Jan’s Holiday Bread Wreath
| | Jan’s Holiday Bread Wreath |
Ingredients
For the Bread Dough:
- ¾cup milk
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- ¼cup warm water
- 1/3cup softened butter
- ¼cup sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1tablespoon grated lemon rind
- 1teaspoon vanilla
- ½teaspoon salt
- 4cups flour
- 1 egg +1 tablespoon milk
For the Filling:
- 2/3cup raisins soaked in hot wateror brandy
- 2cups chopped walnuts
- ½cup brown sugarfirmly packed
- 1 ½teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼cup melted butter
- ½teaspoon salt
- teaspoon ¼nutmeg
- cup ¼melted butter
- teaspoon ½salt
Instructions
For the Bread Dough:
- In a saucepan, heat milk until bubbles form on sides. Cool to lukewarm. In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water, mixing to dissolve. In a large mixing bowl, add warm milk, butter, sugar, egg, lemon rind, vanilla, salt and yeast. Slowly stir in 3 ½ cups of flour. Dust ½ cup flour on counter or board. Knead until smooth. If too sticky, add up to ½ cup more flour. Placed in greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until double, about one hour. Meanwhile, make filling.
- Drain raisins and place raisins in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Punch dough down and roll out on a floured surface into a 21 X 18 inch rectangle. Cut off a 21 X 3 inch strip and set aside for dough decorations. Spread filling evenly onto the dough, leaving about an inch border all the way around. Roll up dough in jellyroll fashion. Then make it into a wreath, tucking one end under the other to complete the circle. Cover and let rise until double. 15 minutes before ring has finished rising, preheat oven to 375. Roll out reserve strip of dough and with cookie cutters or by hand, cut out leaf designs. Beat egg and milk together and brush on ring. Attach cutouts to ring. Bake about 35 minutes. Serve warm. To store, wrap in foil after baked and freeze.