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1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, the yeast, and the salt and set aside.
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2
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and set aside.
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3
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together the half and half and butter just until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat, add the water and vanilla, and set aside until warm (115 to 125u00b0F) , about 1 minute.
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4
Pour the butter mixture over the flour-yeast mixture and, using a rubber spatula, mix until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it'll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 Cups of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky, that's just right.
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5
Place the dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size. You can then refrigerate the dough overnight for use in the morning. Just allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes in the morning before rolling out.
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6
While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, the lemon zest and melted butter.
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7
Make the bread. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350u00b0F. Line a 9x5x3 loaf pan with parchment paper. Or, lightly coat the pan with nonstick spray.
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8
Gently deflate the risen dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle. Spoon the melted butter/sugar mixture generously over the dough. Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips, each about 12 by 4 inches. (A pizza cutter is helpful here.) Stack each strip on top of one another. Cut the stack of strips into six equal sized squares. You'll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan. While there is plenty of space on either side of the strips widthwise in the pan, fitting the strips lengthwise is tight. But that's fine because the spaces between the dough and the sides of the pan fill in during baking. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until puffy and almost doubled in size.
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9
Bake until the top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.
