Honey Apple Challah Bread
This apple stuffed challah is a great bread recipe that should be enjoyed all year long. With chunks of apple, and lots of honey, this rich and beautifully braided bread is as fun to make as it is to eat!
Let’s Holla for some Challah, Whoop Whoop!
Sorry, I had to. I tried not to, but it came out anyway.
This Apple Challah Bread Recipe is a lovely bread loaf! If you have never made a challah before, you need to give it a try.
This dough is great to work with, and its so fun to twist it into a gorgeous braid. It always looks so pretty, and the apple chunks studded throughout the dough really shine.
Also try your hand at my sourdough challah recipe – which was braided with four strands in a straight loaf.
How do you make challah bread with apples?
This bread recipe is easier than you think! For the full set of directions, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below.
Mix the dough
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, 1 tsp honey and 2/3 cup warm water. Let it stand for a few minutes until its foamy.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk together the yeast mixture, oil, remaining 1/3 cup honey, eggs, and yolk.
- Switch to the dough hook and add in the flour and salt, and mix on a moderate speed until the dough starts to pull together and form a craggy mass.
- Lower the speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth, elastic and a little sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a large oil-coated bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour, or until almost doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and gently press it into an oblong shape (the shape here doesn’t matter as long as you get it mostly flat and even).
- Spread 2/3 of the apple mixture over 1/2 of the dough.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the apples and seal the edges. Press the dough down, and re-flatten the dough.
- Spread the remaining 1/3 of the apples over half of the dough, and fold the other half over the apples. At this point your dough should vaguely resemble a square-ish shape – tuck the corners under with your hands so it forms a rounded shape.
- Turn the bowl you used before upside down and put it on top of your dough and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Braid a round challah
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece into a rope about 12 inches long (tuck any apple pieces that fall out back in with your finger).
- Arrange two ropes in each direction, so they form a + sign.
- Weave them so that one side is over and the other is under where they cross the other strand.
- Take the four strands that come under and cross them over the strand to their right.
- Take the four strands that come over and cross them under the strand to their left.
- Tuck any corners or odd bumps under the dough to form a circle.
- Transfer the dough to a parchment covered baking sheet or stone.
- Beat an egg until smooth and brush over the challah (don’t get rid of the excess egg, you will be using it again!)
- Let your bread rise for 1 hour.
Bake the bread
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Brush your challah with the egg wash one more time.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes – if the loaf starts to get too brown you can cover it with tin foil.
- Cool on a wire rack before slicing. If you can. I couldn’t. 🙂
- Enjoy!
How to use challah bread
Use it to make pumpkin cinnamon bread pudding, strawberry bread pudding, or french toast!
This challah is also pretty awesome when used for a grilled cheese sandwich, or just enjoyed with a drizzle of honey or apple butter.
No matter how you eat it, this bread is delicious!
How to store challah
Store cooled challah on the counter in a sealed plastic bag or air tight container for up to 4 days.
You can also freeze challah for 2-3 months.
Try your hand at these other great homemade bread recipes:
Food tastes better when its shared! If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and rate below! Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this post, please link to this post directly for the recipe, please do not copy and paste or screenshot. Thanks so much for supporting me! xoxo
Honey and Apple Challah Recipe
Ingredients
Bread:
- 2 ¼ tsp a standard 1/4 ounce package active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup + 1 tsp honey
- ⅓ cup neutral oil plus more for the bowl
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 4 ¼ cup flour
Filling:
- 2 medium baking apples peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- a dash of cinnamon
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, 1 tsp honey and 2/3 cup warm water.
- Let stand for a few minutes until foamy.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk together the yeast mixture, oil, remaining 1/3 cup honey, eggs, and yolk.
- Switch to the dough hook and add in the flour and salt (just go ahead and dump it in) and mix on a moderate speed until the dough starts to pull together and form a craggy mass.
- Lower the speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth, elastic and a little sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a large oil-coated bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour, or until almost doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and gently press it into an oblong shape (the shape here doesn't matter as long as you get it mostly flat and even).
- Spread 2/3 of the apple mixture over 1/2 of the dough.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the apples and seal the edges.
- Press the dough down, and re-flatten the dough.
- Spread the remaining 1/3 of the apples over half of the dough, and fold the other half over the apples.
- At this point your dough should vaguely resemble a square-ish shape - tuck the corners under with your hands so it forms a rounded shape.
- Turn the bowl you used before upside down and put it on top of your dough - let it sit for 30 minutes.
To Shape the Dough:
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
- Roll and stretch each piece into a rope about 12 inches long (tuck any apple pieces that fall out back in with your finger).
- Arrange two ropes in each direction, so they form a + sign.
- Weave them so that one side is over and the other is under where they cross the other strand.
- Take the four strands that come under and cross them over the strand to their right.
- Take the four strands that come over and cross them under the strand to their left.
- Or whatever, just cross them over and under until you get a round-shape. Haha.
- Tuck any corners or odd bumps under the dough to form a circle.
- Transfer the dough to a parchment covered baking sheet or stone.
- Beat an egg until smooth and brush over the challah (don't get rid of the excess egg, you will be using it again!)
- Let your bread rise for 1 hour.
To Bake:
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Brush your challah with the egg wash one more time.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes - if the loaf starts to get too brown you can cover it with tin foil.
- Cool on a wire rack before slicing. If you can. I couldn't. 🙂
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
recipe from (Smitten Kitchen)
YUM – those apples peeking out look SO good. I bet this was delicious… was there any leftover for French toast? 🙂 Beautiful challah!!!
There was, and it was delicious! We slathered it in warmed up apple butter instead of syrup and it was awesome! 🙂
I like the dried apple version. Perfect with the honey on top!
Love the idea of apple in them. Even with the lil mistake it looks perfect?
Ooh, you got some amazing caramelization on that loaf! All I can think is a thick slice of your apple challah with soft, creamy cinnamon butter.
That's so great that even with your little mishap it turned out wonderfully! It really does look delicious
Well done!!! It's great that your bread still turned out delicious!!! Yeah i know what you mean!! Sometimes when we make a recipe even when it's right in front of us, we can somehow manage to misread it. hehe.. initially mine said 3/4 cups flour with water first. I almost read it as 3 cups instead. wow. that would have been a boo boo for sure!
Totally loving your apple and honey filling! I need to try braiding a round one in the future! Lovely job!
Your challah is so pretty! I've been wanting to try filled breads but they really intimidate me. I'd love to try this recipe though. It looks so delicious! Awesome job 🙂
Ooh wow, those drizzled honey photos look amazing. I bet your challah made the world's best french toast. Yum!
love the use of the apple…now i wish i'd added apple alongside my hefty dose of cinnamon! 🙂
I like those caramelized bits on the outside. I bet they tasted really good! It's 7sm in Malaysia right now, and I wish I had some of this for breakfast.
How gorgeous! And the thought of the subsequent french toast with apple butter sets my mouth to watering. Yum!
Looks delicious! Love the idea of an apple filling. I almost did apple and cinnamon before realising I had no apples haha. I'm going to have to try that next time I bake challah, yours looks so yum.
Wow, that looks positively gorgeous! I love the glossy caramel-looking crust, and I can't even imagine how delicious it must have tasted. Thank you for inspiring me to give it a shot!
Apple and honey challah sounds fabulous! And drizzled with honey – oh my …
Wow must've tasted great with apples. Your challah looks charmingly rustic!
Apples and honey sound like a perfect combination, I love the apples peeking through
Great job on this challenge Jenni
Thank you, as always, for visiting my blog! I wish I had been more adventurous now – that apple and honey version looks sensational! I would be worried I would eat the whole thing though. Might do it before my next marathon so I can justify eating the whole loaf 😉
I was a little scared to try incorporating anything into my challah. I love that you were truly daring and gave it a go.
I love how in the kitchen, like so few places in real life, you can overlook something or make a mistake and the result is still gorgeous and delicious. <3 Keep up the awesome baking!
Yum…apple honey challah reminfds me of Rosh Hashana celebrations as a kid with loads of relatives – so much fun! You turned out a beautiful challah, Jenni..the sliced apples on top look so pretty!
I see a lot of Bakers did filled breads with the Challah! I had no problem with the risings or the dough using Peter Reinhart's recipe – but his has far less sweetener. (I always wonder if honey affects yeast, especially in sourdough but even with commercial yeasts, just because of its antiseptic powers. There is probably nothing to it, but I still always wonder…)
I kinda like the aple pieces poking out… Call it rustic and people will think it is by design! I am sorry the dough wasn't as fun to work with as you had hoped, but I am so glad the end result was to awesome!! Thanks for baking with me this month! 🙂
You made it! Your challah looks beautiful with big chunks of apples! Making french toast with this challah sounds delicious!
You made it! Your challah looks wonderful with the big chunks of apple. I had that problem too of the apple bits sticking out too much and with the baking as well. Mine got pretty brown on top. Great idea about making french toast with this challah. I'm sure it'd be delicious!