1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups bread flour
2 cups cold buttery round crackers
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups bread flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove dough from loaves and place 1/2 cup of flour into each of two flour tubes. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, milk, salt and yeast. Cover with sugar, eggs and salt. Place in a separate bowl, and mix together flour, cracker crumbs and lemon juice. Insert dough into loaf pans.
Remove loaves of bread from oven. Brush with lemon juice, and sprinkle cracker crumbs evenly over each loaf. Using a spoon, cut dough into 2-inch wide slices. Place loaf halves into bread pans. Place cracker pieces on bread. Cover with a damp cloth, and let stand until doubled in size, about 25 minutes. Punch holes in bread by inserting knife or bread scraper with a metal spatula. Place cracker pieces on top of bread.
Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, prepare cracker crust by lifting cracker crumbs and buttery round crackers from the roast. Make a hole in the top of each loaf with a sharp knife.
Bake loaf uncovered for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Remove loaf from oven and cool on a wire rack, warm with the lemon juice and lemon zest. Remove loaf from oven. Pour lemon juice from oven and drizzle over crackers. Top each loaf with cracker pieces. Seal edges of loaf with water or lemon peel. Reserve a loaf for entertainment not served in this bread. A loaf should last about 12 hours in the oven, depending on the size of the loaf.