Braided Nutty Wheat Bread

I wanted to send an entry for the BBD at Taste of Pearl City. Had some walnuts and almonds in the fridge. So why not prepare a bread? I wanted to make it with wheat flour. But using only wheat flour will make a bread heavy and dense. So I used 1 cup of flour along with wheat flour and I got a really soft and light bread. After seeing so many You tube videos on braiding bread, I thought of doing a 4 strand braided bread. There are videos which teach you braiding, starting from 1 strand to a maximum of 16 strands. They are awesome.

I loved the way my bread turned out. This is going to Bread Baking Day #35 at Taste of Pearl City started by Zorra of Kochtopf. This is completely eggless and butterless.

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour-1 1/4cups
Flour-1cup
Yeast-1tsp
Milk-3/4cup
Curd-1tbs
Oil-1/8cup
Almonds-8
Walnuts-3tbs
Salt-1tsp
Sugar-1tbs
Flakes of Almonds and Pista for topping

Procedure:

1. In a small bowl, add yeast, sugar and 1/8cup warm water and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
2. When it is frothy, add it to 1/2cup milk, curd and oil.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients well.
4. Add the wet mixture and prepare a soft dough. Use the remaining 1/4cup milk if necessary.
5. The dough should be little sticky. Knead it for 10 minutes till soft and elastic.
6. Oil a bowl. Place the dough in it and cover with wrap. Let it rise for 1 hour.
7.If the climate is too cool, then keep a bowl of very hot water in the lower rack of oven. Keep the dough bowl on the upper rack and close the oven. The oven should be switched off. this will help the dough rise. I saw this tip at The Daring Baker.
8. Puch down the dough and divide it into 4 equal parts.
9. Roll each division into a long rope and braid it as shown i the tutorial. the braiding should be loose to give the dough room to rise.
10. Cover it loosely with wrap and set it aside for a rise.
11. When it is double the size, brush with oil and top with almond and pista flakes.
12. Preheat oven to 180C. Bake the bread for 25 minutes or till the crust is golden brown.
13. Cool it on a rack.
14. Enjoy!

Photo Tutorial: