Anise Braid / Anise Bread

I grew up eating quite a few delicacies from Iyengar Bakery in my teens. One of the favorites is the 'Om Biscuit' as it was called which are nothing but crusty bread sticks that are a little sweeter flavored with anise seeds. I still remember the taste of those bread sticks. I was thinking about that when I decided to make this bread. I used a regular brioche recipe to start with and since I didn't want to use butter, used oil instead. There are eggs in there which make it rich. You could replace it with yogurt without compromising the taste or texture. These are great as is, great toasted and even greater if you made pudding or french toast out of it.

One Year Back - Whole Wheat Jalapeno Focaccia
Two Years Back - Spicy Mint Sourdough Muffins (Egg less)
Ingredients: (Makes two braids or two 9 X 5 loaves)
Active dry yeast - 2 1/4 tsp
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 1/4 tsp
Eggs - 3 large (Room temperature)
Oil - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 3 1/2 cups - 4 cups
Anise seeds - 1 tsp (You could use more if you like the flavor up to 1 TBSP)

Egg Wash:
1 Egg yolk beaten with 1 TBSP milk

Topping:
Pearl Sugar - 2 TBSP (optional)

Method:
In a bowl, take warm water. Add one TBSP of sugar to it and add yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes or until frothy. In another bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, eggs, oil, salt. Slowly add the yeast mixture to it and start adding flour slowly. Add anise seeds along with the flour. When you have made a soft dough, start kneading on a lightly floured surface. Add more flour if needed to get a smooth, silky but not sticky dough. Knead for 10 - 12 minutes or until really elastic. Place it in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the bottom. Cover and let rise for an hour or until double in bulk.

Punch down and refrigerate for 3 hours at least or up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Punch down and divide the dough into two parts. If you are going to braid the dough like I did, divide each part into three. Or you could just shape it into a loaf. Grease two 9 X 5 pans. Place the braids or shaped loaves in the pan. Cover with an oiled plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour or until almost double. This one might not double easily, but will have significant rise in the oven. Towards the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350 F. Just before baking, brush with egg wash and sprinkle pearl sugar if using. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until brown on the top and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack.

Notes: 
I did not have any pearl sugar on hand. I used the small sugar balls we get in Indian grocery store and crushed them. You could use raw sugar instead.

This is my entry for the Blogging Marathon started by Srivalli. Also sending this to Yeastspotting.