Christmas Tree Bread

I love this recipe. My Mom used to make it for everyone when we were at home and now I make it for my family. It's time-consuming, but worth it. We have it every Christmas morning.

1/4 c. warm water
1 package active dry yeast
3/4 c. lukewarm milk
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
1/4 c. soft shortening
3 1/2-3 3/4 c. flour
1 c. powdered sugar and few drops of milk (for icing)

In bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and half of flour. Mix until smooth. Add enough remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured board. Knead for 5 minutes. Round up in greased bowl, bringing greased side up. Cover with cloth and let rise in warm place (85F) until doubled - about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and allow ro rise again in warm place for about 30 minutes. Divide ball of dough into 2. Form each into 17 1 1/2" balls and arrange on cookie sheets in Christmas tree shape. (i.e. one ball at top of cookie sheet for top of tree, 2 balls beneath that, 3 balls beneath them, 4 balls beneath them, 5 balls beneath then and then 2 balls for the base of the tree) Allow both trees on cookie sheets to rise 20-30 more minutes in warm place. This is usually where I stop for the night (Christmas Eve). I place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator until morning. Christmas morning, I then take them out and bake them 15-20 minutes in a 350F oven. While baking, mix 1 c. powdered sugar and a few drops of milk together until consistency of icing is formed. When rolls are baked, drizzle icing over them and sprinkle with decorations (silver balls, red sprinkles etc.).

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