Paul's Grandmother's Easter Bread

Total Time: 7 hrs Preparation Time: 4 hrs Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• 12 cups flour, separated
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3/8 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
• 7 cups lukewarm water, separated
• 2 1/4 tablespoons fast rising yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups canola oil

Recipe

• 1 in a very large bowl combine dry ingredients: 10 cups flour, salt and tumeric.
• 2 in a second smaller bowl prepare wet ingredients: 1 cup water, yeast and sugar.
• 3 let wet ingredients sit for 10 minutes until yeast has risen slightly.
• 4 add remaining water and 2 cups oil to the wet ingredients.
• 5 add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together well.
• 6 work the dough in the bowl then on a well floured counter, adding as much of the remaining 2 cups of flour as needed to form a smooth dough that no longer sticks to your hands as you work.
• 7 cover the bowl and place in a warm spot on top of a hot water bottle or heating pad set to low.
• 8 let rise 1 hour then punch down the dough to remove any air pockets.
• 9 let rise 1 more hour and punch down again.
• 10 form dough into loaves and place into well greased bread pans.
• 11 let rise in pans for an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• 12 brush each loaf with milk or egg.
• 13 bake on middle rack at 350° for 45 minutes to 1 hour (bake longer for a crusty bread).