St. Joseph’s Day, celebrated on March 19th, is an important feast day in Italian culture. This special Catholic celebration honors the humble foster father of Jesus and is akin to Father’s Day in Italy. It is a tradition to adorn altars or tables with artistically shaped loaves of bread, fruits, vegetables, sweet pastries, grains, and fish, all symbols associated with the carpenter saint.
This recipe is especially dear to my heart because my Sicilian great-grandma and grandma made what our family called “J Bread” every year for St. Joseph’s Day. Their crusty loaf — braided, studded with sesame seeds, and formed into a “J” — became a small, sacred tradition for my dad and his brothers, something they looked forward to as much as the feast itself. I revived the tradition in high school, and now it’s become a family favorite again. I hope baking it fills your kitchen with that same sense of warmth and devotion — and gives your family a new (or renewed) tradition to look forward to each March.
St. Joseph Day Bread
Serves: 1 loaf | Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Rise Time: 1-2 ½ hours | Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. melted butter or olive oil
1 package or 2 ¼ tsp. dry yeast
1 ½ cups warm water
2 tsp. salt
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 egg, beaten
2-4 tbsp. white sesame seeds
Directions:
In a small bowl, mix sugar, butter or oil, yeast, and warm water. (Make sure the water isn’t too hot, over 120 degrees, or else it will kill the yeast.)
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, (or a large bowl if mixing by hand), whisk salt and 2 ½ cups of flour.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix on low until fully combined. Then slowly add in the remaining 2 cups of flour until well combined. Knead by hand or mix on high in a stand mixer until firm and elastic (knead by hand for 6-8 minutes).
Transfer the dough to a graded bowl and make 4-8 folds, bringing the ends to the opposite sides until a tight ball is formed. Cover and set in a warm place for 1 hour or 2 if it is cold in your home or outside.
Once risen, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and divide into 3 dough balls. Roll each piece into a 12- to 15-inch rope. Braid the 3 ropes, pinching the ends to secure them together and shape the braid into a J.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the J dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and allow to proof while the oven heats.
Once the oven has reached temperature, beat 1 egg, brush the loaf with the egg wash, and generously sprinkle with white sesame seeds. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and crusty.
Allow to cool for 40 minutes to an hour before serving.