Braided bread
This is a favorite of ours at pretty much every major holiday – Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving!
- 4.75 to 5.25 cups flour I use about half white / half wheat
- 2 packages active dry yeast 4.5 tsp total
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1.25 cups milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups diced mixed dried fruits
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 Tbsp finely shredded lemon peel
- milk
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In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of flour, the yeast, and cardamom.
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In a medium saucepan, heat and stir the milk, sugar, butter, and salt until warm and butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat well. Stir in dried fruit, walnuts, and lemon peel. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
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Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (1 to 1.5 hours).
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Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into thirds (or sixths if you want to make two smaller braids as pictured). Grease a baking sheet.
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Roll each piece of dough into the longest rope you can to stretch diagonally across your baking sheet. Braid the three ropes, joining at both ends. Cover and let rise until nearly double (about 1 hour).
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Brush loaves with milk. Bake in a 350-F oven for 35 to 40 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for smaller braids) or until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If necessary, cover with foil towards the end to prevent over-browning. Remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire rack.
