There is nothing better than this Easter bread! This recipe was adapted from my grandmother..."Gramma Rock". Back then, she used cakes of yeast. They are hard to find these days, so I just used packets.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
2 packets yeast
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour, plus a little for kneading, dusting
1 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
8 TBL butter, melted
1 TBL olive oil
Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 TBL water
Directions:
Heat milk to 110. Add yeast and 1 TBL sugar. Mix well and let sit till foamy, about 5 minutes. ( I just used a small saucepan) Whisk eggs and vanilla and set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl, combine flour, (King Arthur unbleached white OR 365 brand unbleached white) lemon juice, the rest of the sugar and salt. With the dough hook attached, start mixing on low and slowly add milk mixture. Add the egg mixture. Keep mixing on low and add the melted butter. At this point, bump the speed up to med, but hold on to the stand mixer so it doesn't move around on you. Add a few sprinkles of flour if needed. Mix till stiff, but not sticky.
Pour onto a floured surface, and knead into a ball. Rub the ball with the olive oil and place in a bowl covered with a towel to rise for about 1 1/2-2 hours.
After the dough has doubled in size, you can punch it down, turn onto a floured surface, and begin to make your "shapes", braids, or even make individual loaves. I chose to do all three. I made individual loaves for my mom and froze them so she could pull them out one at a time and eat a loaf within a couple of days.
You could also add hard boiled (colored if you like) eggs to your braid since it is for Easter! Preheat oven to 350.
After you braid your dough, cover it with a towel again and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour. Whisk an egg with a TBL of water in a bowl and brush the top of your bread loaves with the egg wash.
Bake at 350 for approx 20-25 minutes. I remember my Gramma's bread was very yellow in color. I think she actually added a dozen eggs to her recipe, but that would change the flour ratio as well. Either way, it's so sweet and good, not to mention fun to eat when you are a kid!! Enjoy!!
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| Gramma Rock making pizza (she was always in the kitchen!) |