Wow Your Friends And Family With This Beautiful Braided Easter Bread

Beautiful, braided bread (studded with colorful Easter eggs) is a special holiday treat. Make individually sized braided breads using this simple technique.

Start by making a batch of challah dough. Follow this recipe up until the dough is completely mixed. Then, put the ball of dough into a large, lightly greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise until doubled in size. When the dough has doubled, punch it down, and let it rise (until doubled) again.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 6 pieces.

Cut each sixth of dough into either two or three equal pieces and roll all of the pieces into long ropes with tapered ends. If you are using two ropes per braided bread, you won't actually braid, you'll simply twist the two ropes together and then pinch the ends together, forming a wreath. If you are using three ropes per braided bread, pinch one end of the 3 ropes together, braid the 3 ropes, and then pinch the other end of the braid before joining the two ends to form a wreath.

Once all 6 miniature breads are braided, place a dyed, hard-boiled egg in the center of each.

Then, cover the breads loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm spot until puffed (but not doubled), about 45 minutes. When the bread is ready to be baked, brush the top of the dough with a mixture of egg and water. You can sprinkle it with pearl sugar or sprinkles if you like. Then, place the bread on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a 350-degree F oven and bake until golden.

Kristie Collado is The Daily Meal's Cook Editor. Follow her on Twitter @KColladoCook.