This recipes makes a 1 pound loaf.
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 egg
- 2 T. margarine - cut in pieces
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups bread flour
- 4 tsp. sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 T. water
Preparation -
Add the water, egg, margarine, flour, salt, sugar, and yeast to the bread machine pan. Select the dough only cycle. When the dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the machine. Place the dough on a lightly floured board. Knead in just enough flour to make the dough easy to handle. Divide the dough in 2 pieces, with about 2/3 of the dough in one piece and the remaining 1/3 of the dough in the other. Divide the larger piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll each of these 3 pieces into 12" long ropes. Place the 3 ropes on a greased baking sheet. Braid the ropes together loosely and pinch to seal the ends. Divide the remaining smaller piece of dough piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll each of these pieces into 10" long ropes; braid them together loosely. Place this small braid on top of the larger braid. Pinch the ends to seal the braids together. Cover and let rise in warm place until almost doubled in size - about 20 minutes. Beat the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Brush this egg/water mixture over the bread braids. Bake in a preheated oven at 375º for 25 to 30 minutes. To prevent over browning, loosely cover the loaf with foil after the first 15 minutes of baking time. Cool the loaf on a wire rack.
