Christmas Morning Cheesebraid

Dough:
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 c. melted butter
2 T. yeast
1/2 c. warm water
2 beaten eggs
4 c. flour

For bread: Mix sugar, salt, melted butter, and sour cream. Cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over water in large bowl, stirring until dissolved. Add sour cream mixture, eggs, and flour; mix well. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, divide into two parts and roll each half to a rectangle about 1/4" thick. Place on greased cookie sheet. Spread half of the cream cheese filling (see directions below) down the center of each rectangle (see first picture). With pizza cutter (or knife) cut half-inch strips away from the center filling. Lay them left, right, left, right across each other, forming a pseudo-braid (see second picture). Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Can glaze with powdered sugar and milk mixture.

Filling:
two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese (can do lite, but not fat-free)
3/4 c. sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla

To make the filling, combine the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl. Add other ingredients. Beat well. This will make more than enough, but unfortunately halving the filling isn't quite enough for a full recipe of dough.

We LOVE this on Christmas morning. As adults, it's okay that it takes a couple hours on Christmas morning to complete. But if you have little kids and they want to eat right away, you can make the dough Christmas Eve morning, refrigerate all day, and then bake Christmas Eve so it will be ready Christmas morning.