Traditional sweet Italian Easter bread is braided and baked with a hint of lemon and anise. It’s made with Easter eggs baked in the middle, then glazed and decorated with sprinkles.
Italian Easter bread is a holiday tradition that’s been made every year in my family for as long as I can remember.
My mom would have the kitchen smelling of fresh baked sweet bread the day or two before Easter and she’d let my sister and I help her glaze and decorate them with sprinkles.
We’d color our Easter eggs a couple days before and she’d use those in the middle of each braided loaf.
This traditional sweet Italian Easter bread is a version of the easy recipe my mother would use every Easter holiday.
I used my mom’s good old recipe (you can see how old it is!) and I also used Brown Eyed Baker’s recipe for some adjustments (original recipe here).
The history of Italian Easter Bread:
Easter bread originates back to the Orthodox Christian Church.
It symbolizes the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ and the 3 braids together represent the Holy Trinity.
The eggs symbolize birth and life.
What is Italian Easter Bread Called?
Pane di Pasqua means “Italian Easter Bread”
Traditional sweet Italian Easter bread is flavored with either orange or lemon zest and anise extract.
It’s light and fluffy, yet golden and buttery, similar to a brioche dough.
I can remember waking up Easter morning, running in the living room to see what the Easter bunny brought me, and ripping off a piece of the delicious sweet and buttery bread to eat for breakfast.
First, the dough rises until almost doubled in size.
Then, it’s divided into 6 equal pieces.
Each of those 6 pieces are divided again into 3 equal pieces and the 3 pieces are rolled into a rope shape and braided together.
The two ends of the braids are pinched together to form a “wreath” shape.
Then a dyed egg is placed in the middle.
The individual loaves then rise for a second time before baked.
Once the loaves are baked until golden, they’re cooled completely then brushed with a powdered sugar/milk glaze.
You can decorate the loaves with colorful sprinkles if you’d like.
I still keep the tradition alive by making these sweet Italian bread loaves every Easter holiday.
They make perfect homemade gifts to give to your Easter dinner host/hostess! Plus, it’s fun to have the kids help with the sprinkles and of course coloring the eggs.
Traditional Sweet Italian Easter Bread
Traditional sweet Italian Easter bread is braided and baked with a hint of lemon and anise. It’s made with Easter eggs baked in the middle, then glazed and decorated with sprinkles.
Ingredients
For the Easter Bread:
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast, equals 2 1/4 tsp
- 4-5 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt, if using salted butter, use 1/4 tsp
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp anise extract, optional
- 1 tbsp lemon zest, about 1 lemon
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 6 dyed Easter eggs, see recipe notes
- 1 egg, for egg wash
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
- sprinkles for decorating, optional
Instructions
To make the dough:
- Heat milk in small saucepan, stirring occasionally until warm. (It should warm to the touch, not hot or boiling!). If you have a thermometer it should read between 110 and 115 degrees.
- Remove from heat and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Stir in the yeast and let rest for 10 minutes. (The yeast should be slightly foamy on top).
- In a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, mix together 4 cups of flour and salt.
- In small bowl whisk together 4 eggs, anise and lemon zest, set aside.
- Add the yeast/milk mixture to the flour and mix on low speed for about 1 minute until combined. The dough will look shaggy.
- Add in the melted butter and continuing mixing for another minute or until fully incorporated. Then add in your egg mixture.
- Increase your mixer to medium and keep mixing the dough until a ball starts to form and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You may need to gradually add an additional cup of flour until it comes together. It should be slightly sticky. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Remove dough and place onto a floured surface. Knead 4-5 times until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Keep in a warm place to rise until doubled in sized, about 1 hour.
- Now is a perfect time to dye your Easter eggs if you haven’t done so already!
To shape the bread:
- Lightly punch dough down to release air. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Divide each of the 6 pieces into 3 pieces for a total of 18 pieces (3 pieces of dough per loaf=6 loaves).
- Working with 3 pieces at a time: roll each piece into a rope about 9” long. Pinch one end together and braid or twist. Join the two ends together and pinch to seal to create the wreath shape. Place a dyed egg in the middle of the loaf (it should fit snug).
- Repeat this process for the remaining 5 loaves.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or lightly grease) and place 3 loaves per sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in warm place again to rise, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl. Brush each loaf with egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes until loaves are golden. Remove and place on cooling rack until completely cooled.
For the Glaze
- Mix together sugar, milk and vanilla. The glaze should be like a thick paste; add more powdered sugar or milk to adjust the consistency as needed.
- Once loaves are completely cool, brush glaze onto the loaves (I use a pastry brush to spread it out evenly). Sprinkle with decorations if desired.
Notes
*You can color the eggs raw or you can hard boil them and then color them; I’ve done both ways and either way works!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
I’m so disappointed! The same thing happened to me as Megan. I really think there must be a typo because I followed the recipe exactly and the dough was so so dry. I didn’t overmix- the dough just couldn’t come together with the ingredient amounts stated. It was like sand. I added probably a cup and a half of water in tablespoon increments just to get it to form a dough ball but in the end they turned out nothing like bread, unfortunately. It was sad to waste an afternoon on these so I hope the recipe can be corrected for later readers!
Hi Sarah, I’m sorry you were disappointed! I did retest the recipe and I had no problem with my dough. That being said, if overmixing isn’t the issue, it might be a flour:liquid problem. Sometimes humidity places a part in bread baking. Therefore, I’ve changed the recipe instructions to add the flour in increments instead of all 5 cups at once. This will control how much flour your bread absorbs and hopefully will avoid any dry dough! Hope this helps.
I followed the recipe exactly, and the “dough” was like cement! Is there a typo in the milk measurement? I am not a novice bread Baker.
Hi there, sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you. I’ve updated the recipe instructions to add the flour in increments. This should help the dough from getting too dry.
These came out delicious! My first batch was dry and heavy which was my fault for over mixing. I still cooked them and ate some too! The glaze is delicious and perfect consistency. I immediately made a second batch without overmixing and could tell the difference. Can’t wait to eat those too! The anise flavor is so good and I used some orange peel instead of lemon.
My dough seemed way too dry and tough. It was hard to form into braids wreaths because the ends wouldn’t stick together. It was just a very weird consistency. I don’t know what happened other than way too much flour but I followed the recipe exactly. Hopefully it ends up tasting okay.
Hi Megan, I’m not sure why your dough was too dry, it should have been slightly sticky before kneading. It could have been over mixed. I hope they ended up tasting okay!
My dough was dry as well
Mine too! I followed the recipe to a “T”. I hope they are ok
I had the same issue, very dry. Followed the recipe exactly.
How far in advance can you make the Easter bread so it’s fresh for Easter? Can you bake it, store it & then glaze it later?
Hi Kim, the bread can be baked and then stored unglazed for up to two days in a zip lock bag or air tight container. You can also freeze it unglazed for up to a month.
Should your eggs be hardboiled while cooking the bread? If yes is the hardboiled egg still taste fine, no green on the yolk?
Hi Whitney, I do not hard boil the eggs. I dye the raw eggs and place them into the loaves. They cook perfectly in the oven. You can use hard boiled, but they might overcook during baking which is what causes the greenish yolk. Hope this helps!
I will be overseas this Easter, but this recipe just gives me the excuse to some lovely Easter baking upon my return. Yum!
Who says it has to be baked for Easter ;). Either way enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!