Celebrate a sweet new year with this delicious round Apple Honey Challah recipe. Serve on Erev Rosh Hashanah or have a slice for breakfast
Beautiful Apple Honey Challah
Need an edible centerpiece for your Rosh Hashanah table?
This gorgeous Apple Honey Challah is not only a looker, but also a sweet and delicious moist bread that will feed an entire army …or my small Jewish family :).
On every slice you will taste the apples mixed in with the spices and the soft crumb of the bread. On the outside, there’s a sweet glaze that gives it its beautiful shine and also a nice honey finish.
This Apple Honey Challah is not difficult to make but it does require an amount proofing time. Also, the shaping process will be a bit messy. But it’s so worth it.
To give it that height I used a 9″ springform pan. You can use any cake mold you have at home. Using a mold ensures that the challah will grow upwards instead of spreading out since it has so much filling.
Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way.
My first batch was a disaster! I added way too much filling, less yeast, and did not bake it in a mold. My poor bread did not grow as much, leaked in the oven, spread sideways and the top burnt… Needless to say, it was a big FAIL.
So, with this next batch, I reworked the recipe and the result is exactly what I wanted. A fusion of a babka and a challah in a round shape.
To make it, I first divided my risen dough in 2. With the first half, I rolled it into a rectangle and spread the flavored butter. Then I sprinkled all the apple slices on top of the butter.
With my hands, I carefully rolled the dough tightly into a log shape.
I repeated this step with my second piece of dough.
I cut each roll in half lengthwise using a sharp knife.
I arranged the 4 pieces in a “hashtag” shape using the over, under, over, under pattern (told you it was messy!)
There are tons of tutorials online on how to weave a round challah. This video will help you.
And this is what it will look like:
We place the challah in the round mold and leave it covered for one more hour to proof.
See how much it grows?
Then it goes in the oven for a while.
When the challah is ready we brush the glaze all over the top and cool.
Like I said before, it is a long and messy process but the results are beautiful.
You can make a few extra batches to give out as gifts to friends and family.
I hope you can try this delicious Apple Honey Challah at home. If you do, please upload a pic on Instagram and tag me @Livingsweetmoments or use the hashtag #LivingSweet.
Apple Honey Challah
Ingredients
For Challah Dough
- 1.3 lbs Bread Flour
- 3 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 1 cup Lukewarm Water
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
For Apple Filling
- 2 Granny Smith Apples cored, peeled, and diced
- 1 Lemon
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter
- 2 tablespoons Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg lightly whisked
- 1 tablespoon Water
Honey Glaze
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 2 tablespoons Water
Instructions
For Challah Dough
- In the bowl of the mixer, add the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar and warm water. Mix lightly and cover with a dish towel for 5 minutes for yeast to activate
- Add the sugar, egg, oil, flour, and salt and mix using your dough hook on medium speed until the dough comes together. If dough is too liquid or too sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time
- When dough comes together and is soft and elastic, remove from mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let it rise for 1 hour (or until doubled its size) in a warm area
For Apple Filling
- Mix the butter with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until creamy. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer
- Mix apple cubes with lemon juice to avoid turning brown while the dough rises
Honey Glaze
- In a small saucepan combine the honey & water
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat while stirring with a spoon until honey dissolves
- Remove from heat and let it cool
Egg Wash
- In a small bowl place the egg and the water. Whisk likely until combined
Assembly
- Grease a 9" springform pan
- Divide dough in half. Roll one-half into a rectangle. Spread half of the butter filling onto rectangle, leaving a ½-inch border on all sides. Sprinkle the apple cubes all over the butter mixture
- Starting at one long side, roll up dough, and press edge to seal. Cut rope in half lengthwise.
- Repeat with the same steps with the other half of the dough
- Place the 4 strands of dough cut side up in a hashtag pattern (over, under, over, under) and follow the steps to make a round challah. Tuck the ends of the dough
- Place dough into the prepared pan and cover with a dish towel and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm area
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Brush the top of the challah with the egg wash
- Place the springform pan over a cookie sheet (to catch any spills) and bake for 20-25 minutes
- Lower the heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and cover Challah with aluminum foil (to prevent tops from burning) and continue baking for 40-50 minutes or until challah is baked all the way through
- When challah is out of the oven, brush tops with honey syrup. Unmold and let it cool on a cooling rack
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
You may also like:
Double Chocolate Challah
Walnut Honey Bread
Butterscotch Chocolate Babka
Is 1.3 pounds of flour correct. Time to get out my scale.
Yes Bonnie! I usually measure flour by weight to be more precise. 1.3 lbs is a little less than 4 cups of bread flour
Thank you, i hope to make it tomorrow . Shana Tova
Shana Tova to you and your family Bonnie!
The challah turned out amazing! May your year be as sweet as this challah. Bonnie
yay! thanks for the feedback Bonnie! glad you liked it! Same wishes to you! Happy 5779