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Rainbow Swirl Bread

Rainbow Swirl Bread
  • Prep 30 min
  • Total 3 hr 0 min
  • Servings 1
This rainbow swirled bread will bring a touch of fun to every meal.
By Girl Versus Dough
Updated March 7, 2017

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk plus 1 egg yolk (totaling 1 cup together)
  • 3 cups Gold Medal™ unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Red, yellow, green and blue food coloring

Steps

  • 1
    In a small, microwave-safe bowl, whisk milk and egg yolk together and microwave 30 seconds. Set aside.
  • 2
    In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, sugar and yeast.
  • 3
    Add milk mixture, butter and salt and stir to combine. Using dough hook and stand mixer or by hand on a lightly floured surface, knead dough until it comes together and is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes with stand mixer or 10 minutes by hand.
  • 4
    Divide dough into 5 equal pieces; place each piece in a small bowl and cover with a tea towel.
  • 5
    Remove one piece from a bowl and place it on a plastic cutting board (or any surface you're willing to cover with food coloring). Add several drops of food coloring (I'd start with 10 drops and keep adding as you go). Using gloves to prevent your hands from getting dyed, begin to knead the food coloring into the dough, adding more food coloring until it is fully incorporated. This takes some time; just be patient and it will come together!
  • 6
    Shape dough into a ball and return to its bowl. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, dying each a different color (red + blue makes purple), being sure to wash your hands/gloves and your work surface between each color.
  • 7
    Cover bowls with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
  • 8
    When dough is risen, punch down dough. Remove red dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an 8-by-4-inch rectangle. Roll out yellow piece of dough into an 8-by-4-inch rectangle and place directly on top of red dough. Repeat with green, then blue, then purple doughs until you have a stack of 8-by-4-inch rectangles.
  • 9
    Roll up dough tightly from the short end into a loaf. Place loaf in a lightly greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
  • 10
    Heat oven to 375°F. Uncover dough and bake until browned on top and a thermometer inserted in the bottom center reads 190°F, about 30 minutes.
  • 11
    Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.

No nutrition information available for this recipe

  • Spring officially has sprung, and you know what that means... Well yes, it does mean no more snow (hopefully) and a little more sunshine, but it also means a whole lotta rainy days. But though the April showers are working hard to bring May flowers, we can bring some brightness and happiness into our homes at any time via this Rainbow Swirl Bread. Isn’t this the craziest/most awesome thing you ever did see? It’s like the rainbow and the pot of gold all in the same recipe -- the pot of gold being a delicious sandwich bread you can eat with anything and everything. Let’s taste the rainbow!First, make your basic bread dough. I used the same base I’ve used for other dyed bread recipes because it works so well every time and holds up to a bit of a beating when you add the dye. You can divide the dough into five pieces, or however many colors you want to swirl into the loaf. I’ll admit this does take some time to mix the colors into the dough (about 10 minutes per piece), but it’s by far the toughest step of the whole recipe so once you’re done, it’s easysauce from here on out! Have fun with this bread -- use it to make French toast, sandwiches, bread pudding or just to stare at it when you need a little brightness and cheer in your life. Happy baking!
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