Princess Bread

I’m sure you won’t be shocked to learn that my three year old daughter, E, loves pink and purple. Purple is her very favorite right now, because Sofia the First wears a purple dress, and E thinks Sofia hung the moon.

We incorporate pink & purple into her clothing, her accessories, her bedding, and even her food. Ice cream and suckers are chosen for what color they are, with no thought whatsoever given to flavor. We’ve even made purple waffles for breakfast before, and that gave me the idea to give another food the “princess” treatment – bread!

I call this Princess Bread because it incorporates pink & purple, and because my daughter will instantly love bread that sounds like it’s something Sofia would eat! This is a typical sandwich bread recipe, but you could put strawberry or grape preserves on it for added princess flair. And imagine how fun it’d be to surprise your child with this bread on her sandwich at lunch!

Here’s how to make Princess Bread with step-by-step pics – and the recipe itself will be shared below!

Add two cups of warm water to your mixing bowl (and equip it with a dough hook).

Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and let it dissolve into the water:

Add 2.5 teaspoons of yeast to the bowl and let it sit for a few minutes until it foams up a bit on the surface.

Add in two tablespoons of melted butter (make sure it cools, first), and then add in 1/2 cup dry milk, mixing well.

Then add in salt, and then 5 1/2 cups of flour one at a time.

Keep mixing the dough until it starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl:

Separate your dough into two; take one half of the dough and separate it into two equal pieces:

Knead purple food coloring into one of the smaller pieces, and pink into the other.

And, uh… you might want to wear gloves:

Put each ball of dough into a greased bowl, and cover with a damp dish towel. Let the dough sit and rise for 1-2 hours, then punch it down and get ready to assemble your loaves!

For each loaf (this recipe makes enough dough for two loaves), take part of the plain dough and roll it out into a thin sheet. Then roll the other part into a rope along with a rope of pink and a rope of purple; then braid your dough together.

Wrap the braid with the thin sheet of dough, tucking in the ends. Place your loaf seam-side down into a loaf pan. You can try different ways of assembling your dough into the pan to create different patterns of color, too. Just be sure and wrap the bread with regular dough. Once you’ve placed the loaves into loaf pans, cover them with plastic wrap and let them sit for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees; after your loaves have risen for 20 minutes bake them for about 35 minutes, until the crust is light golden brown. Let cool before cutting, even though you’re probably eager to see what the inside looks like! I think this is one of the coolest aspects of the bread; it looks like a normal loaf until you slice it!

Princess Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup dry milk
• 2 tablespoons melted – and cooled – butter
• 5 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour (plus a little for sprinkling on your kneading surface)
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Pour 2 cups of warm water (but not too hot; you don’t want the yeast to die) into a mixing bowl. Add three tablespoons of sugar and let it dissolve, stirring gently if needed. Next, add 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast. 
2. When the yeast is foaming, add the butter, dry milk, and salt. Mix together well, then add in the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Be sure and mix slowly at first so you don’t have flour flying everywhere!
3. Mix the dough  with the dough hook for 3 to 4 minutes, until it begins to form a ball and pull away from the sides. 
4. Separate your dough into two parts; take one half of the dough and divide it into two equal pieces. Mix pink food coloring into one of the smaller pieces, kneading well until the dough looks marbled. Knead purple food coloring into the other smaller piece.
5. Place each ball of dough in its own greased bowl, turning it over to coat both sides, and cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let it rise for 1 to 2 hours. Punch down the dough.
6. Separate each color of dough (plain, pink, and purple) into two for your two separate loaves. 
7. For each loaf, roll part of the plain dough out into a thin sheet. Roll the other part of the plain dough – and the pink and purple dough – into logs, then braid them together. Wrap the braid with the thin sheet of plain dough, tucking in the ends. Place the loaves seam-side down into loaf pans.
8. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let them rise for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and tip the breads out of their pans, and let cool before slicing and revealing the fun colors inside!

As always, I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started and how to link up!

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts – and we would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts ( this can be a kid-friendly recipe, or a recipe you made with your kiddo) with us each week, too!

Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen.

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3. Easter Bunny Marshmallow Pops // Baby Loving Mama
4. Homemade Dirt Cake Recipe // We’re Parents
5. Canned Tuna Sushi for Kids // Eating Richly Even When You’re Broke
6. 10 Leap Year Foods to Make with Your Kids // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
7. Breakfast Muffins // Step Stool Chef
8. Spiralized Potato Gratin // Vegging at the Shore
9. Better Than Turtle Cheesecake // Mom’s Messy Miracles
10. Dr. Seuss Snack Ideas to Make with Kids // O’Boy! Organic
11. Homemade Berry Fruit Snacks // Can’t Google Everything