Easter bread is a sweet yeast bread with a buttery texture and a hint of citrus flavor. It’s baked with jewel-toned eggs nestled on top. Easter is the time to bring out the family’s favorite recipes and make room for some easy, soon-to-be favorites!
What is Easter Bread?
Easter marks a time of celebration and renewal, it’s a holiday when families gather to rejoice in the arrival of Spring and new life. One of my all-time favorite bread recipes is this tender sweet yeast dough, infused with a hint of citrus. I’ve slightly adapted this recipe from an old church cookbook.
The bread’s texture is rich and buttery, like brioche, with a bit of sweetness and a hint of citrus flavor. This classic holiday bread has spiritual significance as well. The sweet, yeast-risen dough is made with colorful hardboiled eggs, which represent new life. Easter bread braids can be shaped into circular shapes, representing the crown of Christ, while the three strands in the braids represent the Holy Trinity. Although this recipe is a variation of Italian Easter bread, many other versions have distinct meanings and dough shapes.
Ingredients & Variations
Yeast Dough – This rich dough is made with eggs and butter, making it moist and sweet. It is lightly sweetened and incredibly soft. Flavor – Fresh lemon and orange zest add a light citrus flavor to this Easter bread. You can also customize it with optional add-ins like raisins, currants, chopped nuts, cinnamon, almonds, a touch of saffron, or cardamom. Eggs – Large eggs are best for the bread dough, but medium or small eggs are great for the colored eggs in your Easter bread. For the decorative eggs, uncooked eggs will bake alongside the bread in the oven. Once baked, the eggs will be almost hard-cooked and will continue to cook as the bread cools down.
How to Make Easter Bread
Nothing is better than warm bread fresh from the oven, and this Easter egg bread tops the list.
How to Dye Eggs with Food Coloring
For our Easter eggs, we dye hard-boiled eggs with whipped cream but in this recipe, I place them in food coloring uncooked. Let them soak in the color while preparing the dough.
Tips
You can use eggs that have not been dyed if you prefer. Hard-boiled eggs can also be used if you’d like firmer eggs. Ensure all ingredients (including milk) are at room temperature. This will help the yeast to activate and the dough to rise properly. The bread can be kneaded with a dough hook attachment on a stand mixer or by hand. If you are kneading by hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Form the loaf on parchment paper and slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet. This will make it easier to remove the bread from the baking sheet after it is baked. The loaf can be glazed and sprinkles can be added if you’d like. The glaze will give the bread a shiny finish, and the sprinkles will add a festive touch. The eggs will usually leak a little bit of color into the dough, this is expected. The color will not affect the flavor of the bread.
How to Store
Once Easter bread has been served, remove the eggs and store them in the refrigerator in a bowl for up to 4 days. Keep the bread in a covered container or zippered bag at room temperature for up to 4 days. Did you enjoy this Easter Bread Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below! © SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
