Braided Bread
Sunday breakfast without this soft Braided Bread wouldn’t be the same. It isn’t just beautiful to look at but incredibly light and delicious. Serve it with butter and homemade jam, pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and you are off to a good start!
We always have homemade bread with various homemade preserves and jellies at home. I think nothing beats fresh bread made from scratch. Still, to this day, I’m not too fond of the soft bread one can buy here in the US. I miss the diverse bread selection from the bakeries back home.
That’s why I always try out new bread variations. My family loves that; a loaf never lasts a day at our house. And, of course, fresh bread needs some delicious jam to go with it; our current favorites are Blueberry Vanilla Preserves and Apple Vanilla Jelly. But ask me again in a few months; I’m constantly trying new flavor combinations. We might have a new favorite soon 🙂
If you feel like making homemade bread but don’t like spending all that time kneading, try my No Knead Bread, it requires minimal effort and is so delicious!
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How to bake for best results
It is very important to bake this Braided Bread at the right temperature. If your oven is too cold, the bread will spread and tear on top. On the other hand, if the oven temperature is too hot, the bread will tear only on the sides and make the top look uneven—Bake at 420-430°F or 220-230°C for best results.
Place the bread in the oven for 5 minutes on a baking sheet. After 5 minutes, add steam to the oven. You can do that by pouring water over lava rocks (that you already have in an oven-safe container inside your oven during preheating). The water will create steam on the hot rocks. If you don’t have lava rocks, simply pour some water onto a hot oven-safe dish (it needs to be in the oven during preheating to reach a hot temperature). Bake until golden brown.
Use good quality ingredients!
Having good flour to work with is very important for successful baking. I have tried many flour brands, but none come close to King Arthur Flour. It is my go-to flour for any baking. Their flour is consistent from bag to bag, so you can always use the same amount of liquid in a recipe and don’t have to adjust it every time.
Instant dry yeast: There is no need to mix this yeast with warm milk or water. Instead, you can directly mix it in with the dry ingredients. I don’t use any other yeast! To me, this is the easiest and fastest way to make dough.
E Guete, (Bon appétit)!! Don’t forget to share some pictures with me and tell me how you liked this Braided Bread. It would make my day if you tag @mirjamskitchenyodel on Instagram, share on Facebook or pin on Pinterest.
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Filled Sweet Bread – Gefüllter Hefezopf
Braided Bread
Ingredients
- 500 g Whole wheat flour
- 30 g Granulated sugar
- 10 g Salt
- 7 g Instant dry yeast
- 350 ml Whole milk
- 50 g Butter (melted
- 1 Egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Add All-purpose flour, instant dry yeast, salt, and sugar to your kitchen aid mixer and mix for a few seconds. Don't worry if you don't have one of these fancy kneaders, use a big bowl instead.
- Melt the butter. Add milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients.
- Knead dry and wet ingredients together until you have a smooth, stretchy dough. If you use a kitchen aid mixer or similar, start on slow speed for a few minutes, then turn it up to a fast speed for the last few minutes. If you knead by hand, do so for about 15-20min. I know it's a workout, but to achieve a light and airy bread, you need to work that dough until it is nice and smooth.
- Form the dough into a ball. Place it in a big, lightly floured bowl and cover it with a wet kitchen towel, or a bowl cover, to keep it from drying out. Let it rest to rise for at least 1 ½ hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take risen dough carefully out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured surface. Cut it into two halves. If you want to make a smaller loaf, just cut it twice to get four equal pieces.
- Roll each dough piece into long strands. You need two strands of equal length to braid. Put one strand over the other (like a plus sign). Take the bottom left strand, fold it over the bottom right strand and cross them with each other. Then take the right top strand and fold it over the right bottom strand. You will have three long strands on the left side now. Take the very left strand from the left side and take it under the second left strand and over the third left strand. Next, take the very right strand and put it over the second to the right strand. Now you will have three strands on the left side again and can continue to braid as described above until you run out of strands.
- Preheat the oven to 392°F or 200°C.
- Crack one egg into a small bowl and whisk it slightly. Brush the whole bread with the egg wash. Ensure you get every part of the dough, or it will bake with an uneven color.
- Let the loaf rest for another 30min.
- After the second rest period, brush the bread with egg wash again.
- Bake for 25-35min (if you have one large loaf) or 15-25min (if you have two small loaves). Every oven bakes differently, so my times are an average estimate. Keep a close eye on your bread. It is done when it looks golden brown.
- Let it cool for 20 minutes before cutting into it.
