Polish Egg Bread

This bread has a wonderful texture and smells amazing. I saw an idea to start braiding from the center and it made the ends much prettier. I found the recipe here. 

Polish Egg Bread 

INGREDIENTS:
3 ¾ tsp yeast
⅔ cup warm water, divided
1 ⅓ cup milk
6 tbsp butter, cubed
½ cup sugar
2 ¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
6 cups of flour

HOW TO PREPARE:
Dissolve yeast in ⅓ cup lukewarm water in a bowl; set aside. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; add remaining ⅓ cup lukewarm water, butter, and salt; stir until butter melts. Pour in sugar and stir until dissolved.

When the milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, stir in dissolved yeast. Beat eggs in a separate bowl until combined. Whisk milk mixture into eggs. Gradually mix in flour.

Transfer dough to a large greased bowl. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease 1 baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface (as dough is very soft) and divide into 2 equal portions. I had the knead a bit of flour into the dough to be able to work with it. Working with one portion at a time, divide one dough ball into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into 3 ropes, braid together (starting at the center and working towards one edge and then flip around and braid on the other side from the center out), and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough ball.

You should be able to fit both loaves on the one baking sheet. Brush braided loaves with egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 tsp cold water). Let rise for 30 minutes. 

Bake loaves in the preheated oven until hollow-sounding when tapped on top, 30-35 minutes. Let cool before slicing.