Make Beautiful Sweet Braided Bread

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The Cherry Filling Makes It Absolutely Amazing

Years ago, when our girls were still in high school, a very special family friend brought us a cherry-filled braided bread loaf every year at Christmas. Our families were connected in a dozen ways. Valerie baked the yeast dough from scratch, and we were always giddy when she brought it to our house.

It looked so perfect and so complicated that I was always afraid to try it. But now that our last granddaughter has graduated, I thought it was high time for me to give it a whirl. She was right! It’s easier than it looks and tastes wonderful!

You can begin with frozen bread dough or puff pastry, but nothing beats homemade, from-scratch sweet enriched yeast dough for taste and presentation.

I made a few minor modifications to my versatile One Great Bread Dough to create a softer, richer dough with a lovely, fine texture for my cherry braided bread.

Despite what you might think, bread baking is simple, satisfying, and inexpensive. It’s easiest if you have a stand mixer like my trusty twenty-five-year-old Kitchen Aid, but you can use a mixer and knead it by hand. I’ve included the modified, enriched sweet yeast dough recipe in this post, and the rest of the process is just fun!

Begin By Making A Batch Of Sweet Yeast Dough

I am all about making yeast bread as simple as possible. That way, you’ll want to make it often and with confidence. You can read yourself crazy looking at all the well-meaning advice online, so today, let’s stay very basic.

The single most important rule for making yeast dough is to have the water at a temperature that’s not too hot or too cold. The ideal temperature for water is about 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The wrist test” is the next best thing to a thermometer. The yeast will probably like it if the water feels comfy and warm, not too cool or warm on your wrist. If you ever gave a baby her 3:00 AM feeding, you tested the temperature of the baby’s bottle the same way! Yeast and wee babies prefer the same temperature range!

Yeast needs warm water, salt, and a bit of sugar to activate. There are two kinds of yeast: regular and quick-rise. I prefer rapid-rise or “instant” yeast because it saves a step and is about 10 minutes faster. The primary difference is that rapid-rise yeast is processed, so it has finer granules, which means you can add it right along with the flour, water, sugar, and salt without needing to “proof” it first.

If you have active dry yeast and not quick-rise yeast, I have never seen a more well-written article about proofing yeast than this one. Read it, and you will know everything you need to know!

I bake yeast bread a lot, so I buy yeast in bulk. I store it in the freezer until I open it, then in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator. Yeast kept in the freezer lasts indefinitely.

If you have old yeast packets stashed in a cupboard somewhere, check the expiration date before launching a batch of bread. If in doubt, proof them as described in the link above; if they flop, replace them.

Step By Step Directions For Making Yeast Dough

Put warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, and butter in the mixer bowl and add a cup of flour. Using the whip attachment, mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the egg and 2 cups of flour, one at a time, and beat well.

I have the best tip for making bread dough in a stand mixer: Drape the mixer head and bowl with a clean dish towel when you add flour. It saves a lot of mess and cleanup!

My second best hint: Use a large, clean paintbrush to sweep any runaway flour off the mixer and counter into the trash or sink before starting the soap and water cleanup. Less pasty mess, less time. I admit it. I'm a little lazy.

Switch to the dough hook and add flour gradually until the hook pulls the dough away from the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer from time to time and feel the dough. If it’s still sticky, add a tablespoon or so of flour at a time and resume kneading with the dough hook.

Stop adding flour when the dough is soft but handles without sticking to your fingers. Great bread dough should feel satiny, elastic, and smooth as a baby’s cheek. Remove the dough hook and gather the dough into a ball.

Oil or spray the bowl generously with non-stick spray and return the dough to the bowl. It’s not necessary to wash the bowl before you do. Smooth a little cooking oil or olive oil over the dough, cover the bowl with a dishtowel, and set it in a nice warm place to rise for about an hour. When the dough has doubled, you are ready to make your braid.

How To Fill The Dough To Make Braided Bread

Divide the dough in half and roll each piece out to a rectangle about ten by fifteen inches. Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper or grease it well, then move the rectangle onto the baking sheet.

I found this easiest to do by rolling the dough over my pin and unrolling it onto the baking sheet. Before proceeding to the next step, you may need to ease the dough into a more uniform rectangular shape.

Stir a teaspoon of almond extract into a can of cherry pie filling and spread one-half of the can down the center third of the rectangle. Cut strips diagonally (think Christmas tree branches) and begin braiding by crossing the dough over the cherry filling, alternating left and right.

After filling and braiding, the dough needs to rise again until it doubles in size, and this second rise will take less time.

If you have a sharp eye, you might catch that I opened a can of strawberry pie filling by mistake, but I used it, and it tasted great! Next time, I might even try apricot or apple pie filling. Yum, eh?

Keep going until you get to the bottom of the cherry braid, then pinch and tuck any ends into place. In my first attempt, I made the mistake of cutting straight out from the center instead of diagonally, which didn’t make for a neat braid. Don't be Betty. Learn from me!

When everything is neatly braided and tucked in place, brush the braided bread with an egg wash, using a whole egg with a bit of water whisked in. This will produce a lovely, shiny brown crust. While wet, you can sprinkle colored sugar, sliced almonds, or coarse sanding sugar, like I did, for an extra pretty top.

Let the braid rise until doubled in size, and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown. Cool completely, and add a powdered sugar glaze and garnish if desired. Make sure the braid is completely cool before slicing it.

With a little practice, the dough is really fun to work with, and you’ll make more friends than you can imagine when you share home-baked treats like my Simple Cinnamon Roll Recipe!

PRINTED RECIPE CARD

Yield: 2 loaves

Braided Bread With Cherry Filling

Print

Here is a recipe for enriched sweet roll dough with a soft, tender crust and a fine texture, as well as instructions for making it into a lovely braided bread with cherry filling.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Yeast Dough

• 2 cups warm milk, about 110 degrees, approximately the temperature of bathwater. You can also use half milk and half water.
• 5 tsp yeast or two packets of yeast
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 cups flour, approximately
• 2 eggs at room temperature. One for the dough, the second egg for an egg wash.

Cherry Filling

• One 21-ounce can of cherry pie filling
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Optonal toppings: sanding sugar, sliced almonds, powdered sugar glaze

Instructions

1. Put warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, and butter in the mixer bowl and add a cup of flour. Using the whip attachment, mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. 
2. Hint: grab a clean dish towel and wrap it around the bowl. That is unless you enjoy cleaning up flour. (I don't.)
3. Add one egg and 2 cups of flour, one at a time, and beat well. Keep the mixer draped for the next step.
4. Switch to a dough hook and add flour gradually until the hook pulls the dough away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Stop the mixer and feel the dough. If it's still sticky, add a tablespoon or so of flour at a time and resume kneading with the dough hook.
6. Stop adding flour when it's soft but handles without sticking to your fingers. Great bread dough should feel satiny and elastic.
7. Remove the dough hook and gather the dough into a ball.
8. Spray the bowl generously with non-stick spray and return the dough to the bowl. It's not necessary to wash it before you do.
9. Smooth a little cooking oil or olive oil over the dough, cover the bowl with a dish towel, and set it in a nice warm place to rise for about an hour.
10. When the dough has doubled in size, shape it into whatever you want.
11. Divide the dough in half and roll each half out into a rectangle approximately ten by fifteen inches.
12. Place each rectangle on a separate, well-greased, rimmed baking sheet.
13. Stir one teaspoon of almond extract into the cherry pie filling.
14. Use one-half of the pie filling on each rectangle of dough. Spread the filling down lengthwise on the center of the rectangle.
15. Please refer to the post for instructions with pictures on braiding the dough over the cherry filling.
16. For a crisp, shiny crust, brush the egg with a bit of water over the dough BEFORE baking. (If you want a softer crust, brush the dough with melted butter AFTER baking.)
17. Add the desired topping of sugar or sliced almonds.
18. After shaping, the dough will need to rise again until it has doubled in size. The second rise will be quicker than the first one.
19. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
20. Let the bread cool completely before icing the loaf if you want to add a powdered sugar glaze.

We love giving baked goods to everyone on our Christmas list. Here are some of our most popular bread and quickbread recipes. Easy Cinnamon Bread, Easy Pumpkin Bread, and Cranberry Orange Loaf. What are your favorites?

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Love, GB (Betty Streff)

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