Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds

Bread

This Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds is a lovely bread, easy to make, and only slightly sweet. Great for a late Sunday morning breakfast, with a thick layer of butter or as a French Toast. Look at the picture, you can almost smell the sweetness. I would easily make this bread again and start experimenting with bread puddings or other recipes in which bread plays the leading role.

By Marinka
September 29, 2018

Born in The Netherlands, I grew up with bread at breakfast and bread at lunch-time. Simple sandwiches like cheese, cold-cuts or sweets like marmalade, peanut butter, Nutella or chocolate sprinkles. Over time, as everything else, things changed, breakfast and lunch became a little more diverse, but bread is still an important part. May be that’s why there are so many small bakeries in Holland, most selling a darn good variety of breads.

Most Dutch grocery stores have their own bread counter with almost the same variety as the smaller bakeries and the packaged, pre-sliced bread is not awfully popular. When I started baking my own bread, most of the time, I was trying a type of bread that I was not so familiar with, like this Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds, very similar to a challah bread. Baking bread is for me about the flavors, the smells, the satisfaction that the dough becomes a bread. It is often not a perfectly looking creation.

Top view of a partially sliced braided bread with poppy seeds

A perfect bread? Can you give a definition? I cannot. I am far from perfect, so how the heck would I be able to make a perfect bread. One thing I know, I am perfectly me, with all the flaws and imperfections. The photo above shows how imperfect the loaf is. It has a little belly, off center, but it is well-braided, it stays together and it has a wonderful light interior. That is good enough for me. It does not taste any better when it has the perfect shape.

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.

  • All-purpose flour
  • Sugar – or honey
  • Yeast
  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Poppy seeds – or sesame seeds

How to Make Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds

  • Step 1 – Mix flour, sugar, yeast, salt, eggs, butter, and water in a bowl. Use a stand mixer or wet hands to incorporate all the flour. Knead the dough a little bit, create a ball. Cover bowl and allow to rest and rise in 1-2 hours. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Step 2 – Dust your counter with flour and knead the dough a few times. Cut in 5 equal pieces and roll each out, forming a rope with a length of approx. 12 inches. Each strand has the same length. Push the 5 strands together at one end and start braiding.

Step 3 – 5 strands makes for a more complicated braid. Take the right strand and pull it over 3 strands, so it becomes the 2nd from the left.

Step 3 - Take the right strand and pull it over 3 strands, so it becomes the 2nd from the left.
Step 4 - Move the left strand to the right, over 2 strands, so it becomes the middle one. Now move the 2nd strand from the left and pull it over the middle strand.

Step 4 – Move the left strand to the right, over 2 strands, so it becomes the middle one. Now move the 2nd strand from the left and pull it over the middle strand. At this stage you will end up with a braid on the left side of the strands.

  • Step 5 -Now repeat the process. Pull right strand over 3 strands, then pull 2nd strand from the left and pull over the middle one. Etc. At the end push the strands together.

Step 6 – Place the bread on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Make the egg wash by mixing egg with water. Brush the bread with the egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Step 6 - Place the bread on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Make the egg wash by mixing egg with water. Brush the bread with the egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
  • Step 7 – Place bread in the oven of 350 degrees F and bake for approx. 35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before you cut the loaf.

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Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds
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Braided Bread with Poppy Seeds

Author: Marinka
Prep Time3 hours
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time3 hours 35 minutes
Course: Breads
Cuisine: American
Diet: Nut-free, Vegetarian
Servings: 1 loaf
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 2.2 pounds all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, or honey
  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ounces butter
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Egg wash

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water

Instructions
 

  • Mix flour, sugar, yeast, salt, eggs, butter, and water in a bowl. Use a stand mixer or wet hands to incorporate all the flour.
  • Knead the dough a little bit, create a ball. Cover bowl and allow to rest and rise in 1-2 hours.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Dust your counter with flour and knead the dough a few times. Cut in 5 equal pieces and roll each out, forming a rope with a length of approx. 12 inches. Each strand has the same length.
  • Now the braiding starts. Push the 5 strands together at 1 end and start braiding and push the strands together at the other end.
  • 5 strands makes for a more complicated braid. Take the right strand and pull it over 3 strands, so it becomes the 2nd from the left.
  • Move the left strand to the right, over 2 strands, so it becomes the middle one. Now move the 2nd strand from the left and pull it over the middle strand. At this stage you will end up with a braid on the left side of the strands.
  • Now repeat the process. Pull right strand over 3 strands, then pull 2nd strand from the left and pull over the middle one. Etc.
  • At the end push the strands together. Place the bread on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
  • While the oven is warming to 350 degrees F, make the egg wash by mixing 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
  • Brush the bread with the egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
  • Place bread in the oven and bake for approx. 35 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow to cool before you cut the loaf.

Notes

The nutritional calculation of this recipe is based on an entire loaf, as the number of slices all depend on the thickness of each slice.

Nutrition

Calories: 4341kcal | Carbohydrates: 780g | Protein: 124g | Fat: 73g | Saturated Fat: 35g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Sodium: 4078mg | Fiber: 30g | Sugar: 15g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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