Elevate your baking skills by making this soft, delicious, and crusty homemade braided bread! Find comfort in pastries through good-quality bread recipes like this one!
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Make your breakfast meals more special by baking this bread! Super soft, fluffy, delicious, and elegant!
How to Make Braided Bread
What’s better than ordinary bread? Braided Bread! Make this a recipe of your own, and you will never regret it.
Ingredients
Strong bread flour
Bread flour is protein-rich, making the braided bread elastic, fluffy, and airy. Once baked, the flour gives the bread a chewy quality and a light texture. The gluten enables the bread to retain its form.
Yeast
Yeast is one of the best leavening agents for bread. It naturally reacts with the flour and the wet ingredients for a gorgeous ride in the dough and the braided bread.
I always have yeast in stock because it’s an effective leavening agent for Puff Puff, Pizza, and Donuts!
Egg
It is another ingredient to help with the rise of the bread. An egg also provides moisture for a soft texture and a satisfying flavor. This also makes the crumbs tender and the crust extra flaky.
Powdered milk
This condiment helps give a creamy and milky taste to the braided bread. Powdered milk also adds a gorgeous brown shade to the baked bread. It’s also the perfect alternative for evaporated milk.
Seasoning
To give the bread the full flavor that it needs, season it with sugar, nutmeg, and sea salt. Sea salt is also a natural preservative agent for pastry. Meanwhile, the nutmeg adds a distinct taste to the braided bread.
Salted butter
Aside from giving a rich sweetness to the braided bread, adding salted butter also extends the shelf life of the pastry. This also serves as grease for the flat surface and the dough for shaping.
Water
Water is needed to activate the leavening ingredients and to add moisture to the dough for an elastic consistency. It also distributes the ingredients throughout the braided bread.
These ingredients may seem simple, but the real fun comes once you make the bread! With the correct measurements, you can easily make bakery-quality bread at home!
Directions
Check out how simple it is to make braided bread!
- Combine bread flour, nutmeg, sugar, sea salt, skimmed milk powder, and dry yeast in a bowl.
- Add the egg and the water. Knead it in the mixer for 5 minutes.
- Gradually add the salted butter in 3 portions while kneading.
- Continue kneading for 20 minutes or until the dough is ready for baking.
- Roll the dough using a rolling pin on a greased or floured surface.
- Fold the two ends of the dough inward and roll again.
- Slice the dough into 3 equal portions, roll each out, and shape them into long sausages.
- Pinch the dough strips together on one end.
- Braid the dough strands by bringing one strand in the middle. Do this alternately until it forms a braid.
- Pinch the other end to close the braid. Cover the baking tray with cling film and a towel. Leave it to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C for 10 minutes.
- Bake the dough for 16 minutes. Once baked, brush the braided bread with butter for that extra flavor, moisture, and gloss.
Let me know how it turned out! Is it as soft, delicate, and delicious as you hoped it would be? You don’t need to go to the bakery or restaurant to have quality bread!
Tips
How to Store Bread Dough
Put the dough in a freezer bag to use within several weeks. Leave enough space in the bag to raise the dough before freezing. To use, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and let it proof at room temperature to bake.
You can also refrigerate it by putting it in a bowl and covering it with a towel. Cover the bread dough with a clean towel and place it in the refrigerator. Before baking, let it rest at room temperature.
How to Knead Dough By Hand
To knead, lightly flour or grease a flat and clean surface. Place the dough on the surface and push it down in an outward motion with the heel of your hand. Fold the halves of the dough and press it down again.
Kneading is a necessary step for preparing dough because it builds the gluten network for the proper structure and form of the bread. Do not over-knead it to prevent the bread from becoming hard.
Continue pushing and folding the dough for 25 minutes or until the dough is ready for shaping. To check if it’s ready, lightly press on the dough, and if it bounces back immediately, you can shape it however you prefer.
How to Cook Bread
Aside from using the oven, you can make bread in an air fryer. Prepare the dough as you usually would and section them into pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and arrange them in the air fryer basket. Bake for 15 minutes.
Bread can also be cooked in a pot. Preheat a pot with a wire rack inside for 15 minutes on medium heat. Cook the bread for 30 minutes or until baked all the way through.
Braided Bread Variations
You can make this a gluten-free recipe by replacing the bread flour with gluten-free flour. Alternatively, use almond flour, brown rice flour, or oat flour to make the braided bread.
You can bake with bananas for enhanced flavor and nutritional value. For added character to the braided bread, incorporate condiments such as dark chocolate, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, fruit bits, and more!
Recommended Tools
- Stand mixer: Knead the dough in a stand mixer or by hand.
- Cutting board: Shape and prepare the dough on a greased cutting board.
- Measuring cups and spoons: Measure the ingredients accurately.
- Dough scraper: Cut the bread with a dough scraper.
- Glass bowl: Mix the ingredients in a glass bowl.
- Parchment paper: Use this to line a baking tray.
- Cooling wire rack: Let the bread rest on a cooling wire rack.
- Rolling pin: Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
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How to Serve Braided Bread
This braided bread is extra flavorful and soft, so you can simply serve it on its own with a cup of coffee, hot choco, juices, smoothies, and tea! It can be toasted to give that crispy and rich taste.
You can also smear it with spreads like peanut butter, cashew butter, and strawberry jam. With braided bread, you can also use eggs, hotdogs, bacon, ham, or other frozen goods.
Storage Tips
- At room temperature: Braided bread can be stored in airtight containers or bread boxes for up to several days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is homemade braided bread healthy?
Yes, this braided bread recipe is healthy because you can be sure that it does not contain preservatives or additives. You are guaranteed to have quality, fresh, and viable ingredients to achieve perfectly textured and flavored bread.
You can also add other ingredients or seasonings of your choice, such as cinnamon, chocolate, fruit bits, nuts, and more!
What is braiding bread called?
Braiding bread is also called Challah, a popular tradition in Jewish bread. It is usually made for celebrations and ceremonial occasions.
What breads can you braid?
Bread dough made from different ingredients can be braided, but it especially works well on the dough with yeast.
Braided Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups strong bread flour
- 4 tbsp powdered milk
- 4 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 sachet yeast
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup water (at room temperature)
- 3½ tbsp salted butter
Instructions
- Make the dough. In a bowl, combine bread flour, nutmeg, sugar, sea salt, skimmed milk powder, and dry yeast. Add the egg and the water. Knead it in the mixer for 5 minutes. Gradually add the salted butter in 3 portions while kneading. Continue to knead for 20 minutes or until the dough is ready for baking. Test it for doneness by applying pressure on the dough. If it bounces back immediately, it is ready.
- Braid the dough. Lightly butter a flat surface. Roll the dough on top of it. Fold the two ends of the dough inward and roll again. Slice the dough into 3 equal portions. Roll each one out and shape them into long sausages. Place all of the sausage dough side by side diagonally on the lined baking tray. Pinch them together on one end. Then, braid the dough strands by bringing one strand in the middle. Do this alternately until it forms a braid. Pinch the other end to close the braid. Cover the baking tray with a cling film and a towel. Leave it to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
- Bake the bread. Preheat the dough to 150°C for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the cling film. Bake the dough for 16 minutes. Once baked, brush the bread with butter for that extra flavor, moisture, and gloss.
Notes
- Measure the ingredients properly to prevent baking problems. Let the dough proof to activate the yeast.
- Test the dough for doneness by applying pressure on the dough. If it bounces back immediately, it is ready.
- To achieve a light and airy braided bread, never skip the flour, the yeast, the egg, and the water.
- Use the right amount of salt to prevent it from deactivating the yeast. Put enough flour, sugar, and water for the yeast to react.
Nutrition
