What's Cooking: Braided Pizza Bread

We are a pizza-loving household and this meal did not disappoint! This recipe does use a bread machine. The braiding part is a little tricky without seeing it, so enjoy my illustrations! :)

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups water
-  3 Tablespoons canola oil
- 4 cups flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

- pizza ingredients/toppings (we used  for ours)

Cooking Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to bread machine and set to the "dough" setting. I have a Betty Crocker Bake-It-Easy Bread Maker and the dough setting takes an hour and a half, so plan ahead.
2. After it is done, take the dough out and divide it in two. Flour the surface you are working on (the dough is rather sticky). Roll each half into a rectangle, keeping it about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Add your pizza toppings in the middle of the dough. We used pepperoni, sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

 
4. Create 1 inch wide strips on the top and bottom of the rectangle around the toppings.

5. Braid the dough. Start at one end and lay the end strip diagonally over the toppings. Then take the opposite one and lay it diagonally. Keep going until all the strips are layered. When you get to the end, just tuck the dough strips underneath.

6. Place the loaves on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the loaves to cool a little bit before cutting into slices.

We plan to try this recipe again but with ham and cheese instead of pizza toppings.

Source: www.bargainstobounty.com