Braided Spiced Nut Bread

Last time I made bread I decided to take the whole bread braiding thing up a notch and added some walnuts, sugar, and spices.  It turned out so good and I'll definitely be making more in the future.  It's basically a Cinnamon roll in bread form with lots of walnuts and nutmeg packed in.

Using the recipe from my previous posts (or some kind of challah dough would work really well too) roll your dough out into an oval/rectangle shape.

Chop up a bunch of walnuts, really as many as you like. I went with a couple of large handfuls because we all really like nuts.  If you don't like nuts at all you could substitute them for raisins or just leave them out entirely.

Brush the dough with some softened butter then sprinkle on some brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I didn't do any measuring here, just sprinkled it on until it was evenly coated.

Next you're going to slice two cuts into your dough.  Leaving about an inch intact at the top, cut all the way down to the bottom so you have three pieces.

Here is where we differ from the regular braided bread.  Take each section and fold it in half, securing all the sugar and nuts inside.  Some will fall out while you braid but this will keep most of it inside.

Slowly braid your three loaf pieces until you get to the end.  Keep the braid fairly tight.  When you get to the end, pinch the three pieces together to hold it all in place.  Transfer to a well greased baking sheet.  Pick up all the fallen walnuts and sugar and sprinkle them on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes on the top rack in your oven.  Keep a careful eye on it, you want it fairly brown to ensure the middle is evenly cooked.

Once it's finished baking, brush the top with a bit of butter to keep the crust from getting too hard.  Then Enjoy!  We just ripped pieces off the loaf as we wanted them but you could easily slice it up as well.