This Greek Easter bread was baked for many years by my Yia Yia, thus I hold it in the highest regard. The crust is soft and golden brown, and it is a little bit sweet. The next day, toast can be made with the leftovers. Jesus Anesti!
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 4 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 2 loaves |
Ingredients
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water (110 degrees F (43 degrees C))
- 6 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup shortening (such as Crisco®)
- 1 teaspoon ground mastic (Optional)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs at room temperature, beaten
- ¼ cup sliced almonds (Optional)
- ½ cup water at room temperature
- 2 red-dyed eggs (Optional)
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¼ cup sliced almonds (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (Optional)
Instructions
- Pour yeast into a small bowl; add warm water and 1/4 cup of flour. Stir, cover with two damp kitchen towels, and leave in a warm place until bubbly, about 2 1/2 hours.
- Combine butter, shortening, and mastic in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Stir milk and sugar together in another saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm. Remove from heat.
- Pour 2 cups flour into the butter mixture and stir well. Add salt, then stir in the yeast mixture. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir well. Stir in 3 beaten eggs. Slowly add the milk mixture and 1 cup of flour and stir well. Add the room-temperature water and the last cup of flour and stir until the dough is not sticky.
- Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 20 minutes with lightly floured hands. Form dough into a ball. Cover with damp towels and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two baking sheets.
- Divide dough into two pieces and separate each piece into three strands. Braid each of the 3 strands together to form 2 braided loaves. Place on the baking sheets. Nestle the red-dyed eggs between the strands. Brush the dough with the remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle the tops with almonds and sesame seeds.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 293 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 67 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 116 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is a wonderful, brioche-like bread! Very sweet and lovely. I didn’t use mastic, but glad it was optional, and did not have the traditional red-dyed eggs made, also optional. I swapped the sliced almonds with crushed walnuts and the topping still made a wonderfully beautiful loaf. Also included dried berries in the mix for some extra sweetness. Super delicious and wonderful! Thank you!