Easter Egg Bread - Feature Friday "All Things Easter" {Linky}

After my family went on a "Cake Boss" watching spree, I was curious about an Easter bread I saw him bake.  I went online and did a search for Easter Egg Bread and found this lovely food blog - The Italian Dish.  I could probably spend the rest of my life cooking entirely from this site and die a happy woman, and my family would be pleased, too.  Her Italian Easter Bread was a hit in my house and will become a new Easter tradition.  The Friday Feature this week is all things Easter.  So be sure and link up all your delicious Easter recipes.

Italian Easter Bread 
from "The Italian Dish"
(printer friendly version)


Bread Dough

1 package Rapid Rise (instant) yeast, about 2-1/4 teaspoons
1.25 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
3.5 cups flour (approximate)


Bread Topping
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs *
sprinkles 

Warm milk in a small bowl in the microwave.  Add butter and allow to melt.  Add two eggs, salt, yeast, and sugar.  Transfer to large bowl and add flour gradually, until a kneadable dough is reached.  Transfer to floured surface and continue kneading and adding flour as needed, until an elastic dough is reached.  Place in greased bowl and cover.  Allow to rise until double in size, about an hour.  Punch down and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a snake like shape that is about 14 inches long.  Braid two ropes and form into circles to create 6 rings.  Place on greased cookie sheet and cover to rise about an hour.  

Heat oven to 350F and brush dough with egg and water mixture.  Gently place an egg in each circle and add sprinkles to top of bread.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  If these sit out on the counter for longer than an hour, do not eat eggs.

*eggs do not need to be hardboiled

Now onto the blog hop.  Link up your recipes below and I will choose an Easter recipe to feature next week.