Award-Winning Lemon Cream Stuffed Braid Bread Tutorial

This is a great breakfast bread. Goes great with your morning cup of coffee! This recipe won me 3rd place in the city bake-off for 2013. 

Lemon Cream-Stuffed Braid Bread

Ingredients

BREAD:

1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

3 Tbs warm water (110-115 degrees)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:

12 oz cream cheese, softened (1 and 1/2 blocks)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp grated lemon peel

ICING:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Juice of one lemon (the one you grated, preferably)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Step 1

Dissolve yeast in water; let stand for 5 minutes to activate. Add sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Step 2

Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 1 hour.

Step 3

While the dough rises, beat filling ingredients in a bowl until light and fluffy; set aside.

Step 4

Punch dough down. On a floured surface, roll into a 14X12 in rectangle. Place on a greased baking sheet (or parchment paper lined). Spread filling down center third of rectangle.

Step 5

On each long side, cut 1 inch wide strips. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling. Seal end. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Step 6

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool while you make the icing.

Step 7

Combine icing ingredients, drizzle over bread.

This was a big hit at the Bake-Off!