I have a basic whole wheat sandwich loaf that I make from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, but the recipe I'm going to share here is my mother's challah (braided bread). Very impressive for special occasions and uses up some of those eggs! Kids will also love to help with the braiding-- I know I did as a child.
Challah (makes 1 large or 2 medium loaves)
For the dough:
1/2 cup sugar
2 envelopes yeast (4 1/2 tsp.)
1 3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
6-7 cups flour (1/2 of it whole wheat)
1 stick butter, melted
For the glaze:
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp. milk
poppy or sesame seeds
Whisk the yeast and sugar into the warm water. Add the salt, butter, eggs, and 3 cups flour. Whisk until smooth. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Oil a large bowl and place the dough in it, turning once to coat. Rise, covered, for 1 1/4 hours or until doubled in size. Grease a large baking sheet. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until deflated.
For 1 large loaf: Cut off 1/3 of the dough. Let both pieces rest for 10 minutes. Cut both pieces of dough into 3 pieces, then roll each piece into a rope. Braid the ropes into 2 braids and place the smaller braid on top of the larger braid. For 2 smaller loaves: Cut the dough in half, let rest. Divide each half into three pieces. Roll into ropes and braid. Let the braided loaf rise on the baking sheet until doubled, approximately 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350*. Brush the loaf with the egg glaze and sprinkle generously with seeds. Bake until golden brown, 45-50 minutes. Cover with foil if necessary while baking to prevent excessive browning.
Whew! That sounds far more involved than it really is. I like to serve this for several people with some butter or margarine, and just let people tear off chunks instead of slicing it (the large loaf is quite large). It also makes fantastic French toast the next day.
