Sol: I never did that. When I try it, I'll give you a bite, for a test. ( Of the bread )lol! Eileen: Here is a Recipe I had in Micro Works for Braided Bread. It is very easy, Just a lot of words. I don't use Honey and all the ingredients, like others use. Everyone has their own way to do this, which is better. But! I like to cook and bake using easier ways, long as the end results are the same. I've used this recipe since I got out of the Army, a very long time ago and converted it from Army Baking (Large amounts )to Home Baking. It wasn't easy going from 4 Quarts to 4 cups , etc. But I worked it out. I got the results that I wanted and I'm passing it on to everyone. LOU . Here is the recipe: Luigis - - - Braided, Plaited Bread or Dough for Cinnamon Buns , Bagels, Etc. 2 cups of milk, (warm ) - - Sometimes I sub Powdered Milk 1 1/3 cup of Sugar 3 large eggs- beaten (save ½ egg w. a little milk for basting ) 1 tablesp.+ of Vanilla - - ½ cup + of oil - - ½ teasp. Salt 2 packs of Fleischmans Active dry yeast AP Flour - 3 cups to start ( probably about 6 total ) enough to knead into a soft ball that doesnÂt stick to your hands. I now substitute a cup of WW Flour. Makes it more tender. Stir the yeast in a 1/3 cup of warm water w. ½ spoon of sugar, to test it for raising. In a large mixing bowl, or (KA mixer) place the warm milk ( not hot ) add the sugar ,vanilla , salt & eggs Beat until the sugar is dissolved and add the Yeast and mix well. Add 1 cup of WW flour and 3 cups of AP flour and mix with mixer a few minutes. Add flour until you make a " soft " Ball of dough that doesnÂt stick to your hands. DonÂt make it too stiff , try to keep it a "soft dough." On the Work Top, Sprinkle some flour under the ball and Knead it until smooth. Place it in a large bowl, Rub some oil on top. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm spot ( until double.) I usually turn my oven on for a few minutes to warm and shut it. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. Then place the dough bowl in the oven to rise. When ( doubled ) deflate and put it out of the bowl onto a floured worktop. Punch it down and knead the dough again. Then cut into 2 pieces ( 2 loaves ). Divide each piece into 3. Roll each of these 3 pieces into the shape of a sweet potato ( about 12 in long ). With the basting ( egg ) mixture and wet the tips of the 3 pieces and stick them together at one end . Then spread the other end the shape of an arrow While keeping the stuck ends down and away from you , twist each piece clockwise about 8 times and lay them down so you can Platt or Braid them and stick the other ends together There are other ways to Braid ( 6 Strands ) but I take the fast easy way to do things. Place the 2 shaped loaves on lightly oiled cookie tins, or in loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 400 deg. Spray some Pam on the loaves or brush with oil. This will keep them from drying while raising. When doubled in size (about 20 min.) place in the oven , top shelf and bake until slightly tan. Baste them with the egg mix and rotate them back into the oven and ( Turn temperature down to 325 deg.) Baste again when they are a dark tan. Cook till a rich brown, mahogany color. Take them out of the pans onto a rack to cool. Control yourself !!!! Let them cool !!! This sounds like a lot to do but it is easy and should take only 10 minutes to mix and shape. The most time is in the waiting for the dough to rise and for the bread to cool . But it do look great !!! & Professional This dough can also be used for Cinnamon Buns . I use it for Bagels too. I like the "Hardly Noticeable ", sweet taste. Later you can learn to make a neater Braid. My family likes it just the way it is now.

I made MaryAnne's Recipe #2 last nite. I forgot to buy a pudding mix. It makes a huge cake! It was okay, but not as good as I was hoping. I did overcook it a teeny bit though. I was thinking it should have had baking powder in it, but it wasn't in the ingredients, and I was panicking. I thought cakes had BP, but I'm wrong, obviously. I have away the starters on Freecycle.....had lots of requests for it. I was surprised. I think I'll wait a while and maybe try it again with another recipe, one moister.

Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 11, 08 at 10:18 I just remembered this recipe I've made before, and it was quite tasty. It lists separate herbs, but I bet you can use an equivalent amount of one of your new blends. I think you could use this method for just about any bread recipe, but this is what was in the cookbook, so that's how I'll post it. Herbed Monkey Bread From The Kind Arthur Flour Baker's Companion 10 small servings 1 recipe white bread 101 (recipe to follow) Herb Coating 3 to 5 tablespoons (1 1/4 to 2 3/8 ounces) Olive Oil* 1 tablespoon fresh stemmed thyme, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tablespoon dried 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 garlic clove, minced Combine the oil, herbs, and garlic. Set the mixture aside. Prepare White Bread 101 up through it's first rise. Grease the bottom and sides of a small (8-inch) tube or bundt-style pan, or a deep (2 inches or deeper) 8-inch cake pan or souffle dish. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 32 small pieces, each about the size of a chestnut and weighing approximately 3/4 ounce. Place about a third of them in the bottom of the pan if you're using a small bundt-style pan. If you're using a cake pan, put about two-thirds of the pieces into it. Brush the dough in the pan with the herb coating. Continue to layer with the remaining balls, brushing the top layer with the remaining herb oil. (If you've used the greater amount of olive oil, dip each piece of dough into the oil to coat it completely before layering it into the pan.) Let the bread rise, covered, for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until it's golden. Remove it from the oven and invert it onto a serving platter; the crispy bottom crust should be on top. Serve warm. *Use 3 tablespoons of oil if you simply want to drizzle the herb coating over the bough balls once they're in the pan. To thoroughly coat each dough ball before putting them in the pan, use 5 tablespoons of olive oil. This extra oil will give the bread a delicious crisp crust. Here's the bread recipe. I'll go ahead and enter the complete recipe, even though for the Monkey Bread you'll not use the whole process. White Bread 101 1 loaf, 16 slices 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter 1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) nonfat dry milk 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) potato flour, or 1/3 cup (3/4 ounce) potato flakes 1 1/8 cups (9 ounces) lukewrm water Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead them together - by hand, mixer, or bread machine - until you've made a soft, smooth dough. Adjust the dough's consistency with additional flour or water as needed; but remember, the more flour you add while you're kneading, the heavier and drier your final loaf will be. Cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour, until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and shape it into an 8-inch log. Transfer the log to a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, cover the pan (a proof cover works well here), and let the bread rise until the outer edge has risen about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the pan and bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 10 to 15 minutes if it appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the bread from the oven, take it out of the pan, and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. After 15 minutes, brush it with butter, if desired; this will give it a soft crust. Sally

Purple: You have had a lot of good suggestions. I suspect you may have a yeast problem. I haven't had any problem substituting some WW flour for AP flour. I use it in my Braided Bread and Pizza dough. Here is my Braided Bread Recipe. **************************************** Everyone has their own way to do this, which is better. But! I like to cook and bake using easier ways, long as the end results are the same. I've used this recipe since I got out of the Army, a very long time ago and converted it from Army Baking (Large amounts )to Home Baking. It wasn't easy going from 4 Quarts to 4 cups , etc. But I worked it out. I got the results that I wanted and I'm passing it on. ************************ Here is the recipe: Luigi�s - - - Braided, Plaited Bread or Dough for Cinnamon Buns , Bagels, Etc. 2 cups of milk, (warm, not hot ) 1 1/3 cup of Sugar 3 large eggs- beaten (save 1/2 egg w. a little milk for basting ) 1 tablesp.+ of Vanilla - - 1/2 cup + of oil - - 1/2 teasp. Salt 2 packs of Fleischmans Active dry yeast AP Flour - 3 cups to start ( probably about 6 total ), enough to knead into a soft ball that doesn�t stick to your hands. I now substitute a cup of WW Flour. Stir the yeast in a 1/3 cup of warm water w. 1/2 spoon of sugar, to test it for raising. In a large mixing bowl, or (KA mixer) place the warm milk ( not hot ) add the sugar ,vanilla , salt & eggs Beat until the sugar is dissolved and add the Yeast and mix well. Add 1 cup of WW flour and 3 cups of AP flour and mix with mixer a few minutes. Add flour until you make a " soft " Ball of dough that doesn�t stick to your hands. Don�t make it too stiff , try to keep it a "soft dough." On the Work Top, Sprinkle some flour under the ball and Knead it until smooth. Place it in a large bowl, Rub some oil on top. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm spot ( until double.) I usually turn my oven on for a few minutes to warm and shut it. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. Then place the dough bowl in the oven to rise. When ( doubled ) deflate and put it out of the bowl onto a floured worktop. Punch it down and knead the dough again. Then cut into 2 pieces ( 2 loaves ). Divide each piece into 3. Roll each of these 3 pieces into the shape of a sweet potato ( about 12 in long ). With the basting ( egg ) mixture and wet the tips of the 3 pieces and stick them together at one end . Then spread the other end the shape of an arrow While keeping the stuck ends down and away from you , twist each piece clockwise about 8 times and lay them down so you can Platt or Braid them and stick the other ends together There are other ways to Braid ( 6 Strands ) but I take the fast easy way to do things. Place the 2 shaped loaves on lightly oiled cookie tins, or in loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 400 deg. Spray some Pam on the loaves or brush with oil. This will keep them from drying while raising. When doubled in size (about 20 min.) place in the oven , top shelf and bake until slightly tan. Baste them with the egg mix and rotate them back into the oven and ( Turn temperature down to 325 deg.) Baste again when they are a dark tan. Cook till a rich brown, mahogany color. Take them out of the pans onto a rack to cool. Control yourself !!!! Let them cool !!! This sounds like a lot to do but it is easy and should take only 10 minutes to mix and shape. The most time is in the waiting for the dough to rise and for the bread to cool . But it do look great !!! & Professional This dough can also be used for Cinnamon Buns and Dinner Rolls. I use it for Bagels too. I like the Subtle, Hardly Noticeable, sweet taste. ************************ Braided Bread Bagles Plain Cheese 10inch Pizza Cinnamon Buns ( Sticky Buns )