Braided Hazelnut Breads With Spreads

• 200 g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp dried yeast
• 1 kg ciabatta bread mix
• 500 g quark or cottage cheese
• 250 g mascarpone
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50 g caster sugar
• 2 None tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
• 125 g mozzarella, finely chopped
• 4 sprigs basil, finely chopped
• 200 g dried tomato sandwich spread
• 250 g cream cheese
• 150 g cherry jam
• 1 tsp each chopped tomato and basil, to garnish

1. Dissolve yeast in 3 cups lukewarm water. Put bread mix and hazelnuts in a large mixing bowl and add the yeast water. Mix ingredients and then knead to make a smooth, pliable dough. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 mins. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface to form a roll 10 inch long. Cut each roll lengthwise down the middle and weave the two strands together to form a twist.
2. Preheat oven to 400u0b0F. Put the twists on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and leave to rise in a warm place for 40 mins. Sprinkle loaves with a little flour, then bake one after the other for 20-25 mins. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
3. Meanwhile, make the spreads. Mix together the cottage cheese, mascarpone (or whipped cream cheese), vanilla extract and sugar in one bowl and the mozzarella, sun-dried tomato pesto and cream cheese in another. Garnish the mozzarella spread with tomatoes and basil. Garnish the vanilla cheese spread with a dollop of cherry jam. Serve the hazelnut twists with the spreads.

hazelnuts, yeast, bread mix, mascarpone, vanilla, caster sugar, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, tomato sandwich, cream cheese, cherry jam, tomato

Taken from recipes-plus.com/api/v2.0/recipes/16433 (may not work)