Auniqueanddeliciousbraidedbread Recipes

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, salt, yeast, and warm water.
• Stir in the softened butter or margarine, whichever using.
• Sift in one cup of flour at a time until you have a dough that can be easily kneaded by hand without sticking to your hands.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until the dough is soft and not sticky.
• Lightly grease a medium-sized bowl with olive oil and flip dough over so that the top is also greased.
• Cover with a clean kitchen towel or wrap paper and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place.
• Grease a large baking sheet and sprinkle it with coarse cornmeal, if desired.
• Remove the dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured table, and divide into two equal parts.
• Roll each dough half into an approximately 15 x 9-inch rectangle.
• Roll the dough tightly along the 15-inch side, pinch the seams, and taper the ends of each loaf with your hands at a 45-degree angle.
• Place the loaves on the prepared baking sheet and cover. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 F. Make 3 deep diagonal slashes on each loaf.
• Bake the bread for 20 minutes.
• Lightly beat the egg white and cold water in a small bowl to create an egg wash . This step is key for a traditional Italian bread.
• Remove the loaves from the oven and brush with the egg wash.
• Return the loaves to the oven for another 5 minutes.
• Serve bread warm or cold and enjoy.

BRAIDED SWEET BREAD

Steps:

• Mix together water, warm milk, and yeast.
• Add melted margarine, sugar, salt and flour.
• Knead dough, place in bowl, cover and let rise in warm place 1 hour.
• Divide dough into 6 parts.
• Shape dough into 6 long pieces (length of baking sheet).
• On baking sheet, braid 3 of the pieces together like you would hair, then braid remaining 3 pieces together.
• Cover and let raise 1 more hour.
• Brush beaten egg on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Line a baking sheet with greaseproof (parchment) paper. Sift the flour and rice flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix.
• Cut butter into pieces and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture begins to bind together. Knead into soft dough.
• Roll the dough into an 8 inch round (or for exact round, mold it in an 8 inch cake pan). Place on baking sheet. Using a fork, prick top and make tine marks along edge. Using a table knife, score top with wedge marks. (This is where it will break when cooled)
• Bake 45 minutes or until pale golden in color. Sprinkle a little superfine sugar over top and cool on baking sheet. Cut into wedges. Keeps for weeks in airtight tin.

SWEET BRAIDED EASTER BREAD

Steps:

• Combine milk, oil, salt, orange extract, 2 eggs at room temperature, sugar, orange zest, 4 cups of flour, and yeast in a bread machine, in that order. Set to Dough cycle and start the machine; be sure to peek inside while dough is mixing and add additional flour as needed to create a soft, but not wet, dough.
• Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to a rapid simmer and add 4 whole eggs to soft boil. Continue to simmer for 6 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water to cool quickly.
• Punch risen dough down and turn onto a floured surface. Divide into 3 even pieces. Roll each piece to form about a 1 1/2-inch thick rope that is 12 inches long. Take the pieces and braid them together, pinching the ends. Loop into a circle and pinch the ends to close. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Align boiled eggs evenly about the braid and push in gently, about 1/3 of the way down. Cover and let rise again, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine remaining room temperature egg, 2 tablespoons water, and anise extract in a bowl for egg wash. Brush braid with the egg wash, being careful not to get any on your boiled eggs or while baking they will have cooked wash on them and won't dye nicely.
• Bake in the preheated oven, switching between another parchment-lined baking sheet every 10 minutes throughout baking time to prevent the bottom from getting too dark, until browned, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Paint your eggs on the bread with liquid food dye. Be careful not to drip on the bread. Let dry, about 10 minutes. Brush bread with anisette liqueur and let dry before serving, about 5 minutes more.

BRIDIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°-190°C fan forced (200°-210°C normal)/350°-375°F/4-5 gas mark.
• Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed - preferably non-stick - pan and gently sauté the onion, leek and 2 garlic cloves, stirring occasionally, until they have softened.
• Add the cinnamon, allspice, sambel, a little salt and a decent grinding of pepper; stir well to cover the onion, leek and garlic with the spices and briefly cook until the spices are toasted and have begun to release their aromas; add the ground/minced and cook, continually mashing to break up the lamb, until the lamb is lightly browned.
• Add 1 can of tomatoes with 1 cup stock, the sultanas and the pine nuts; mix well and gently cook until the contents of the pan are thick and fragrant, adding more tomatoes and/or stock if needed; set aside to cool.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of coriander and mix in well. If you have no coriander, you could use mint instead.
• Place the pastry sheets on a workbench and cut a large round in each one.
• Mix together the egg and milk; brush the pastry edges with the egg wash and place a mound of the mince/ground lamb mixture on one side of each round, being careful not to use too much so that the filling bursts out once the pastry is sealed; fold over the pastry, press down and crimp the edges with a fork. If you seem to have too much mixture for two Bridies, cut out and fill a third pastry round.
• Brush the pastries with the egg/milk wash; place the pastries on 1-2 lightly oiled baking trays and cook in the oven until golden brown. Remember all the ingredients are cooked so you are only needing to cook and brown the pastry. I've estimated 20 minutes, but cooking times will vary with different ovens.
• Combine the remaining garlic with the yoghurt, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a little coriander.
• Serve the Bridies with the yoghurt sauce in a bowl on the side.
• NOTE: You can also make and fill smaller pastry rounds can be used, if you prefer. In posting the ingredients, I tried posting TWO cans of tomatoes - you may only need or choose to use the one can but may need the second can. I tried lots of times and lots of different wordings but inexplicably - to me anyway - it kept failing to post, so I settled for the ONE can. When adding the tomatoes and the stock, you can vary the ratio of the two according to your taste preferences.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD

Steps:

• To prepare starter: Place 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk in a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Seal bag and knead mixture until well combined. Let stand at room temperature overnight.
• For the next 4 days, continue kneading mixture once a day; keep at room temperature. On the sixth day add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk to bag. Seal and knead to combine; let stand at room temperature overnight.
• For the next 3 days, knead mixture twice a day. On the 10th day, transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk; mix until well combined. Measure 1 cup of the mixture into each of 3 resealable plastic bags. Seal plastic bags and give each bag of starter mixture to a friend to make their own friendship bread.
• To make bread: Preheat oven to 330 degrees. Add oil to bowl with remaining starter mixture along with eggs, remaining 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined; set aside.
• In another large bowl, mix together remaining 2 cups flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, baking soda, pudding, and nuts, if desired. Add dry ingredients to starter mixture and stir until well combined. Divide batter evenly between two 8-by-4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans.
• In a small bowl, mix together remaining 3/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over batter. Transfer to oven and bake for 1 hour. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

SWEET BRAIDED BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl. Beat eggs and egg yolk together in a small bowl. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of beaten egg; keep refrigerated.
• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F (75 degrees C).
• Combine sugar, margarine, and salt in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly until dissolved. Add warm and cool cream to the bowl. Stir in yeast mixture. Beat in eggs. Add flour 1 cup at a time, blending well between additions.
• Turn dough out onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. Spray a clean bowl with cooking spray. Place dough inside and spray the top.
• Cover dough with a dish cloth. Turn off oven and place dough inside. Allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Remove dough from the bowl and knead for 2 to 3 minutes. Split in half; split each half into thirds. Roll each section of dough into long, 24-inch snakes. Braid 3 together, making sure to secure the ends. Repeat with the remaining 3 sections.
• Reheat the oven to 170 degrees F (75 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Transfer braids to the cookie sheet.
• Turn off oven. Let braids rise in the warm oven for 45 minutes.
• Remove braids from the oven and brush with reserved beaten egg. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake braids in the preheated oven until tops are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

ABBY'S FRENCH BREAD BRAIDS

Steps:

• In a bowl combine 3 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast, mix well.
• In a small sauce pan heat 2 cups water and shortening until very warm.
• Add warm mixture to flour mixture, blend on low speed until moistened and then for 3 min on medium speed.
• By hand stir in an additional 1 1/2 - 2 1/4 cups flour to form a stiff dough.
• On a floured surface, knead 1/4 - 1/2 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minute.
• Place in a greased bowl, cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, about 45-60 min.
• Grease a large cookie sheet. Punch the dough down several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide the dough in half and then divide each half into 3 equal parts.
• Roll each part into a 14 inch rope. Braid the 3 ropes, sealing the ends. Place on greased cookie sheet. Repeat with other dough half.
• In a small bowl combine 1 tbsp water and the egg white, beat slightly. Carefully brush over the loaves. Cover, let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, 20-30 minute.
• Heat over to 375. Uncover the loaves, brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for 25-30 min or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

AUNTIE MAE'S IRISH BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch round glass baking dish.
• Mix flour, milk, raisins, sugar, caraway seeds, vegetable oil, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until dough is not wet enough to pour and not dry enough to handle. Add more milk if dough is too dry. Transfer dough to the baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

BRIDIES

Steps:

• ---To prepare the pastry---.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
• Add the butter and cut into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
• Mix in enough cold water to hold the mixture together.
• Form into a ball.
• Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
• ---To prepare the filling---.
• In a large bowl, mix together the uncooked ground meat, onion, salt, pepper and water; set aside.
• ---Assembly---.
• Remove the pastry from the refrigerator.
• Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour.
• Roll out the pastry to about 1/8-inch thickness.
• Cut into 6-7 circles approximately 5 to 6 inches in diameter.
• Evenly divide the filling among the circles, placing the meat mixture on one half of the circle.
• Brush the edge lightly with the beaten egg.
• Fold the pastry over the filling and seal by lightly crimping the edge.
• Brush the top with beaten egg.
• Repeat with remaining filling and dough circles.
• Place on baking sheets greased with shortening or non-stick cooking spray and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top.