Meghan's Braided Egg Bread

This Easter weekend, I had the lovely chance to travel south to Santa Barbara and visit my grandparents and meet up with my sister, Meghan.  Between running, shopping, browsing, and swimming at the pool, we also had abundance of food selections: traveling out to eat, picking up a snack from the Nordstrom’s Café, and visiting the local downtown farmer’s market.  Boy was that place packed!  But one of the highlights of the weekend was being able to make our own dinner.

What a good-looking dog with her Easter duckie :)

Out of the millions of complicated cookbooks in the world, I love the ones that have pictures accompanying the recipes and really love the two kid’s cookbooks that Meghan received for Christmas a few years ago.  Out of the Williams-Sonoma Kid’s Baking book, we have found some really tasty finds like sugar cookies, gingerbread, s’mores bars, chocolate chip cookie cake, cherry crisp, popovers, focaccia, and most recently, braided egg bread. 

This bread tastes absolutely wonderful warm out of the oven with a little butter on top and would probably taste excellent in French toast.  We decided to make a meal out of it, but of course there had to be some greens and protein alongside.  Bob grilled up some chicken (marinated in a Paul Newman’s Herb & Roasted Garlic sauce), we added in some spring asparagus, and I whipped up a salad with ingredients from Nancy’s garden and the farmer’s market.

M sitting down to our lovely spread

BUNNIES and Yellow Chickie Wickies with Purple Eyesie Wisies (Inside family joke...thanks Uncle Tom)

For dessert, we were spoiled with a selection of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, topped with some farmer’s market berries.

Now onto the absolutely delicious bread…

Adapted from William Sonoma’s Kids Baking

Makes 1 Loaf

Baking Time: 28 minutes, Total Time: ~2+ hours (includes prep, dough rising & baking)

Ingredients:

Dough

All-purpose flour      3 ½ cups +

Rapid-rise yeast      1 package

Sugar      ¼ cup

Salt      ¾ tsp

Milk     1 cup (asks for whole milk, which might give it a fuller texture)

Butter      7 tablespoons, cut into chunks

Large Egg      1

Vegetable Oil      2 tsp

Topping

Large Egg      1

Water      1 tbsp

(Optional) Poppy Seeds or Sesame Seeds     1tbsp

1.     Make the Dough

-       In a large bowl, using the wooden spoon, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.

-       Heat the milk and butter in the small saucepan over medium heat, stirring with the wooden spoon until the butter melts.  Move the pan over to a heatproof surface.

-       Meghan used a thermometer to make sure that the liquid was between 115˚ and 125˚

Pour the warm liquid into the flour mixture.  Add the egg and stir with a spoon until a rough, shaggy dough forms.

2.     Knead the Dough

-       sprinkle a work service with some flour. Dump the dough onto the surface and knead for about 10 minutes. 

Knead it until it is smooth and no longer sticky.  You can flour your hands every now and then, as well as the surface to prevent sticking.

3.     Let the Dough Rise

-       gather the dough into a ball. Wipe out the bowl and oil it with about 1 tsp of vegetable oil

Put the dough into the bowl and turn the ball to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm spot to rise.  Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes until it is doubled in size.  (You can poke the dough with your finger to see if it is ready)

-       Dump out the risen dough onto a clean work surface and press gently to deflate.

4.     Form the Ropes

Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces with a sharp knife

-       Work with one piece of dough at a time and keep the remaining pieces loosely covered with plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a rope about 20 inches long, only adding flour if needed to prevent sticking.  Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces.

5.     Braid the Dough

-       Arrange the 3 ropes side by side and pinch the tops together.  Starting at the top, braid the ropes until you reach the end.  Pinch the bottom ends of the ropes together and tuck them under the loaf.

-       Oil the baking sheet with the remaining 1 tsp oil.

-       Move the braid to the baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Set the baking sheet in a warm spot and let it rise for about 30 minutes, until puffed and doubled in size.

6.     Bake the Bread

-       About 15 minutes before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 400˚F.  In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water with the fork.

-       When the dough is ready, remove the plastic warp and using a pastry brush, gently brush the braid with the egg mixture.  OPTIONAL: Sprinkle the bread with seeds.

-       Put the pan in the oven and bake the bread for about 28 minutes, until it is brown.  When finished, remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it on the cooling rack to cool completely.

ALL FINISHED! Enjoy :)