Breakfast Braid: Secret Recipe Club

It's Secret Recipe Club time again for the "B" Group.  There are so many members now, that there are 4 groups starting next month!  With one group revealing each week, Amanda and her team have their hands full.  There is now a blog devoted to the Secret Recipe Club as well as twitter and facebook.  It is a regular phenomenon.

This month, I was given Amy's blog, Adventures in Marriage.  She has been blogging since 2008 and has many delicious looking recipes on her site.  I had a hard time deciding what to make.  I really wanted to try her Peruvian Roast Chicken, Apple Scones, Chocolate Caramel Cookies and Taco Pasta Toss, but it was her Sausage, Cheese and Egg Braid that finally won out.   It sounded SO good.

I used a homemade bread dough instead of the refrigerated pizza dough.  I nixed the eggs because The Engineer doesn't care for them and substituted potatoes.  I used Jimmy Dean sausage and Cheddar cheese to round out the filling.  It was hearty enough to be a dinner...so I served it for that meal.  I even made a second braid so we could snack on it later.  It was not messy at all and would have made a great portable breakfast.  I toyed with the idea of making individual braids for each person, but time and energy ran out.

Breakfast Braid (adapted, twisted and changed from This Recipe) 

(for one braid)

Dough: 

2 1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

Filling: 

1/4 pound breakfast sausage

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp basil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 14 ounce can sliced potatoes, chopped

For dough, mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl.  Combine the water and oil and mix in.  Knead on a floured surface until the dough becomes elastic-y.  (all that can be done in a Kitchen Aid or other powerful stand mixer).  Cover bowl and let rise until doubled.   Punch down and roll out in a 18 X 13 pan (jellyroll).  While dough is rising, make filling.  Brown sausage in a skillet.  Drain.  Add seasonings and potato.  Remove from heat.  Sprinkle filling down the center of the dough.  Top with cheese.  Cut strips down both sides of the dough to within 1/2 inch of the filling.  Alternately overlap one strip from each side and tuck under the ends, sealing it so that no filling falls out.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter or oil.  Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.

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