desserts, cocktails, place cards, plus Rosh Hashanah quotes and poems.
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Round Challah for Rosh Hashanah
- Working Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 medium-sized loaves or 1 large loaf, depending on how you choose to divide and braid the dough 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: Jewish
- Diet: Kosher
Description
This easy round challah recipe for Rosh Hashanah includes a step-by-step braiding tutorial, making it an ideal challah recipe for beginner bakers. Making round challah is a little time-intensive, so I highly recommend reading all the way through to the end of the recipe and thinking carefully about your timing to make sure you’ve planned out your day accordingly. But the end results are more than worth it: Fluffy, picturesque, just-dense-enough round challah with a subtle (and completely adjustable!) sweetness level.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (if you’re using packets, depending on the brand, this usually translates to a little more than one; still, you’ll want to measure it out carefully to be sure)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water (if you want to be precise, between 95° and 110° Fahrenheit is ideal)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus another 1/2 cup for your work surface
- 2 cups bread flour
- 2 large eggs, room temperature (you can warm them up quickly by letting them sit in a glass of warm water)
- 1/2 cup neutral oil (options include avocado oil, canola/vegetable oil, sunflower seed oil, and grapeseed oil; olive oil works fine as a substitute)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
For the cinnamon-raisin filling:
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup raisins
For the egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast with sugar, water, and flour: In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the yeast, sugar, warm water, and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until all ingredients are incorporated and no lumps remain. Scrape down the sides if needed with a rubber spatula, then cover the bowl with a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. (Note that you should see some bubbling/foaming and observe a subtle beer-like smell within just a minute or two—that’s how you’ll know your yeast is, in fact, active andnot expired.) Here’s how it might look after an hour:
- Add the rest of the wet ingredients: When the hour is up, crack the eggs directly on top of the now-foamy mixture, then pour in the honey and oil. Rigorously stir the mixture together until thoroughly incorporated and perfectly uniformin color and texture.
- Add dry ingredients and begin the kneading process: Add the salt, the remaining 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (continue to retain the 1/2 cup for your eventual work surface), and all of the bread flour. Use a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients together until you’re looking at a (very!) disheveled-looking dough ball. It’ll be pretty messy at this point; not to worry; you’re on the right track. At this point, throw on a pair of latex gloves (optional, but I prefer to use them for a few minutes while things are extra messy), then get your hands into the bowl and keep up the initial kneading. After another minute, you’ll be looking at an ever-so-slightly more cohesive dough mass.
- Finish the kneading process outside of the bowl: Sprinkle your work surface with a few tablespoons of the retained all-purpose flour. Remove the sticky mass of dough from the mixer bowl and place it on the well-floured surface; continue knead by hand for another 3 to 4 minutes until the dough ball is round, smooth, and supple. You might not need all of the retained flour (I typically use a little more than 1/4 cup), but continue adding until you’re satisfied with the dough’s appearance and texture: It should be smooth, supple, and tacky to the touch, but not sticky (in other words, don’t over-flour the dough if you can help it; some tackiness is expected and desired). Depending on the climate, season, and temperature within your home, you might find you need more or less of this “extra” flour each week.
- First rise: Finish shaping the dough into a true ball, then place it in an oiled bowl (lightly greased by hand with about 1 tablespoon of any oil—this just ensures that the dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl as it rises). Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it’s doubled in size.
- Make the filling: While the dough is rising, make the filling by mixing together the cinnamon and brown sugar; set aside.
- Divide the dough, fill, and shape into rope-like strands: Once time’s up, remove the dough from the bowl. Use a bench scraper or sharp knife to divide it into four equal parts (**or eight, if you’re planning on making two loaves**). Use a rolling pin (or the palms of your hands) to shape each resulting triangle into a flat rectangle; it’ll be a little oblong, but that’s okay. Then, sprinkle about 1/8 of the sugar mixture onto the rectangle followed by a smattering of raisins, leaving at least a 1″ border on one of the long edges. Use your fingers to carefully roll up each dough portion into a short, snake-like strand. Continue rolling the strands to gently lengthen. You’re aiming for a final length of ~10-12 inches (see next step if you aren’t able to get all the way there). Gently pinch each strand at the seam to secure (to ensure that filling doesn’t leak out in baking process). Repeat process until all remaining dough portions are filled and rolled out.
- Let the strands “rest” before lengthening them one more time: Optional, but I like to cover the strands with a kitchen towel and let them rest for a few minutes before returning for one last rolling spree; I find I can get an additional inch or two out of them when I work this way.
- Braid: There are so many ways to achieve a 4-strand braid, but here’s how I like to go about it:
Start by prepping your strands. Make a “pound/hashtag” shape by placing two of the strands parallel to one another, then place the other two strands on top of, and perpendicular to, the first two.
Next, tweak that shape a little to create a simple “basket weave” shape. Simply stitch the snakes together in an alternating fashion, going “under” and “over,” like so:
Now you’re really ready to begin braiding. First of all, for clarity’s sake, let’s give names to all of the strands.
As you can see, in the image above, I’ve numbered all of the strands that are “under” other strands (1, 2, 3, 4), and I’ve lettered all of the strands that are “over” other strands (A, B, C, D). The entire braiding process is essentially a matter of taking “under” strands and turning them into “over” strands.You’re going to start by taking Strand 1, which starts out as an “under” strand, and bringing it up and over Strand A:
Next, let’s take another “under” strand and bring it “over” its neighbor: Strand 2 over Strand B.
Onto the next “under” strand (in counter-clockwise order)—Strand 3! Let’s move Strand 3 up and over Strand C. See the pattern?
And one more “under-over” transformation: We’ll move Strand 4 over Strand D to finish things up.
At this point, all of your numbered strands have safely made their way over your lettered strands. Now, you’re going to repeat the whole over-under process, but you’re going to go in the opposite direction this time—clockwise. Start by bringing Strand A over Strand 4.
Next, bring Strand D over Strand 3.
Then, bring Strand C over Strand 2.
And finally, bring Strand B over Strand 1.
And…you’re done! You’ll end up with a few stubby pieces hanging out; simply tuck each of these beneath the loaf.(Note: You might have enough dough leftover to repeat the braiding process one more time, moving in a counter-clockwise direction once again, before tucking the loose pieces beneath the loaf.)
The eventual shape should look something like this:
- Second rise: Transfer the braided loaf to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a dish towel; let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes. (If you’re making two loaves, now’s the time to repeat the braiding process.) Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Prep your egg wash by whisking together the egg and water in a small bowl.
- Egg wash and bake: When the second rise is up and your oven is preheated, use a pastry brush to coat the exterior of the loaf with egg wash, making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until dark brown. You might have to add a few minutes depending on your oven, so keep a close eye on the bread and determine for yourself when you’ve reached the right hue. If the bread is browning much too quickly and turning an extra-dark hue (unlikely but it can happen), remove it from the oven, tent the overly browned areas or the entire thing with aluminum foil, and quickly return it to the oven to finish the internal baking process.
- Let rest and serve: It’s tempting to dive right in, but it’s best to allow the loaf/loaves to rest for at least 30 minutes before serving as they’re technically still cooking on the inside (they’ll be too hot to eat right away anyway). Then, slice, serve warm, and enjoy!
Notes
- Making the dough ahead of time: It’s possible to make your challah dough ahead of time—find information on doing that over here. I strongly recommend waiting to officially bake the challah until the actual day you plan to serve it, though. Day-old challah is still delicious (particularly if you wrap it tightly to seal from air), but it’s ideal on the day it’s baked; save the leftovers for things like French toast, croutons, and the like.
- Substituting bread flour for all-purpose flour (and vice versa): If you don’t have one or the other of these ingredients, you can, in fact, swap them out for each other as needed, using only all-purpose or only bread flour to make your dough. That said, don’t expect an “ideal” loaf—and consider just running out to the store if you can (you’ve got plenty of time to do so with all that rising time!). While both substitutions are possible, the preferable swap is the use of all-purpose in place of bread flour.
- Substituting active dry yeast for instant yeast: For the purposes of this exact method/recipe, I don’t recommend it. If that’s all you have on hand, do a quick search for an instant yeast challah recipe instead!
- Letting the dough rise too long: Generally speaking, if you let the dough rise for a little too long here or there (i.e. not significant amounts—5, 10, 20 minutes), it shouldn’t be a huge issue—so don’t sweat it. What’s more, the times shared in this and other challah recipes are actually just estimated averages; depending on the altitude and temperature of your home, more or less time will be required anyway for an “ideal” bake.
- Serving idea: If serving several hours after baking, pop the loaf/loaves back into the oven for a quick reheat; just make sure you keep the temperature low, only throw them in for up to ten minutes, and (please) don’t forget about them!
Keywords: round challah, rosh hashanah challah, raisin challah, easy rosh hashanah challah recipe
Tori – could this be successfully made without the apples? Or by adding raisins instead?
hi Paula! I think you meant to comment on this post, Tori Avey’s apple honey challah 🙂 https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/apple-honey-challah/
shana tova!
– Rebekah
Hi Rebekah, Do you need to use both all-purpose and bread flour or it is ok to use one flour or the other? Thank you!
hi! it’s okay to use all all-purpose in place of bread flour. I’ve done it several times in 2020 because of shortages and been fine. 🙂 let me know if you have any other questions and feel free to reach out on IG too! @rebekahlowin 🙂 shana tova!
Hi! Is it ok if I let it stand longer than an hour (step 1)? I miscalculated the time of running errands and will be 30 minutes late.
hi Tiffany! no worries at all – obviously not ideal but 30 minutes won’t mess up much. 🙂
Hi! Is there a reason you recommend covering with plastic instead of a cloth? I would prefer not to use the plastic but wonder if it’s important to the process. We made these loaves once already (making them a second time now) and they were beautiful and delicious Thanks!
hi Sarah! I’m so happy you liked the recipe!! 🙂 I too wish there were a way to do this without plastic—but it’s actually the most ideal because it preserves the most moisture during the rising process. without a serious covering, the dough can get a slightly crusty exterior as it dries out. in fact, a cloth covering might actually expedite that crusty outer layer because it could even ABSORB water. but—many people do use cloth and you can totally try that if it makes you more comfortable. my personal tip (but I’ve never tried it!) would be to throw a well-fitted sauce pan lid on top of your bowl and see how that does. good luck!! can’t wait to hear how it goes & shabbat shalom!
Hi! Thanks for the ideas. I went with the pot lid as a cover and it worked just fine. I have been using this recipe for non-holiday challah, because it is so straight forward, and experimenting with whole wheat flour (about 1/3 whole wheat seems to be ok – not too dense, but it doesn’t rise quite as much) and leaving out the sugar. Love this recipe over all and so does the family!
love hearing that!! 🙂 so happy it’s been working out, and fun to hear about the whole wheat flour / pot lid!
When you mix the dough to form the ball, do you use a mixer? Or by hand?
by hand! 🙂
Fluffiest. Challah. Ever. Braiding tutorial was also helpful. Bookmarked, thank you!
★★★★★
Been baking challah for almost five years now and THIS recipe!!! By far the best! Thank you so much. I am so proud of myself. Made the raisin one and the plain one. I’m trying the apple one tomorrow G-d willing. You have just become my favourite. L’shanah tovah umetukah!
so wonderful to hear! 🙂 thank you and shana tova!
I can say without any fear of contradiction that this recipe is the BEST for me!
★★★★★
thank you so much, Portia! so happy to hear that. 🙂
This recipe looks delicious. Will it taste just as good if I don’t add the cinnamon mixture to one of the two challahs?
thanks so much, Mara! yes, this is actually the base recipe I use for my year-round challah – so go for it! I loveeee the fluffy texture and hope you do, too. shana tova!
Just making this now with my daughter and We are so excited to taste it! Shana Tova! Xx
How should I adjust the recipe for high altitude (5280 ft – I’m in Denver)? Thank you!
hi Jessie! hm, I’m not an expert on that, but this looks like a great resource from King Arthur: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
wishing you luck!
Hi! If I want to use the stand mixer to knead instead of my hands, will that still work? How long should I let the mixer knead for?
hi! I don’t have stand mixer details written out for this round challah, but you can find my classic challah stand mixer variation here and it’ll likely give you an idea of how to convert times – https://rebekahlowin.com/stand-mixer-challah-recipe/ 🙂 something to work on for next year!
Does the baking time change if you make one large loaf?
I’d definitely opt for 35 mins if you’re doing just one loaf, but keep an eye on it because every oven’s different!
I love baking. It’s my favorite hobby. I made this for my girlfriends mom who raised in a Jewish household. After her first bite she began to cry because she said it reminded her of the challah her mom used to make when she was still alive. This recipe is easy, tasty, and authentic.
★★★★★
oh my goodness, that is so beautiful. THANK YOU for sharing the story and kind review; you completely made my day.
Love this recipe! Always turns out great and dough is so easy to work with. Can you substitute instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
hi Robin! thank you so much, first of all!! and apologies for the late response. i’ve never used instant yeast with my challah (definitely worth a try and a test!), but if that’s all you’ve got, you can absolutely go ahead and use it. you’ll just need to watch your dough carefully and cut down on rising times (possibly quite substantially). 🙂 hope this helps!
Quick question (I wonder if you’ll respond while I’m Still Baking 😉 Do you bake both loaves at the same time, do you rest the second one longer or put it in the fridge, how dies that work?
★★★★★
Hi! Good question!! You can bake them at the same time – I always do – but you’ll need a big enough baking sheet and will want to leave at least 2-ish inches of room between the loaves because they’ll continue to rise in the oven.:) Shana tova!!
Thanks for your Response!
Shana Tova
hi Rebekah, do you think it would be possible to substitute diced dried apples for the raisins in the filling? I thought it would be great for our Rosh Hashana dinner “apples and honey” theme but didn’t know it that would throw off the liquid ratio in the recipe? P.s. the comments section seems to be default set to all caps – I swear I’m not shouting! Thanks for your help 🙂
oh no! I have to check on that all-caps situation, ha! 🙂 apples do tend to skew things liquid-y, so I’d be concerned about that with fresh fruit—but DRIED apples would be perfectly fine! love that idea!! please let me know how it goes.
question: Is it possible to reduce the water equivalent to another egg? i found 1 tbsp. salt a bit too salty, can it be reduced?
★★★★
hi! yes, you can definitely reduce the salt – I actually sometimes add *more,* ha! to each their own. I’m not sure about the water/egg, but worth trying if you’re curious!
What if I need to let one of the risings happen for 3 hours to work with my day? Is that a problem? Also, is it really eggy? I’ve always used more eggs in my challah? Thanks so much!
hi! for the first rise, another option might be to make the dough the night before and refrigerate it overnight, then bring it to room temp prior to braiding + second rise + baking. as for the eggs – I’m not sure what you mean by eggy, but I promise you’ll be happy with the taste and texture! 🙂 good luck + let me know how it goes/went!
can i substitute dark brown sugar for light brown sugar in the filling?
absolutely!