October 5, 2020. Mostly cloudy and cool. Beautiful Butterfly Braid Bread.

Jump to Recipe

While playing around with some dough this summer, I came up with this beautiful Butterfly Braid bread on a whim! I thought it would be fun to make something creative and just free form!

When I shared pictures of the experiment with my baking group on social media it was very well received. I was surprised by the interest and excitement; many of my baker friends were asking how I made this! I decided to recreate it and take pictures showing the steps to make the braids. This post is focused on how I created this butterfly braid bread.

I use a soft, slightly sweet dough, typically used for making Easter wreath bread. The secret to this Butterfly Braid Bread is a smooth and elastic dough that is easy to braid and handle.

Without further ado, let’s get baking!

Ingredients

For the dough, you need these items, listed in both US and metric measurements:

1 cup (240g) heavy cream, room temperature or lukewarm plus 1 Tbs for egg wash
2½ tsp (11g) active yeast
⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
4 cups (580g) all purpose flour
½ tsp (3g) salt
3 large eggs plus 1 more for egg wash
2 tsp vanilla extract

I used a stand mixer to form the dough, and a large parchment lined baking pan to bake the bread.

Creating the beautiful Butterfly Braid Bread

Making the Dough

Gather all the ingredients. Warm up heavy cream in microwave for 20 seconds. Check that temperature is between 80-90ºF (27 – 32ºC). Add sugar, yeast and stir. Set aside for 5 minutes.

When ready, pour the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. With the mixer running at slow speed, gradually add the rest of the ingredients – flour, salt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Knead for 5 minutes until a soft dough is formed.

Remove dough and pat into a ball. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let it rest for 1 to 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. While waiting, line a large baking pan with parchment paper.

Tip the dough onto a clean working surface. Divide into 2 pieces. Set one piece back into the oiled bowl and cover to prevent from drying out. Roll out the dough into one long rope approximately 24 inches (60cm). Repeat with the other piece of dough.

Shaping Beautiful Butterfly Braid Bread

Place one of the dough ropes into the prepared parchment lined pan and form the base of the butterfly braid. Begin by creating a rough square base in the shape of the butterfly. Create a loop on the upper left and then create another loop on the upper right. Move the rope down to the lower right, make a loop, and continue to bring the rope over to the left. Make a loop for the lower left before completing the square. You now have a base.

Continue to cover the upper left loop with the dough rope, and then string the rope back to the upper right side over and then under the corner, and bring the rope back down to the lower right corner. Complete the cycle by moving the rope back to the left lower corner. At this point, join together the second dough rope to continue your braiding. Repeat the up, across, down, across pattern until the rope runs out. Gently tuck the rope end into the bottom of the bread. Gently pinch the 4 corners to create the shape of butterfly wings. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Beat the egg with the remaining tablespoon of heavy cream to make an egg-wash. Generously brush the dough surface with the egg-wash.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack and your beautiful bread is ready!

Postscript:

Just for fun: I was researching a bit about types of European Bread and found this article which I thought was informative. Never heard of some of these – Tijgerbrood, Ruisreikäleipä, etc. I was lucky enough to have eaten Hverabrauð when I was in Iceland 2 springs ago. It’s a short read => https://www.afar.com/magazine/10-european-breads-with-fascinating-stories

Dough recipe inspired by: https://platedcravings.com/easy-sweet-braided-easter-bread/

More Fab Food Ideas:

Do you love a colorful main course? Please check out my delicious easy veggies ratatouille here => How to Make Easy Colorful Veggies Ratatouille Casserole!

Do you love pretty looking bread? I do! See how I transformed a whole wheat loaf into a pretty pumpkin shaped bread here => How to make Whole Wheat Bread Pretty!

Here’s a fun way to eat rolls: crescent shaped and stuffed with cream cheese, either plain or spicy! => How to make Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls: Spicy and Plain!