Braided Egg Loaf

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
• 5 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups hot water (over 120 f)
• 1/3 cup soft margarine
• 2 large eggs
• 3 -5 drops yellow food coloring
• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 egg yolk, blended with
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds or 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Recipe

• 1 in a big mixing bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups flour, and salt.
• 2 add yeast to hot water and sugar together and when the yeast dissolves add it to the flour mixture above.
• 3 pour in the water and beat until it's smooth.
• 4 fold in the soft margarine, eggs and food colouring.
• 5 add remaining flour (a little at a time) to make a soft dough.
• 6 on a floured board, knead until it's smooth and elastic.
• 7 grease a big bowl.
• 8 brush top of dough with melted margarine.
• 9 in a warm spot, let it rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
• 10 punch dough down and knead it again on the floured board.
• 11 divide the dough into two equal balls.
• 12 then divide each ball into 3 smaller pieces and roll each of these pieces into"ropes".
• 13 braid the ropes to form 2 small loaves.
• 14 cover and let loaves rise until double in size.
• 15 preheat oven to 350 degrees f.
• 16 brush the loaves with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds/poppy seeds.
• 17 bake for 25-30 minutes until the loaves sound hollow when thumped.