Portuguese Sweet Bread Oamc

Total Time: 3 hrs 35 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 2/3 cups warm water
• 1 cup dry instant potato flakes
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons melted margarine or 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (could use 1/2 tbls. each) or 1 tablespoon orange zest, finely shredded (could use 1/2 tbls. each)
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup golden raisin
• 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Recipe

• 1 in a large mixing bowl soften yeast in warm water.
• 2 mix in potato flakes, sugar, melted margarine, salt, eggs, citrus zest, and raisins.
• 3 add flour until dough is no longer sticky, about 7-1/2 cups.
• 4 knead with dough hook 2 to 3 minutes or by hand 10 minutes, until smooth.
• 5 put dough in a large, greased bowl, turning it once to grease on top and bottom.
• 6 cover bowl with a towel.
• 7 let dough rise 1-1/2 hours or until double in size.
• 8 punch it down and let it rise 10 minutes more.
• 9 divide dough into 3 large, round loaves or 4 smaller ones; place them on a greased cookie sheet with space between them.
• 10 you can also braid the dough or form it into any shape.
• 11 cover dough with a towel, and allow it to rise until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• 12 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 13 bake loaves 35-40 minutes, depending on number of loaves.
• 14 cover them with foil after the first 20 minutes so they won't get too brown.