Food Recipes Bread Yeast Breads Apple-Honey Challah 5.0 (3) 3 Reviews Serve this apple-and-cinnamon-studded loaf for Rosh Hashanah, or anytime of year. By Caroline Schiff Caroline Schiff Caroline Schiff is the executive pastry chef at Gage & Tollner, author of The Sweet Side of Sourdough, a 2022 James Beard Award nominee for Outstanding Pastry Chef, and a 2022 F&W Best New Chef. Widely known under the Instagram moniker @pastryschiff, she is a celebrated pastry chef, culinary consultant, and recipe writer and developer based in Brooklyn. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on August 28, 2026 Save Rate PRINT Share Close Credit: Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Active Time: 45 mins Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins Yield: 1 (10-inch) loaf Jump to recipe Baking the loaf in a cake pan helps maintain its perfectly round shape.The braiding technique is simple and easy to follow, yielding a rustic yet striking challah.A cider-honey glaze and flaky sea salt add a balanced sweet-salty contrast to the fluffy loaf. Challah was the first bread I ever baked. I was in middle school and found the recipe in a well-worn Jewish cookbook. My first loaf was rich and sweet (albeit a bit dense), with a glossy egg-washed exterior. Decades later, it is as fresh and fragrant in my memory as ever. It was Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement that closes out the High Holidays marking the New Year. I wanted to bake something to break the 25-hour fast, that long-awaited moment when the sun went down after the last synagogue service. I mixed and kneaded the egg- and oil-rich dough before the morning services. Then during the break in worship, before heading to synagogue to close out the day, I shaped and baked the loaf. The break between services is traditionally a time for reflection, rest, and contemplation — not baking. But the soothing nature of making bread was, for me, a perfect moment of calm introspection, and it remains so to this day. I coiled the dough around itself in the simplest way possible, like a giant cinnamon bun, and watched it proof. I painted it with egg wash and watched it bake. From the oven it emerged, deep, golden brown and with a delicate, toasty sweetness. Weekly Shabbat challahs are braided into oblong loaves with varying numbers of strands. However, for the High Holidays, the traditional bread is woven and shaped into round loaves that symbolize the full cycle of the seasons. It is a complete, yet simultaneously endless revolution of life. In Ashkenazi tradition, we devour it with apples and honey in hope of a sweet new year. Today, I make challah with the same joy and reflection as I did decades ago, and it’s a bread I want to share because of all that it embodies, both on shabbat and for the Jewish New Year. Apple-Honey Challah brings together my favorite symbolic flavors and ingredients of the season. It is one glorious bite that needs nothing else. Delicately studded with finely chopped apples and laced with honey and olive oil, it puts me in a true time and place, and when shared with those I love, lends us all some sweet levity. —Caroline Schiff Straight versus round challah loaves Challah braided into a long, straight loaf is the classic shape served all year round, symbolizing tradition and continuity. Round challah loaves are often served during Rosh Hashanah, representing the cyclical nature of year and hope for what’s ahead. Challah French Toast Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen The dough can be on the stickier side, so you should flour as needed to roll the pieces into long ropes.Tent the loaf with foil during the last few minutes of baking to prevent it from getting too dark. For the best flavor, use refrigerated apple cider, not shelf-stable cider. This recipe was developed by Caroline Schiff; the text was written by Paige Grandjean and Caroline Schiff. Keep Screen Awake Ingredients 3/4 cup water 5 tablespoons apple cider, divided 2 (1/4-ounce) envelopes instant yeast 5 cups all-purpose flour (about 21 1/4 ounces), plus more for kneading 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing 2 teaspoons kosher salt 3 large eggs 1/4 cup honey, divided 2 cups finely chopped peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 large apple) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling Directions Microwave 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup apple cider in a small microwavable bowl until warmed (100°F to 110°F); add to bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, and sprinkle with yeast. Whisk until combined, and let stand until foamy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, oil, salt, 2 eggs, and 3 tablespoons honey. Separate remaining egg; add egg yolk to yeast mixture, and reserve egg white. Beat on low speed until dough begins to pull away from sides of bowl, 6 to 8 minutes. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Toss together apples and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add apples to dough, and mix on low until mostly incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. (Dough will be stretchy and sticky, and apples will not fully incorporate). Turn dough out onto a floured work surface, and knead until a smooth ball forms with a few bits of apple poking out, 3 to 5 minutes, adding additional flour if dough is very sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly greased large bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand at warm room temperature (about 75°F) until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Punch down dough, and turn out onto a clean work surface. Cut dough into 4 even pieces (about 11 1/2 ounces each); roll each piece into a 24-inch-long strand, lightly flouring if needed. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Place 2 strands of dough vertically in front of you, spaced 2 inches apart. (Let’s call the left strand A and the right strand B.) Arrange remaining 2 strands of dough horizontally on top of the vertical strands, spacing 2 inches apart, forming a large crisscross shape. (We’ll call the top strand C and the bottom strand D.) Weave right side of strand C under strand B; weave left side of strand D under strand A. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless You should now have 2 strand halves on each of the 4 sides; twist together each of those 2 strand halves, pinching the ends gently to secure. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Pull twisted strands clockwise around the dough’s center, creating a round loaf; tuck ends underneath. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, leaving at least a 2-inch overhang all around. Transfer shaped dough to pan. Loosely cover with plastic wrap; let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in volume, 30 to 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F during final 20 minutes of proofing. Beat reserved egg white in a small bowl using a fork until smooth. Brush dough lightly with egg white. Bake loaf until golden brown and crisp on top and internal temperature registers at least 195°F, 45 to 55 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil during final 15 minutes to prevent excess browning if needed. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon apple cider and remaining 1 tablespoon honey in a small bowl; set aside. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Remove challah from oven. Using parchment paper overhang as handles, lift and remove loaf from cake pan, and transfer to a wire rack. Immediately brush challah with apple cider mixture, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let cool completely before slicing. Morgan Hunt Ward / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Cook this recipe and more in the MyRecipes app. Get the App Save Rate Print Loading shell for RecipesUgcThreaded1 Vue component in Globe.