Italian Easter Bread

This is one of the most delicious Italian Easter Bread recipes you’ll ever have, and it’s straight from the old country. The dough is an absolute dream to work with. The recipe makes 6 of these festive twisted breads (or two large loaves) and I can’t imagine letting an Easter go by without them. Happy Baking!

I took photos of this recipe a year ago and didn’t post it because my camera’s sd card was partially corrupted, meaning I lost many of the process photos. Fast forward to just recently, I was going through my cell phone’s camera roll and, to my surprise, there were several photos from this recipe. I never use my phone to take pics when I’m shooting a recipe for this blog so how cool is that? Anyway, here you go, a mix of high quality camera and low quality phone pics. Not ideal, but enough that you should be able to follow the process of making this amazing Italian Easter Bread. Here’s how….

You’ll need 6 hard-cooked eggs that have been colored. The photos I took of this process were some of those that were corrupted, but here’s the aftermath. The process is simple, soak hard-cooked eggs in cups filled with warm water, a splash of white vinegar, and food coloring. Soak the eggs until the color you desire is achieved, the remove from the water and allow to dry on paper towels. I used gel food colors (like these). There are so many more colors to choose from (and they’re vibrant enough to color white and brown shelled eggs).

Personally, I like to use a variety of colored eggs, but some like just red, and others use uncolored eggs (white and/or brown). Heck, some people don’t use any eggs at all, but what fun is that?

I’m also a fan of decorating my easter bread with confectioner’s sugar icing and colored sprinkles, but some prefer no icing, just a sprinkling of nonpareils or pearl sugar. You do you!

More corrupted photos for the bread dough, but it’s pretty straight forward. You can make the dough with stand mixer or a hand mixer. It’ll need to rise for about an hour, covered, before shaping.

Then the dough is divided into 12 equal portions, Each portion will then be rolled into a 10-inch snake. Twist 2 snakes together before forming into a circle, pinching the ends together. Place on a silpat or parchment-lined half sheet pan and put an egg in the center of each. Repeat with the remaining dough until 6 breads are formed.

Cover with plastic that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray; allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Now’s a good time to preheat your oven.

After 45 minutes have passed, brush breads with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar or nonpareils sprinkles. If you plan to add icing, use the egg wash, but hold off on adding pearl sugar or nonpareil sprinkles.

Bake as directed in the recipe below. Allow breads to rest for several minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely (especially if you plan to ice them).

To make the optional icing, whisk the ingredients together until smooth (cover bowl with damp towel until ready to use).

Pour icing over breads when they’re completely cool. Add coordinating nonpareil sprinkles, if desired.

Happy Easter - Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• pearl sugar https://amzn.to/3w5KOWp

• gel food colors https://amzn.to/3w58hqy

• the best pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3ovS9fE

• kitchen scale https://amzn.to/3uLRKd9

• nonpareil sprinkles https://amzn.to/3db824I

---

Italian Easter Bread

makes 6 individual breads or 2 large loaves

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Easter Breads:

• 1 1/4 cup whole milk (300ml)

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (114g)

• 2 large eggs (100g)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or half pure almond extract)

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (5ml)

• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (1 packet/.25oz/7g)

• 4 cups all purpose flour, sifted (480g)

• 6 hard-cooked eggs, colored

• sprinkles and/or pearl sugar for decoration

Egg Wash:

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon water

Optional Icing:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

• 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or half as much pure almond extract)

Directions

1. Gently warm milk and butter together over medium heat until the milk is warm (not hot) and the butter is melted.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium- low speed for 30 seconds.

4. Slowly add the warm milk/butter mixture, followed by the yeast.

5. Add the flour/salt mixture, a little at a time, until all the flour is incorporated.

6. Turn the soft, sticky dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for several minutes until smooth.

7. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic, and allow to rise at room temperature until it doubles in size (about 1 hour).

8. Divide dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a 10-inch snake.

9. Twist 2 snakes together before forming into a circle, pinching the ends together; place on a silpat or parchment-lined half sheet pan and put an egg in the center of each. Repeat 5 more times.

10. Cover breads with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

11. Preheat oven to 350F.

12. Just before baking, make egg wash by whisking egg and water together; brush breads with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar or nonpareil sprinkles (omit sugar and sprinkles on the breads you plan to ice)..

13. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

14. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

15. For breads decorated with icing, whisk icing ingredients together until smooth, then pour oven completely cooled breads and sprinkle with nonpareil sprinkles. Allow icing to set before serving.

Notes

• Recipe makes 6 individual breads or two large braided loaves.

• Personally, I like to decorate my bread with a variety of colored eggs that I can accent with confectioner’s sugar icing and coordinating sprinkles. Some people use only red eggs, some use uncolored eggs (white and/or brown), and others choose not to use any eggs at all.

• To color my eggs, I prefer gel food colors because they’re very vibrant and there are so many colors to choose from.

• Be sure to use hard-cooked eggs as uncooked eggs may crack in the oven.

• Yes, you can eat the eggs after the bread is baked, but they’ll be very tough. We usually don’t eat them.

• Bread dough can be made with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment until all the flour is incorporated, then switch to the dough kneading hook.

• Large loaves can be braided instead of twisted - divide the dough for each loaf into 3 equal pieces, roll into 20-inch long strands, and braid them together. Form into a circle, pinch the ends together, and nestle 3 eggs per loaf into the braid before the 2nd rise.

recipe adapted from Nonna Gina Pettiti

No-Knead Rustic Rye Bread

This rustic rye bread is heavy and dense, with lots of chew. It requires no kneading, just time. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and walk away. After 18-20 hours, shape and bake. Super simple and the results are nothing short of spectacular.

Start by placing all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Mix, mix, mix.

Add the water, yeast, and buttermilk.

Mix until no traces of dry ingredients remain. Cover well with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 18-20 hours. Easy!

About an hour before baking, preheat the oven and…

Preheat a covered dutch oven on the center rack too.

Fast forward to the next day (20 hour after mixing the dough). and here’s how it looks. I used a bowl that is very wide, so it’s hard to see (in the photo) how much the dough has risen, but it has.

Carefully turn the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. Don’t “punch the dough down”

Gather the edges of the dough and pull them to the center, like this.

Turn the dough over so the gathered edges are on the bottom. Use your hands to gently shape the dough into a round boule.

This step isn’t necessary, but I like to place my dough on a long strip of parchment paper which is helpful when lowering the dough into the searing hot dutch oven.

Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes, covered - I like to use the same mixing bowl.

After 30 minutes, uncover the dough and set it aside.

Remove the extremely hot dutch oven from the preheated oven. Be sure to place a towel or oven mitts on the hot handles to prevent accidental burns.

Score the top of the dough with a baker’s lame (pronounced lahm). If you don’t have a lame, you can use a clean razor blade or a very sharp knife.

Immediately lower the dough into the searing hot dutch oven, cover, and return to the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 450F.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the bread’s internal temperature reaches 205-210F.

Ooooo, I wish you could smell it my kitchen right about now.

Allow bread to cool completely before enjoying!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 6-quart dutch oven https://amzn.to/34FJqAN

• 100% stone ground rye flour https://amzn.to/3adFmFp

• baker’s lame https://amzn.to/3fwgQaG

• vital wheat gluten https://amzn.to/3T2dqu3

• caraway seeds https://amzn.to/3fpqCLO

• dry buttermilk powder https://amzn.to/3sDbT25

---

No-Knead Rustic Rye Bread

makes 1 round loaf or boule

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups stone ground whole grain rye flour

• 2 cups bread flour

• 3 tablespoons caraway seeds

• 1 1/2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (see notes below)

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

• 1 3/4 cups water, room temperature

• 1/4 cup buttermilk (see notes below)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, caraway seeds, vital wheat gluten (if using), sea salt, sugar, and yeast.

2. Add water and buttermilk; stir until a shaggy mass forms and no traces of dry ingredients remain; cover well with plastic and set aside at room temperature for 18-20 hours. Note: I added the yeast to the water in the photos above, but it isn’t necessary.

3. An hour before baking, preheat oven to 500F with a 6 or 8-quart cover dutch oven placed on the center rack.

4. Gently turn the bread dough out of the mixing bowl and onto a floured surface. Do Not punch the dough down.

5. Gather the edges of the dough and pull toward the center, pinching to seal them together, then turn the dough over so the pinched ends are on the bottom.

6. Use your hands to gently tuck and turn, forming a round loaf; cover with inverted bowl and allow dough to rest for 30 minutes.

7. Just before baking, uncover dough and use a baker’s lame (see notes below) or sharp knife to make several score marks across the top.

8. Remove preheated dutch oven from oven and lower oven temperature to 450F.

9. Carefully place dough into the hot dutch oven (I like to do this with a parchment paper sling).

10. Cover dutch oven and place back on center rack; bake for 50-60 minutes or until the internal bread temperature reaches 205-210F.

Notes

• The cooking vessel I prefer to use is enameled cast iron, but a similarly-sized cast iron, pyrex, or ceramic vessel with a tight-fitting lid will also work.

• My rye flour of choice is 100% stone ground, but use any rye you have.

• Vital wheat gluten adds a little more “chew” to the bread, but if you don’t worry if you don’t have it - the bread will still be good.

• If you don’t have a baker’s lame (pronounced lahm) to score the top of the dough, you can use a new razor blade or very sharp knife.

• No buttermilk? You can make a substitute by combining 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1/4 cup (less 1 teaspoon) milk; rest for 5 minutes or more before using. Alternately, you can purchase dry buttermilk powder (paid link) that you mix with water (it’s shelf stable and a great item to keep with your baking supplies).