Easy Vegan Challah Bread Recipe 

The best easy vegan challah bread recipe that makes soft, fluffy, and flavorful challah bread all without eggs and no dairy! 

Traditionally, challah bread is made with eggs, oil, and sugar for an incredibly soft and easily braided loaf of bread. My goal was to make a vegan challah recipe that had the right color, had the right flavor, and was easy to handle and braid into bread loaves of many different shapes and sizes. 

After a lot of experimentation in other breads, namely my vegan Hawaiian rolls and vegan dinner rolls, I knew that the best egg replacer wouldn’t be things like flax eggs or a chia seed or aquafaba, it would be the potato. 

The sweet potato is the secret ingredient to making a buttery soft, fluffy, tender, and moist egg-free challah bread. You can use a white potato, but I love the delicate golden color that the sweet potato naturally provides. 

Ingredients 

For the full list of ingredients, complete with amounts, please see the recipe card below. 

• Bread Flour: I made this many (many) times with all purpose flour and while it can work, I strongly recommend that you use all bread flour in place of all purpose flour. The bread flour has a higher protein percentage, allowing for more stretch to come into the dough. The end result is a super soft, super tender vegan challah that just can’t be replicated with any other flour. 
• Sweet Potato: This is the egg replacer for this recipe, as well as providing that beautiful golden color to the bread after baking. The final result won’t taste like sweet potatoes at all, you’ll just have a soft bread. 
• Yeast: A big tablespoon of active dry yeast is my preferred yeast for this dough. I always worry that instant yeast won’t work and I hate wasting ingredients. Using the active dry yeast and proofing it first allows us to know that the yeast is alive and well. 
• Plant Milk: I know that traditionally milk is not used in challah bread and you use water to make a water challah. However, in testing this recipe, I found that the dough rose better and had a much better flavor when using unsweetened soymilk in place of water. 
• Oil: You can use melted vegan butter, but honestly I have way more consistent results when using a neutral oil, like canola oil. Different vegan butters have different fat:water ratios while an oil will always be the same. 
• Sugar: A touch of sugar to help the sweetness of the bread. You can use brown sugar or coconut sugar, but white sugar will make the bread the most sweet. 
• Salt

How to Make the Dough 

Step One: Proofing the Yeast

In a large bowl, preferably one that is for a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine the warmed soy milk (or other plant based milk) with the yeast. Whisk it together and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow it to activate. I like to add a pinch of sugar to help the yeast rise well. 

Step Two: Combining Ingredients 

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the yeast mixture, the sweet potato, sugar, canola oil, salt, and bread flour. Begin to mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed until the ingredients are mostly combined.

Step Three: Kneading the Dough

Now, mix on a medium speed for 8 to 10 minutes. 

If the dough seems excessively soft and sticky, you can add up to a half up more of flour, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. The dough shouldn’t stick to the sides of the bowl, and should be tacky but not sticky to the touch. Meaning, if you poke the bread dough with your finger, when you remove your hand, there should be no dough still on your hand. 

Step Four: First Rise 

After the challah dough has come together, scrape the dough out of the bowl and gently tuck it into a little dough ball. Lightly oil the bowl with some extra oil and set the dough ball back inside. 

Let the dough rise in a warm place in the house for about an hour, or until the dough is doubled in size. Make sure to cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or a bit of plastic wrap to help protect the dough. 

How to Braid the Challah 

Now it’s time to shape the bread dough. You can divide this dough into a 3-strand, a 4-strand, and 8-strand, or even just leave it as a loaf and bake it in a loaf pan. There are so many different techniques for making and shaping the challah bread. Here is how I take 6 strands and braid it using a 4-strand technique. 

Step Five: Braiding the Vegan Challah Bread in 6 Strands 

Turn the fully risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into approximate sizes. You can use a kitchen scale for precision, if desired. 

Flatten and roll each piece into a log and then into a longer strand for the braid. I like to gently taper the ends for a neater look. 

Now that you have your 6 strands next to each other, it’s time to turn this into a 4-strand braid. Combine strands 1 and 2 with a pinch at the top. Combine strands 5 and 6 with a pinch at the top. Now you should have 4 strands, the combined 1 and 2, a 3rd (single), a 4th (single), and the final combined 5 and 6. 

First, twist strand 3 over strand 2.

Next, tuck strand 4 under strand 2. 

Now place strand 1 over strand 3. Your two double strands should now be in the middle. This is the pattern and now you repeat until no dough remains. 

Next, twist strand 4 over strand 1. Then tuck strand 2 under strand 1.

Then place strand 3 over strand 4. Next, twist strand 2 over strand 3 in the middle.

Finally, repeat until no more dough remains. Gently pinch the ends together and tuck them under the bread. 

Place the challah onto a parchment paper lined baking tray and cover with a clean towel to rise for 30 more minutes for a second rise while the oven preheats. 

Baking the Challah 

Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. 

After the bread has had the final rise, it’s time to brush with the remaining tablespoon of plant milk. This helps the bread get a beautiful golden brown color. Alternatively, inspired by brioche, you can mix a spoonful of lukewarm water with a spoonful of apricot jam to glaze on top of the challah. Both are amazingly delicious. 

Place the bread in the oven, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes. Check on the bread at the 20 minute and 30 minute mark. If the dough is browning too quickly on top, lightly cover with a tent of aluminum foil. 

The bread is done with it has achieved a dark golden color and has reached an internal temperature of at least 194F/90C. 

Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire cooling rack for about an hour before slicing and serving. 

Cutting the bread while it is still hot from the oven is super tempting, however, the bread is actually still cooking inside while it cools! Slicing into it too quickly can cause the bread to turn gummy and to flatten as you slice it. 

I recommend letting it fully cool and then warm a slice in the toaster. 

Tips for Braiding Challah Bread 

• Don’t add flour to the board when you are shaping the bread. Not only will the extra flour soak in and change the moisture levels of the bread, it also makes it less sticky, so the dough won’t stick together and can fall apart when baking. 
• No rolling pin required! I just use a butter knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough and my hands to roll and braid the bread. 

How to Serve Vegan Challah Bread 

• Enjoy simply with vegan butter and jam! This might be my most favorite way of enjoying this bread, especially if it is the same day as I’ve baked it. 
• Make this into the most AMAZING Vegan French Toast! Challah bread makes for the best french toast ever. 
• Try this as a dessert in your favorite bread pudding recipe. 
• Make it into a sandwich! 

How to Store 

Vegan Challah bread is best enjoyed about an hour after baking and up to 3 days if kept in an airtight container on the countertop. 

I don’t recommend storing this in the fridge, as the fridge can dry out the bread prematurely. 

You can freeze the bread after baking and cooling. Cut into slices (if desired) or store as a whole loaf and wrap in an airtight and freezer friendly container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

I hope you enjoy this vegan challah bread recipe! My family loves this bread on special occasions and on special anytime days. Happy bread baking!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!