Bread and Pastry

Braided Bread with Blueberry and Cream Cheese Filling

I’ve recently been reading a lot of food blogs from the northern hemisphere, welcoming in the new Spring weather with fresh new recipes. However, in Australia, we’re now moving into Autumn weather, and wouldn’t it be nice to wake up in the morning to a warm slice of Braided Bread with Blueberry and Cream Cheese Filling?

This recipe is not too difficult: rolling out a yeast dough into a rectangle shape, placing the filling in the middle, and then ‘braiding’ the side tabs into the middle of the dough.

But wait! Does this sound too complicated? Not at all! I’ve never braided bread before, and if a klutz like me can do it, so you can you!

The Method

First, make the yeast dough and then let it rise double in size. Roll the dough out into a rectangle shape and then place the cream cheese and blueberry fillings in the center of the dough.

Blueberry Bread (1 of 3) (1 of 1)

 

Next, on a diagonal, cut the sides of the dough into tabs about one inch wide.

Blueberry Bread (1 of 4) (1 of 1)

Now, fold one tab at a time into the center of the dough, alternating sides and making sure the tabs overlap. Press the end of each tab gently into the dough after folding.

 Blueberry Bread (1 of 5 (1 of 1)

 Braided Bread finished - cropped

 Let the dough rise again, brush with egg wash and bake for 25 – 30 minutes. And it doesn’t matter weather you live in the northern or southern hemisphere, this bread tastes good wherever you live!

 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, please do ‘like’ my G’day Souffle’ Facebook page!

Blueberry Bread JPG

Braided Bread with Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling
Yields 2
Easy to make bread filled with a warm, gooey blueberry and cream cheese filling
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Cook Time
30 min
Cook Time
30 min
For the Sponge Yeast Mixture
  1. 1 tbsp. instant yeast
  2. 1 tbsp. sugar
  3. 1/2 cup warm milk
For the Dough
  1. 1/3 cup sugar
  2. 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
  3. 1 1/2 tsp salt
  4. 2 eggs
  5. 4 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  6. 1 cup milk
For the Blueberry Filling
  1. 2 cups fresh blueberries
  2. 1/4 cup sugar
  3. 1/4 cup corn flour
  4. 2 tbsp. lemon juice
For the Cream Cheese Filling
  1. 3/4 cup cream cheese
  2. 2 tbsp. sugar
  3. 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Egg Wash
  1. 1 egg mixed with about 1 tsp water.
Instructions
  1. Add the yeast and sugar to the warm milk- lightly stir and let rest for 10 minutes while the yeast dissolves.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until smooth (either by hand or use electric beaters). Add the eggs, salt and yeast mixture and stir until smooth.
  3. Add the milk and 1 cup of the flour and mix. Gradually add the remaining flour, beating until you have a soft, but kneadable dough (beat either using wooden spoon or using dough attachment with electric mixer). If your dough is still too moist, add a little more flour.
  4. Remove dough from bowl and knead by hand for about 3 - 4 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in size (1 - 2 hours).
  5. While the dough is rising, prepare the blueberry and cream cheese fillings. In a saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, corn flour and lemon juice. Heat the mixture over medium heat for several minutes until it thickens and the fruit softens.
  6. In a separate bowl, soften the cream cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. Set the fillings aside while you finish preparing the dough.
  7. After the dough has risen, punch it down and place on a lightly floured surface.
  8. Cut the dough in half and roll out one section at a time into a thin rectangle about 1/8 inch thick (my rectangle wound up being 13 " wide and 9" long).
  9. Place the cream cheese and blueberry fillings in the center of the dough. On an angle, slice the sides of the dough into tabs about 1 inch wide.
  10. Alternating from side to side, fold the tabs one at a time over the filling, over-lapping the tabs. Gently press on the tabs to seal the folds. When finished 'braiding' the tabs, cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rise again for about 45 minutes. While dough is rising, pre-heat oven at 350 F.
  11. After rising, brush the dough with egg wash and bake in the oven at 350 F for about 25 - 30 minutes until the dough is golden in color.
Notes
  1. Halve the recipe if you only wish to make 1 loaf of the braided bread. You can substitute other fruit fillings for the blueberries, such as apples and cinnamon.
Adapted from The Fresh Loaf
Adapted from The Fresh Loaf
G'day Soufflé https://gdaysouffle.com/

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27 Comments

  • Reply
    Joanne T Ferguson
    April 8, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    G’day Fran! I’ve never made a braided bread either, true!
    Love your recipe and photo and you now have inspired me to do!
    Cheers! Joanne

  • Reply
    Fran
    April 8, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    Thanks, Joanne- this is so easy to do!

    • Reply
      Carol
      March 7, 2015 at 6:04 am

      Dare I ask? Can Phyllo dough be substituted?

  • Reply
    Joanne
    April 8, 2014 at 9:28 pm

    Oh my, this is just gorgeous, no matter what the season!

  • Reply
    John@Kitchen Riffs
    April 9, 2014 at 2:16 am

    Pretty bread! And great flavors. Never have made a loaf like this, but you’re right that’s it’s pretty doable. Now that we have your instructions, of course! Good stuff — thanks.

  • Reply
    Megan
    April 9, 2014 at 9:50 am

    You’ve inspired me! I can’t wait to make this recipe!! Thanks!

    • Reply
      Fran
      April 13, 2014 at 10:16 am

      Megan, it’s lots of fun to make this bread!

  • Reply
    Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
    April 9, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    Fran, this is wonderful. I want to make this for Easter breakfast!

    • Reply
      Fran
      April 13, 2014 at 10:17 am

      Hi Maureen, I think this bread will be healthier than eating chocolate eggs on Easter morning!

  • Reply
    atasteofmadess
    April 10, 2014 at 1:36 am

    This is gorgeous! I have never made a sweet braided bread. I need to get on it!

  • Reply
    Daniela
    April 10, 2014 at 11:08 am

    That’s a brilliant idea for all seasons Fran!
    Give me blueberries and give me cream cheese and I’m happy.
    The bread looks delicious and perfectly browned.

  • Reply
    Juliana
    April 10, 2014 at 11:29 am

    Beautiful loaf of bread…you sure did a great job braiding the bread…and yum… delicious filling…cream cheese and blueberries…
    Thanks for the recipe Fran, hope you are having a fabulous week 😀

  • Reply
    Donalyn@The Creekside Cook
    April 11, 2014 at 4:20 am

    Oh Fran, that does look really beautiful, not to mention tasty. I’ve been doing a lot of sourdough lately, which would be perfect in this recipe – thanks for such a delicious idea!

  • Reply
    Gourmet Getaways
    April 11, 2014 at 10:37 am

    OMG! This looks so perfect and cute!
    I just love how the finished bread looks and I can’t imagine how good it would taste!

  • Reply
    Kumar's Kitchen
    April 11, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    this is an elegant and beautiful berry loaf….and such amazing step wise pictures…we were always a bit unsure about braided breads but your process makes them a must try at home this weekend,thanks so much for sharing such lovely kitchen inspirations…Have A Great Day!!! 🙂

  • Reply
    maria s
    April 12, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    oh ive tried making braided bread but it’s nowhere nearly as beautiful as yours is!

  • Reply
    Amira
    April 17, 2014 at 1:50 am

    Fabulous, This can be filled with almost anything and turn out great. Your filling is mouthwatering, your loaf looks so fresh and delicious. I’m in the mood of baking these days so I will try this for sure.

  • Reply
    Joy @MyTravelingJoys
    April 20, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    Thanks for the inspiration! I made this recipe but substituted a jar of my homemade rhubarb & strawberry jam for the fruit filling. And, I used fresh farmer’s cheese. The braid turned out fantastic – perfect for our Easter meal! 🙂

  • Reply
    Anneli Faiers
    April 25, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    Gosh that looks so pretty and the filling sounds sublime. What a lovely idea and you make it sounds so much simpler than it looks! Great instructions as ever Fran x

  • Reply
    Claire @ Simply Sweet Justice
    May 9, 2014 at 2:20 am

    Hi Fran, what a beautiful bread! Your pictures make it look much simpler and less intimidating. With the blueberries and cream cheese filling, this sounds divine.

  • Reply
    Cristina
    September 10, 2014 at 5:45 am

    Great recipe! Just FYI, I made the dough, let it rise for 2 hours, punched it down and then put it in the fridge overnight. let it sit out of the fridge for 1 hour prior to assembling everything and it all turned out perfectly! So, you can do a lot of the work the day before.

    • Reply
      Fran
      September 10, 2014 at 7:35 am

      Thanks Christina, good idea to do some of the prep work the day before!

  • Reply
    Kim | Low Carb Maven
    February 16, 2016 at 6:19 am

    Fran! This bread is so beautiful! I love the blueberry filling. It looks so perfect. Thanks for sharing.

  • Reply
    Mitch Boutte
    October 14, 2016 at 9:46 am

    I live in Tacoma Washington , it’s raining out and I was bored ,…. while searching around the internet I stumbled across a picture of your bread , and saw how easy it is … loved the dough so much that I used half of it for cinnamon rolls , your explanation, and pictures made it so easy that this old man did every thing right the first time… yea I love any thing with Blue berries and/or, Huckle berries , the cream cheese also made a perfect topping for the cinnamon rolls, I’m 55 and I haven’t baked any thing ever ! thank you

    • Reply
      Fran
      October 14, 2016 at 1:05 pm

      Mitch, thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I’m glad the recipe turned out well for you an helped to overcome your rainy day boredom!

  • Reply
    William Burch
    May 13, 2020 at 5:33 am

    Couple things I noticed when making this.

    The amount of dough yielded by this recipe resulted in much larger rectangles then originally specified, and as a result the amount of filling had to be increased.

    Also the final filling is best done on the final baking sheet as transferring a filled loaf to a sheet turned out to be impossible for me, and I had to discard my first loaf 🙁

    • Reply
      Fran Flint
      May 13, 2020 at 10:43 am

      William, thanks so much for your comment. I’ll go through this recipe again to see if any changes need to be made to the proportions.

    I love comments!