Prepare For Christmas Baking Now

My life became a lot easier when I started using a beautiful handmade wooden french rolling pin and I learned to make bread in an hour! I make a beautiful bread braid filled with fruit or jam and baked in the oven. (Resembles German Stollen a bit.)

Drizzle icing on top of the dessert bread braid and you have a beautiful gift to give your neighbors at holiday time. You can use a variety of jams such as raspberry, apricot, or cherry filling. Whatever you have on hand or want to put in the middle of your dough. It will taste delicious!

Use your favorite bread dough. I love this recipe from fast easy bread
You can make this from start to finish in an hour! It's great! This will make two bread braids. Half your dough and cover the other portion. Then roll out your dough with your french rolling pin. Take a 4 0z. container of cream cheese and mix it with a 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and add 1/2 t. vanilla. Spread it on down the center of your dough.

Next put your jam or pie filling on top of the cream cheese mixture in the center of your dough. Then take your kitchen scissors and cut strips on both sides of the rolled out dough. Don't cut too far into the middle. Fold over the very top of your braid and begin braiding the strips back and forth on your braid. Fold the bottom of the braid up on your dough and secure each strip by pinching them tightly together.

Bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes and while it is still hot and fresh from the oven, drizzle powdered sugar icing on top of the braid. You could get fancy and serve it in a basket with a french rolling pin and the recipe for a gift. Put a fabric napkin in the basket first and then put your gifts inside and tie a fancy wired edged ribbon bow on the side of the basket.

There you go a gift you neighbors will love and remember you for, for years to come each time they use their beautiful handmade french rolling pin!