Braiding Dough for a Bread Wreath

butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Coconut oil reduces saturated fat while maintaining moisture.

all-purpose flour

🥗Healthier: whole wheat flour

💰Cheaper: bread flour

Whole wheat flour adds fiber and nutrients.

milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: water

Almond milk is lower in calories.

sugar

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Honey adds a unique flavor.

I built 200 grams of ripe starter overnight by feeding 40g of starter with 80g water and 80g flour. This 1:2:2 feeding the night before worked well to have ripe starter by morning in a cold springtime kitchen. Other possibilities for timing and build are fine too.

Heat the milk until it is quite warm but don't worry about reaching the scalding temp of 170F. You just want the milk hot enough to melt the butter and sugar.

Chop the butter in pieces, then add it and the brown sugar to the hot milk. Stir until everything is mostly melted. Set aside to cool a bit while you prepare the other ingredients.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg, sourdough starter, flours, salt, and spices. Then add the warm milk-butter-sugar mixture.

Mix with the dough hook on medium speed until the dough comes together, about 3-5 minutes. It's okay if the dough is a little sticky because the dried fruit will pull some moisture from the dough over time.

Finally, add the dried fruit to the mixer bowl and mix another minute or so.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and place somewhere warm to rise until the dough has expanded by about 75% in size. This could take five or more hours.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently de-gas it by pressing down on the dough, and then divide it into 15 or 16 pieces.

Roll the pieces into balls and place them in your pan(s) with some space between them.

Cover and let the dough proof somewhere warm until the rolls have doubled, around three hours.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

For the piped crosses, mix the flour and water in a small bowl and then spoon the paste into a small zip-top bag.

Cut a 1/4" or smaller hole in one corner of the bag and pipe horizontal and vertical lines onto the buns.

Bake the buns for 24 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through if the buns are not browning evenly. You may choose, like I did, to then switch your oven to broil for 1 additional minute to further brown the tops of the buns. Keep a close eye on them if you do this.

Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a towel or cooling rack.

Mix a few tablespoons of orange juice (ideally fresh-squeezed) with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, and then brush the icing on the warm buns.

You can serve these buns warm from the oven.

Extra buns can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days. Reheat them for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, or by toasting them in a toaster oven.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens