Every now and then I like to get fancy when I cook. That's when I pull this one out of my hat! What's fancier than braided food?! Read on to learn how to fancify your food ;)
I used a pre-made whole wheat pizza dough.
Flatten the dough in a rough square shape. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into about 1 inch strips.
Place three strips onto a cooking sheet and attach them at the top, like pictured above. Make sure that the strips are clearly separated. (They will stick together at the slightest touch!)
Begin your braid by taking the strip in the middle up and directly over to the right and placing it back down on the cookie sheet. Now take your new middle strip and bring it up and over the left strip. Take your new middle and bring it up and over to the right... seeee? Easy!
Continue working your way down to the end of your strips. Once you have reached the bottom, smoosh the strips together to "seal" your braid. Chances are, the dough stretched as you were braiding, so if you like you can use a pizza cutter to cut it in half or even thirds. Any excess dough can be reformed, flattened, and cut into more strips.
Here I made three personal sized bread sticks and another nice, big, chunky bread stick to cut up and share. I like to paint on garlic spread before baking it, but you can also beat an egg and paint that on to make it perfectly golden brown on top.
Variations:
When using the pre-made cinnamon rolls, unroll each cinnamon roll entirely and use each as one strip of the braid. The cinnamon mixture is usually on the inside of the roll, so make sure you are braiding cinnamon side UP ;) After you braid it and bake it according to the directions (may need less time so keep your eyes on them) spread the frosting on the braids. It melts right into the braids perfectly!
When using pre-made crescent rolls, unroll the entire package onto a cookie sheet. Because crescent rolls are meant to be rolled up, they are very thin so you will need to press together two layers and cut your strips from there. If you have the type that are perforated into triangles, use your thumbs to seam them together making big squares.
Filler 'er up! You can also braid food into a big loaf. It could be as simple as cheese, ham and cheese, pepper jack cheese, or pepperoni and cheese. You can also make it a dish on it's own by filling it with more ingredients. My mom makes a ridiculous braided sausage bread using ground sausage, peppers, and onions.
It is to die for!