Easter Bread

Happy Easter! I remember a year ago Mr. J and I were still trying to figure out life with Miss O.  We didn't do a thing for Easter except cuddly up and stay close to one another.  Not a bad thing.

This year though I full of ideas on how we can develop our own Easter traditions with our little one.  I have a basket ready. We will have a mini egg hunt in the back year.  Brunch.  

Most of our plans stem from my own memories growing up with Easter.  However I want to add a few new ones as well.  I am sure they will develop over time as we learn and Miss O grows.  This year our "new" Easter tradition is Easter bread.  A sweetened dough, braided and topped sprinkles, sugar, and a dyed egg. The egg was a bit much for me this year but we did have fun with sprinkles. 

Easter Bread

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes plus rise time

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: bake bread Easter

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Ingredients (6 loaves)

• 1 package Instant yeast, about 2-1/4 teaspoons
• 1.25 cups milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
• 6 dyed Easter eggs
• sprinkles

Instructions

*I chose not to use dyed eggs for my bread. If using, have dyed egg ready before you start the bread process. The Easter eggs do not need to be hard boiled. They cook when the bread bakes, just dye the eggs uncooked, without hard boiling them. Be careful they don't crack!

In microwave safe measuring cup, warm the milk until just warm. Combine with the melted butter.

In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, salt, eggs and sugar. Add the warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) milk and butter.

Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook. Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Don't worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading until smooth.

Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a "braid", pinching the ends, and loop into a circle.

Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats. Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again. Brush each bread with the remaining beaten egg wash.

Put on the sprinkles or sugar. If using eggs place one in the middle of each bread ring, making an indentation with the egg.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden - about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.

Although the eggs are edible, they are really just for decoration. Only eat eggs shortly after baking, otherwise they need to be refrigerated if you plan on eating them later. Do not eat eggs if they sit out for a long period of time.

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