From my first experience, I learned a few things. It makes one very large loaf. I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer to make the dough. I usually use my bread machine "dough cycle" to make doughs, so I am not as proficient with making dough in the Kitchen Aid. I think I was a little too stingy with the flour, and ended up with a softer, but not sticky dough. As a result, my loaf looks a bit different than the video. It has less defined braiding, but, it tasted fabulous! Next time I will add a bit more flour so the dough is a bit firmer. I am also going to halve the recipe and make the dough in my bread machine, on "dough" cycle. To me, it's more convenient to have a smaller loaf.
I also used available organic ingredients when making this bread, but you can make this with conventional ingredients too. I made the recipe as written except for using crushed garlic from a jar vs. granulated garlic. I used sugar vs. honey and warm milk vs. milk powder and butter vs. shortening.
Here is the video to introduce you to this delicious bread. Be sure to watch it. It is quite detailed and quite helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ2dlBrRgss&index=1&list=PL530U2RvJs2ia8zKI-QjUiK7DZUf3RLDU
Here is the recipe:
Italian Herb Braided Bread (kneadyhomesteader.com)
Recipe:
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbl instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tbl sugar or honey
2 tbl butter or shortening
4 tbs milk powder OR 1 cup warm whole milk MINUS 1 cup of warm water listed above.
6 cups of bread or all-purpose flour.
1 additional cup flour, to tweak dough into perfect shape.
1 tsp granulated garlic (I used crushed garlic from a jar)
1 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1st rise: 1 hour
2nd rise: 30 min
Bake @ 375 for 45 min.