Artisan Breads Every Day - Greek Christmas Bread

Another holiday bread from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart.

I love reading "foodie" books and I've been wanting to try my hand at baking panettone ever since reading about food in Italy. Since I've never eaten panettone, I have no idea how close I got. All I know is - it was good!

This recipe was the most challenging one of the book so far. Not that it was difficult, it just took far more steps then most of the recipes. The dough was easy to handle and smelled good enough to eat even before baking!

The panettone recipe in the book includes many variations. I chose to make the Greek Christmas bread. In this variation, the panettone dough had spices, walnuts, and dried cranberries added to it.

The classic shape for the Christmas bread is a boule or round loaf with extra dough used to form a cross on top.

I know that several of you readers also own this book. I'd love to hear your comments on any of these recipes that you have tried!