Cherry Cheese Sweet Bread ~ the best ever!

Makes 2 large loafs! (or you can cut the FILLING ONLY in half and make one loaf and the rest rolls! The dough makes delicious rolls!)

This is NOT a quick creation! Give yourself a morning/afternoon to do this. You are looking at APPROX 3-4 hours

Dough preparation time: 10-15 min mix time ~ 45 min to 1 hour rise time
Bread preparation time: 5 min filling mix time ~ 30 min loaf creation ~ 30 min loaf rise
Cook time: 20 min each loaf

What you will need:

2 TBSP Yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk (heat to a little bubbly)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter/margarine (soft)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs (beaten)
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour (divide in half)

Filling: (cream together)
2 - 8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 cans cherry pie filling

*** (You can do this in a mixer OR I like to make my bread maker do the work on the "dough" setting)

Soften yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water. In a kitchen aide type of mixer (or your bread maker), mix scalded milk, sugar, salt, margarine, eggs, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Add yeast and mix until smooth. Add remaining flour to make a smooth dough (not sticky). Knead 5 min. (or let the bread maker finish the mix time). Place dough in a grease bowl (or leave in bread maker). Cover and let rise 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. (bread maker about 45 min.) Punch down and let rise 10 min. ( if you are using the bread maker you don't need to do anything).

Divide dough in half; roll each into a rectangle (16x7) and place on a greased baking sheet. Place 1/2 the cheese/sugar mixture down the center and top with 1 can of cherry filling (spoon the filling on using MORE of the cherries than sauce). Cut 2 inch long cuts along each side 1 inch wide. Criss-cross strips over the top, let rise 30 min.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15/20 min. You can frost with a butter frosting and garnish with red and green cherries, nuts etc... or leave plain (that's what I do).

ENJOY warm or even cold! You will want to store leftovers in the refrigerator.




My mom makes it look better, I am still perfecting my criss-cross.