Talk about Yummy!!!!  I found this recipe around Easter and gave it a try.  I had NEVER made bread of any sort before…as we all know I am “baking challenged”!  I came across this recipe and thought it sounded pretty straight forward, so I decided to give it a try.  So glad I did!  If I can make this anyone can!

I know…right?!!!!  Impressive if I do say so myself!  Definitely picture worthy!

Here is what you’ll need…

Ingredients:

6 Cups Flour
1 package rapid rise yeast
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 eggs
1 3/4 Cup milk
1/2 Cup butter
1 tsp almond extract

1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp water

(I decided to leave out the lemon part as I don’t really care for citrus in my bread, I also used vanilla extract in the last one I made as I was out of almond extract…still tastes amazing)

Directions:


In a large bowl whisk together 4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and the salt. Set aside. Grease another large bowl and set that aside, too.

Zest and juice your lemon and set aside. Whisk the three eggs into a small bowl.

Melt the butter and milk together in a small sauce pan on low heat until warm (about 110 degrees). Scoop out 2/3 cup of the buttermilk and whisk it into the eggs.

Dump that whole egg mix back into the sauce pan and add the lemon zest and almond extract. Save lemon juice for later.

Slowly whisk in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until fully combined. Add in the rest of the flour a cup at a time and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Make sure it comes together easily. If the dough is still too sticky, add more flour. 

Turn the dough around in the greased bowl to coat it with a light layer of oil. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Remove the dough and split into two halves. Roll one half out onto a floured surface to make a 12-15 inch circle. Place a clean drinking glass upside down in the middle. This will keep you from cutting in too far. 

Cut the circle into fourths, then cut each fourth four more times. This will leave you with 20 strips. Remove the glass.

Preheat the oven for 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper.

Grab two strips and twist them together 4-8 times. Pinch the ends together. Twist those pieces into a bun shape and place the rolled up dough onto the center where the glass was. 

Continue this with the remaining strips until all are rolled up. There will be nine buns surrounding the middle one (so ten altogether). Transfer the breads to the baking sheets and correct any buns that came apart in the transfer.

Place a clean kitchen towel over the breads and allow to rise again for another 45 minutes.

Combine the egg yolk and water together in a small bowl and spread the egg mix over both breads. 

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until nice and brown on top. Let cool.

I made mine into 2 different styles of bread.  One half of the dough I rolled out and braided and the other half I made as directed above.  There is a topping that you can make to put on top but I like it plain…If I was making it as a desert I would add the topping for sure.

Topping…

2 Cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Lemon juice from above
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Cup strawberry jam

Using your thumb, push an indention into the middle of the little buns to allow room for the strawberry jam and cream cheese filling.

For the icing:

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla together until it forms a shiny white icing. Add more powdered sugar if you need to. Set aside about a 1/4 cup of the icing and drizzle the rest over both breads. 

Add the cream cheese to the remaining 1/4 cup and scoop into half the buns in each bread. Add the strawberry jam to the ones you didn’t put the cream cheese in. 

I have also made it using brown sugar, cinnamon and butter…the toppings for this bread are endless!  I could eat this bread all day and my kids love it!  It takes a bit of time waiting for the dough to rise but it is worth the wait!

Now…. the other day I was in Home Sense and found a super great deal on a lamp that I couldn’t otherwise afford.  The lamp was regularly priced at $240.00.  I had admired it’s uniqueness before but was turned away by the price…then a few weeks later realized that it was discounted as it was the only one left and it wasn’t selling as people usually by lamps in pairs.  It appeared that the price had been lowered 3 times before I found it for the steal of just $40.00!!!!  That’s a $200.00 savings!!!!  Yeay me!!!

How could I possibly raise my husband’s blood pressure by saving him $200.00!!!  Ha!   It’s not the greatest picture..it looks much shinier in person and the crystal base is so heavy!  It’s nice to have a lamp with a little style in our sitting room, and for $40.00….I couldn’t leave it at the store!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Mother’s Day Weekend!  We are off to a softball tournament in Calgary for our eldest daughter tomorrow, they won their game today…I guess the good luck hug from her little brother really worked!

Take care!

Smiles!

Terry

(This recipe came from a blog called Organizer By Day)

Linking up to Inspiration Monday over at I should be mopping the floor

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