Swedish Cardamom Braids

Ingredients

• 6 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom seed
• ½ cup butter (softened)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Sprinkle yeast into 2 cups warm water in large bowl, let stand 5 minutes.
2. Stir.
3. Stir in one egg, salt , sugar, butter, cardamom and 3 cups flour.
4. Beat with a wooden spoon until soft & smooth & elastic.
5. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough, then turn out on lightly floured board & knead 5-10 min or until smooth.
6. Put in a greased bowl turning to grease top.
7. Cover and let rise (1) hour. Punch down.
8. Knead out air bubbles on floured board.
9. Cut into 6 pieces.
10. Make 2 Braids using 3 pieces each rolled into 1 inch ropes.
11. Place on large greased baking sheet.
12. Let rise 30 minutes covered.
13. Brush with mixture of milk and 1 egg slightly beaten.
14. Sprinkle with sugar.
15. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min.

*Grandpa Peterson always purchased these Braids for Holidays. I didn't want the recipe to get lost. Hopefully, someone will take on this challenge in the future. It just takes practice & the Braids can't be perfect. Try to purchase the ground cardamom.