Apple Honey Challah is one of my most popular Rosh Hashanah recipes. This beautiful braided challah is sweetened with honey and stuffed with tender apple pieces. I have included easy braiding instructions for a perfect round challah every time.
Rosh Hashanah is fast approaching. What better way to celebrate than with a freshly baked Apple Honey Challah? On Rosh Hashanah we dip apples in honey to symbolize our hope for a sweet new year.
In this recipe, the apple and honey tradition is incorporated into my Shabbat challah recipe. It has become a holiday tradition for many readers and their families.
The Rosh Hashanah tradition is to braid challah in a round shape for the holiday. Some believe the round shape represents a crown for God. Our family tradition says that the circular shape represents the cyclical nature of the year– as one year draws to a close, another year begins, and so the circle continues.
There are many ways to make a round challah. In this post, I’ll be sharing a braiding technique that was first introduced to me by my blogging friend Andrea at Capitol to Capital. It creates a lovely challah with a very pretty design on the top.
I’ve broken it down in step-by-step instructions for you; it seems complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it you’ll realize it’s actually pretty easy.
I wanted this challah to be sweet, but not dessert-sweet. I gave it a sweetness level similar to Hawaiian bread, so it could be served and enjoyed with dinner. You can sweeten it further by topping it with honey… and with butter, if you’re so inclined.
The recipe is dairy free so it can be served with a meat meal, but I’ve gotta say it’s awesome topped with salted butter and honey. Holy moly. Good stuff!
The apples were a challenge at first. I used Granny Smith, which are naturally tart but best for baking. In the beginning, the apples weren’t baking up sweet enough for my taste.
I solved this by tossing them in sugar before integrating them into the challah. You can add a little cinnamon to the apples, too, if you’d like an apple-cinnamon flavor. With the sugar, they ended up adding a soft, moist bit of sweetness to the dough– just right!
If you’ve never made challah before, I don’t recommend starting with this one. Working with challah dough is something that becomes considerably easier with time and experience.
Rather than working the apples into the dough during kneading, I’ve found that concealing the apples in the strand creates a more even, smooth shape to the braid.
Making these stuffed strands is not a complicated process, but it might be frustrating to somebody who has never worked with challah dough before. If you’re new to challah, I recommend simply making this into a Honey Challah by omitting the apples. You can then make regular strands instead of stuffed ones, and you can choose any braiding technique you like.
There are several easy braiding methods, including a simple 3-strand or 4-strand braid, or a Linked Loops braid for a round Rosh Hashanah challah. For an introduction to the basic braiding techniques, click here.
For those who don’t want to bother with braiding and aren’t worried about making a round shaped challah, you can try a Royal Challah pan, which will create a beautifully shaped challah without the need to braid.
If you’re comfortable with challah and you’re up for the challenge, read on! It’s really not that difficult, especially since I’ve broken each step down with photos to illustrate.
Here is a printable diagram that you can bring into the kitchen to keep you on track as you braid. Once you do it a couple of times, you’ll realize it’s a very simple braid to master:
How to Braid a Four Strand Round Challah
This challah smells AMAZING while it’s baking. It has the aroma and flavor of the holiday. Topping it with turbinado sugar gives an extra bit of crunchy sweetness to the crust. Shana Tova!
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Apple Honey Challah
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, divided
- 1/4 ounces active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or canola - avocado oil is healthier)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5-7 cups flour
- 3 medium granny smith apples
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (optional)
Egg Wash Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pour ¼ cup of the lukewarm water (about 110 degrees) into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 packet of Active Dry Yeast and 1 tsp of sugar to the bowl, whisk to dissolve. Wait 10 minutes. The yeast should have activated, meaning it will look expanded and foamy. If it doesn’t, your yeast may have expired, which means your bread won’t rise—go buy some fresh yeast!
- Once your yeast has activated, add remaining 1 ¼ cup lukewarm water to the bowl along with the egg, egg yolks, honey, canola oil, vanilla and salt. Use a whisk to thoroughly blend the ingredients together.
- Begin adding the flour to the bowl by half-cupfuls, stirring with a large spoon each time flour is added. When mixture becomes too thick to stir, use your hands to knead.
- Continue to add flour and knead the dough until it’s smooth, elastic, and not sticky. The amount of flour you will need to achieve this texture varies—only add flour until the dough feels pliable and “right.” Turn the dough out onto a smooth surface and knead a few more times.
- Place a saucepan full of water on the stove to boil.
- Wash out the mixing bowl that you used to mix the challah dough. Grease the bowl with canola oil. Push the dough back into the bottom of the bowl, then flip it over so that both sides are slightly moistened by the oil.
- Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place the bowl of dough on the middle rack of your oven. Take the saucepan full of boiling water and place it below the rack where your dough sits. Close the oven, but do not turn it on. The pan of hot water will create a warm, moist environment for your dough to rise. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- Take the dough bowl out and punch it down several times to remove air pockets. Place it back inside the oven and let it rise for 1 hour longer.During this final rise, fill a mixing bowl with cold water and dissolve ½ tsp of salt in it. Peel the apples and dice them into very small pieces, about ¼ inch large. Place the diced apples into the bowl of lightly salted water. Reserve. When you are ready to begin braiding the dough, drain the apple pieces and pat them dry with paper towels. Toss the apple pieces with 1/4 cup of sugar. If you’d like, you can add ½ tsp of cinnamon to the sugar to give the apples an apple-cinnamon flavor.
- Take the dough out of the oven; it should have doubled in size during this final rise. If it has not fully risen, return it to the oven till it's had a chance to properly rise. When the dough is ready, flour a smooth surface like a cutting board. Punch the dough down into the bowl a few times, then turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Knead the dough a bit, adding flour as needed to keep it from feeling sticky. You will have enough dough for two medium-sized challot (challahs).
- Divide the dough into two equal halves. Put one half of the dough on a smooth, lightly floured surface. Leave the other half of the dough in the bowl covered by a moist towel. Cut the dough on the floured surface into four equal portions.
- Take one of the four portions and stretch it with your fingers into a rough rectangle, about 1 foot long and 3-4 inches wide. Use a rolling pin to smooth the dough, if it helps. The rectangle doesn’t need to look perfect, and it shouldn't be too thin-- the dough needs to be thick enough to handle an apple filling.
- Sprinkle some of the sugared apple pieces across the center of the rectangle. You should use about 1/8 of the apple pieces in each rectangle. Liquid will collect in the apple bowl as you progress—do not transfer the liquid to the dough, or it will weaken and become mushy. Do your best to shake off excess liquid before placing the apples on the dough. Leave at least 1/2 inch border along the outer edge of the dough clean, with no apples.
- Gently roll the upper edge of the rectangle down to the lower edge and pinch to seal, creating a snake-like roll of dough stuffed with apples. This is the beginning of your strand.
- Gently and carefully roll the stuffed strand till it becomes smooth, using gentle pressure with your hands on the center of the strand, pulling outward as you roll. If any apples begin to poke through the dough, repair the hole with your fingers before you continue. Re-flour the surface as needed to keep your dough from sticking.
- Taper the ends of the strand by clasping between both palms and rolling. At the end of the rolling process, your strand should be about 16 to 18 inches long with tapered ends.Once your apple strand has been rolled, repeat the process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough, making sure that they are even in length with the first strand. In the end, you’ll have 4 apple-stuffed strands.
- Now your stuffed strands are ready to braid. There are a few different ways to braid 4 strands into a challah. This recipe will guide you through one method for braiding a round four strand challah. For other braiding methods, click here.Place two strands in the center of a smooth surface, running parallel top to bottom. Place the third strand across the two strands, going under the left strand and over the right. Place the fourth strand directly below the third strand, going over the left strand and under the right. You will have something similar to a tic-tac-toe board pattern, with the center of the board being a very small square and 8 “legs” sticking out from that center. Keep the center as tight as possible… you’ll be braiding from the center. I have numbered the strand ends in the following diagram to make the braiding process easier.
- Take strand 1 and cross it over strand 2.
- Take strand 3 and cross it over strand 4.
- Take strand 5 and cross it over strand 6.
- Take strand 7 and cross it over strand 8.
- Take strand 2 and cross it back the opposite way, over strand 7.
- Take strand 8 and cross it over strand 5.
- Take strand 6 and cross it over strand 3.
- Take strand 4 and cross it over strand 1.
- Take strand 7 and twist it with strand 4.
- Tuck the twisted ends under the challah.
- Repeat this process with the remaining loose ends—twist and tuck 1 with 6, then 3 and 8, then 5 and 2.
- When all of the loose ends are twisted under, gently plump the challah into a nice, even round shape.
- After the round has been braided, place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Let the braid rise 30 to 45 minutes longer. You’ll know the dough is ready to bake when you press your finger into the dough and the indentation stays, rather than bouncing back. While this challah rises, you can braid the other half of the dough in the same way, or you might choose a different braid for your second challah. No matter which way you braid, you can conceal the apple pieces inside the strands using the same method described above. Your second challah will rise as the first one bakes.
- Prepare your egg wash by beating the egg, salt and water till smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the mixture onto the visible surface of your challah. Reserve the leftover egg wash. Sprinkle the top of the challah with 1 tbsp turbinado sugar, if you wish.Each challah needs to bake for about 45 minutes total, but to get the best result the baking should be done in stages. First, set your timer to 20 minutes and put your challah in the oven.After 20 minutes, take the challah out of the oven and coat the grooves of the braid with another thin layer of egg wash. These areas tend to expand during baking, exposing dough that will turn white unless they are coated with egg wash. Turn the challah around, so the opposite side faces front, and put it back into the oven. Turning it will help your challah brown evenly—the back of the oven is usually hotter than the front.The challah will need to bake for about 20 minutes longer. For this last part of the baking process, keep an eye on your challah—it may be browning faster than it's baking. Once the challah is browned to your liking, take it out and tent it with foil, then place it back in the oven. Remove the foil for the last 2 minutes of baking time.Take the challah out of the oven. At this point your house should smell delicious. Test the bread for doneness by turning it over and tapping on the bottom of the loaf—if it makes a hollow sound, and it's golden brown all the way across, it’s done. Because of the apples in this challah, it may take a bit longer to bake than your regular challah recipe. Err on the side of letting it cook longer to make sure it's baked all the way through. You can also stick an instant read thermometer in the thickest part of the challah-- when it reads 190, it is baked all the way through. Let challah cool completely on a wire cooling rack before serving. Bake the second challah in the same way.
NOTES
Nutrition
Wait, so will it mess it up if I bake both at the same time??
No you can bake both at the same time, if your oven is large enough– just be sure to use different baking sheets, otherwise they will crowd the pan and merge together.
I just made Shofar and Ram shaped Rosh Hashanah Apple Raisin loaves for my Jewish neighbor and two restauranteurs in Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley, plus one for myself. I replaced all sugar with organic honey. It was fun to sculpt and baking them made the house fragrant. You can see pictures on my bakery page at Yelp.com Flour Power Bakery Yucca Valley, California. I wish I could post pictures of Tori’s recipes on this site. Thank you Tori, I love your care in the history of recipes: being a culinary artist is self entertaining and enlightening.
Hi Tori,
I made the challahs earlier this week and froze them. We are very excited to bake them! One question…recipe says to let the braided challah rise 30 to 45 minutes longer on skinny sheet. How long should I do this afternoon taking out of freezer? Thanks so much and Chag Sameach!
You’ll need to thaw the dough completely, let it come to room temperature, and let it rise again. As recipe states, you’ll know the dough is ready to bake when you press your finger into the dough and the indentation stays, rather than bouncing back.
Am I able to make the dough an advance and then let it rise and bake it the next day?
After punching it down you can cover with a towel and let it do the second rise in the refrigerator overnight, then shape, braid, rise and bake the next day.
This was awesome and super fun! Thanks for the great recipe.
Shana Tova culam!
Hi, When you serve you challah do you slice it all the way across or pull of pieces. Thanks
Traditionally you would pass the challah around and pull off the pieces. Good question! 🙂
Hi – I have made these before – delicious!! However, my daughter is now gluten-free. Can I make this with All purpose GF flour? Thanks!
Martina, I do not recommend making this with GF flour. Unfortunately challah needs the elasticity of gluten to braid and shape; subbing a cup for cup substitute will not work here. I have been working on developing a GF challah recipe, but have found it very difficult. If I am able to nail it at some point I will definitely post here!
Love love love this recipe! It is now my go to challah recipe for Rosh Hashanah! I’m making it for the third year in a row now, and I fully intend to keep making it every single year! It always comes out perfectly and is a huge hit with my family. Thanks so much for sharing and I love all the little bread baking tricks within it (now I always rise things in the oven with hot water).
The recipe looks great!
I have 2 questions.
1. If i want to cut the recipe in half (to make just 1 loaf), 1 egg and 1 yolk is ok?
2. Is it possible to make the bulk fermentation in the fridge over night? if so, shuold I proof it 2 hours before putting it in the fridge?
Toda and Shana Tova 🙂
Hi Agat, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. In our experience, increasing or decreasing ingredients for baking recipes doesn’t always work out well. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that cutting this recipe in half would give good results.
Hi Tori!
I’m really excited to try this recipe, but I want to double or even triple it. Can I just double the ingredients, and do everything the same? Or will the extra ingredients affect how the dough rises or something else?
That would be a lot of dough to work with at once! I have never tried it so I can’t say if it would be manageable or not. I think in theory it should be fine, but no promises. Sorry I can’t help you more.
I’ve doubled and tripled this recipe before. We’ve been making this recipe for years now and it turns out so good every time! I do usually have the help of a couple more sets of hands as it’s a big job. We make many smaller loaves so the baking time changes a bit. Also I have yet to try stuffing it with apples. Hope this helps.
Thank you for answering Grace!
I’m going to give this a go. I always use the late Evelyn Rose challah recipe because it fits perfectly in my bread making machine. With arthritis I need all the help I can get. I put the ingredients in the machine just to make a dough, then put it in a greased bowl in the fridge over night then shape it the next morning and bake.
Chag Sameach!
How long would this keep, and how should I store it, if I were to bake it on Sunday and serve it first night of Rosh Hashanah (Wednesday)?
Hi Katherine, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This challah can be frozen in a freezer bag and then reheated in a 300 degree oven until warmed through on the day you’d like to serve it.
I use a bread maker to make my challah and was wondering if the ingredients for the apple filling should be the same. Thanks for the help!
Hi Yael, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. We have not made this recipe with a breadmaker, so unfortunately I cannot advise. I would suggest reading through the comments to see if another reader has had luck with using a breadmaker.
My hubby doesn’t like apples but lives peaches and apricots. Since I am not a fruit person I wonder if you think peaches would be too moist. If so, what are your thoughts of adding corn starch to thicken?
Hi Beth,Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I’m not sure how well a softer fruit would work in this recipe since we haven’t tried it. I don’t think adding corn starch would make a difference. You can give it a try, but I think more firm fruits, like apples or pears, are best for this recipe.
I made these today. They are fantastic! Ian experienced baking challahs. These were fun to make and I learned something new today. Didn’t know how to raise challahs in oven. Brilliant!
Update: Served the first challah tonight! IT was a hit!!! This recipe is a keeper!!
Question, I want to make a hollow beehive bread using your honey challah recipe sans the apples. Take the risen dough, divide it into 20 balls, roll the balls into ropes, take two ropes and twist together, pinch ends to seal. Should end up with 10 twisted ropes. Invert a 2 quart oven safe mixing bowl and starting at the rim of the bowl, (the bottom) wrap twists around bowl, pinching ends to join each new twist. Continue until all of bowl is covered. Let rise until puffy. Brush with egg wash, bake until done and golden brown. Do you think your recipe would work for this purpose?
I wish there was a way for me to show you a picture.
Hi Sue, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This sounds lovely, though unfortunately I’m not sure how it will turn out since we haven’t tried this method before. If you do decide to give it a try, please let us know how it turns out! We’d love to see it.
I made this recipe about two weeks ago and by popular demand, I am making it again this evening. This time I am adding some chopped walnuts in with the apples and cinnamon. The recipe makes two healthy loafs so it is well worth your time and energy, and it is so good you will wish it made more! Thanks for this delightful recipe!
I really love this recipe! Had to make my own challah for high holy days when I moved to a different city for college. I have a friend who can’t eat eggs, is there an egg substitute that works without changing the results too much? Also do you know of a way to mimic the egg wash? Maybe with the canola oil?
Could you please advise whether you use bread flour or all purpose flour.
Hi Christine, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This recipe uses all purpose flour.
So easy to follow!!! They turned out amazing thank you so much!