Italian Christmas Bread with Eggnog Glaze
Hard French Bread

Italian Christmas Bread with Eggnog Glaze

Total Time
2h 34m
21m prep · 133m cook
Servings
4 people
Rating
Difficulty
Hard
32 views

My husband fondly recalls the Anise Bread that his Italian grandmother used to make during the holidays. She evidently never had a recipe (and never used a bread machine!) so this is what I came up with for a quick, special Christmas bread. This rich bread has a wonderful aroma while baking.

Ingredients

  • 0.5 cups hazelnuts
  • 1 cup eggnog , plus
  • 1 tablespoon eggnog
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 0.5 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter , softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1.5 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons anise seed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. 1

    Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

  2. 2

    Spread hazelnuts evenly on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, transfer the nuts to a bowl, and let them cool.

  3. 3

    Place the eggnog, sugar, salt, butter, egg, egg yolk, bread flour, yeast, anise seed, and cinnamon into the bread machine. Program the machine for a basic cycle with the crust as "medium." Press start. Do not use the delay timer.

  4. 4

    Place the cooled toasted hazelnuts into the machine between Knead Cycle 1 and Knead Cycle 2. When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool on a rack.

  5. 5

    Prepare the glaze by combining the confectioners' sugar and eggnog in a bowl; mix well. It should be a drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze on the cooled bread before slicing.

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Nutrition Facts

Per serving

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