REUBEN SANDWICH BRAID
All the flavors of a Rueben sandwich in a beautiful braided sandwich loaf. Juicy corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut bake inside a fresh loaf of bread that brings the WOW to your table.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed or fresh homemade equivalent
- ⅓ cup Thousand Island or Russian salad dressing divided
- ¾ pound corned beef sliced or chopped
- 1 cup Swiss cheese grated
- 1 cup sauerkraut well drained
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon Poppy seeds or caraway seeds
Instructions
- If using frozen bread dough, thaw overnight in refrigerator.
- On a baking sheet lined with parchment, let the dough rise at room temperature. Depending on the temperature and humidity of your room this will take between 1 and 3 hours.
- Roll the dough into a 14” by 10” rectangle, right on the parchment so you don’t have to move it.
- Visually divide the dough into thirds, lengthwise. Spread half of the Thousand Island dressing down the center third of the dough.
- Top with layers of corned beef, cheese, and sauerkraut. I like to drizzle more dressing right on the sauerkraut. It gets that sweet and tangy thing going on that makes this sandwich so irresistible.
- Squish the filling together in the center one third of the dough.
- Using a knife or kitchen shears, make cuts from about an inch outside of the filling, to edges of dough, 1-inch apart on both sides of the filling. Like you're making a wide fringe.
- Starting at either skinny end of the loaf, lift the ends of the dough and form a cap to make a barrier so the filling doesn't leak out.
- Starting at one end, pick up each piece of cut (fringe) ends of the loaf and begin crossing the strips into a decorative pattern over the filling. Pinching as necessary to keep the filling from leaking.
- Allow the loaf to rise for 20 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400F° degrees.
- Brush the braid with egg wash made by beating one egg with a teaspoon of water. Sprinkle the top with poppy or caraway seeds. Ooh! Pretty!
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and irresistible. Prepare to do your “I’m such a Diva” strut!
Notes
Diva Tip - You can vary the recipe by using any sandwich filling you like and have the same beautiful presentation and bragging rights. For times when corned beef is expensive, (like the other 51 weeks of the year) substitute pastrami or turkey pastrami.
You can use other fillings like;
Pepperoni and mozzarella,
BBQ chicken and pepper jack,
Roast veggies and ricotta,
Ham with broccoli and cheddar.
Simply stuff all your leftovers into a bread braid and it’ll be fabulous (and frugal)!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!