Recipe - Egg Braid Bread

1 pack Active dry yeast
1 cup Warm water
1 cup Sourdough starter
1 cup Allpurpose flour
1/3 cup Granulated sugar
2 Eggs; beaten
One half cup Butter; melted
1 teaspoon Salt
4 cup Allpurpose white flour
2 Eggs; beaten

Dissolve yeast in water. Add sourdough starter. Mix in 1 cup flour. Let
mixture set 12 hours or overnight to develop sponge. Stir sponge to
dissolve crust. Add sugar, 2 eggs, butter, and salt; mix well. Add 2 1/2
cups flour to sponge; mix well. Pour 1 cup flour on kneading surface. Pour
sponge mixture on flour. Cover with 1 cup flour. Knead until flour is
worked into dough. Continue adding flour until stiff dough has formed.
Knead dough 10 minutes or until folds form. Place in greased bowl. Grease
top. Cover; let rise until doubled in size. Punch down dough. Knead 2
minutes. Divide dough into 2 equal balls; divide 1 ball into 8 equal parts.
Roll 8 parts until approx. 12 inches long. Place these 8 strips side by
side; braid by folding 1 strip over the other in numerical order. Tuck in
edges. Prepare second dough ball in same manner. Place braids on greased
cookie sheets. Cover; let rise until double in bulk. Brush braids with 2
eggs. Bake in preheated 350F oven 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove
from oven; brush with oil. Cool on rack. Yield: 2 loaves.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini