Last year I shared with you my mom’s tradition of baking bread and delivering it to neighbors on the Feast of Saint Joseph the Carpenter. Sicilians and other Southern Italians celebrate this Saint’s day every March 19th.
I was browsing on my post from last year and realized that I shared with you mom’s recipe for St. Joseph’s Soup but not the bread, which was really the centerpiece of the day.Click Here to revisit the post from last year and read on for the bread recipe.
St. Joseph’s Day Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups of warm water
- 2 packages of dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp. of shortening
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1Tbsp. Anise seeds
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1 egg slightly beaten
Preparation:
Combine in a bowl the warm water, yeast, shortening, sugar, oil, anise seeds and salt. Let this sit for 5 minutes.
In a mixing bowl put 2 1/2 cups of flour and add the yeast mixture. Beat together
Yeast bread dough, ready for proving (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
until all ingredients are completely blended. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a dough. Turn dough onto a floured board. Knead in more of the flour to form a stiff and smooth dough. Shape it into a ball. Place it in a greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm draft free location until dough doubles in size.
Punch dough down and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll each piece of dough into a 12 inch long rope. Take 3 of the ropes and braid together to form a long braid, you will get 2 loafs of bread. Place on a greased baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm draft free location until double in size.
Brush top with beaten egg and sprinkle some additional anise seeds over the top of the bread. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cooking sheets and cool on wire racks
- 1½ cups of warm water
- 2 packages of dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp. of shortening
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1Tbsp. Anise seeds
- 4½ cups flour
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- Combine in a bowl the warm water, yeast, shortening, sugar, oil, anise seeds and salt. Let this sit for 5 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl put 2½ cups of flour and add the yeast mixture. Beat together
- Yeast bread dough, ready for proving
- Yeast bread dough, ready for proving (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- until all ingredients are completely blended. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a dough. Turn dough onto a floured board. Knead in more of the flour to form a stiff and smooth dough. Shape it into a ball. Place it in a greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm draft free location until dough doubles in size.
- Punch dough down and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll each piece of dough into a 12 inch long rope. Take 3 of the ropes and braid together to form a long braid, you will get 2 loafs of bread. Place on a greased baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm draft free location until double in size.
- Brush top with beaten egg and sprinkle some additional anise seeds over the top of the bread. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cooking sheets and cool on wire racks
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