Recipe: Braided Easter Bread!!!

1. Mix 1 tbs sugar with ½ cup warm
water and sprinkle in the yeast. Let sit until frothy, about 10 minutes.
Combine the 1 cup milk, ¾ cup honey, 2 tbs butter, 1 tbs salt &
orange zest in a sauce pot, bring to a simmer and them remove from heat.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the 5 eggs
and then add the yeast mixture followed by the milk mixture. In a
separate bowl, mix the baking powder into the flour. Incorporate the
flour into the wet ingredients one cup at a time until the mix forms a
large wet dough. Place the dough in a large bowl that has been greased
with vegetable oil, cover with plastic wrap and leave to prove in a warm
place for 2 hours.

3. After the dough has proved, turn it out
on a floured work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes, until the
dough is elastic. If the dough is too sticky, fold in a little more
flour.

4. Divide the dough into three equal pieces
and roll each piece into a long thread. Lay the three threads out about 2
inches apart on a greased baking tray. Pinch the three threads together
on one end and then braid them together, folding each thread over the
other, alternating as you go. When you reach the end, pinch the three
threads together. Brush the dough with vegetable oil, cover with plastic
wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Set the oven to 375F.

5. Combine 2 egg yolks with 2 tbs water and 1
tbs honey and brush the bread with the egg wash. Let sit for 5 minutes
and then brush a second time.

6. Bake the bread in the oven at 375F until golden brown, for about 30 minutes.

My Struggles:

I couldn’t figure out how to roll the dough.  I think I had too much flour on it. But I couldn’t get it roll worth a diddle, as I ended up squeezing the dough into a long tube mostly.  There must be some trick to rolling dough… thoughts???

It also turned out way too long for the pan I have which is why I turned it into a circle. 

 

What did we think?

Well.. I’ll have to update this recipe later. We haven’t tried it yet as I made it for Good Friday.  🙂 

Though hubby’s response when he saw it was “wow…. looks good hun, smells good too!”, then “did you hide anything in it?” Silly fellow. 🙂