Celebrate Spring With A Traditional Italian Easter Egg Bread

Which holiday traditions are the most important to you?

In my family, most of these revolve around food. Other than baking cookies at Christmastime and preparing special dishes for a big Thanksgiving feast, making Italian Easter bread is my favorite.

If the notes in my recipe book are accurate, I’ve been combining yeast with flour, adding candied fruit, nuts, and spices, and carefully nestling dyed eggs into braided dough to make this cherished recipe for nearly 20 years, and I was eagerly strapping on an apron and helping my grandmother with the baking for another decade or so before that.

Sometimes I made individual nests instead of a continuous ring loaf, used multicolored fruit instead of candied citron, or experimented with sliced versus slivered almonds.

I swapped sweet fennel seed for anise when that’s all I had in my spice rack, enjoyed the meditative contemplation of kneading bread dough by hand on a floured countertop, and watched in wonder while my KitchenAid mixer did the work for me with a sturdy dough hook for the first time.

Sometimes there are loved ones in the kitchen with me, and other times I’m on my own. There’s always music to jam out to – once it was played on the clock radio on the kitchen shelf with the napkins, now it’s beamed over wi-fi to my Google Home.

Today, there’s also a laptop or a cell phone carefully propped up on the counter. This is so I can FaceTime or Skype with my brother, while we dye eggs and bake together across 3,000 miles.

Baking bread is part art and part science, and even though they’re always made with love, these loaves didn’t always look perfect.

There are years when they’ve turned out a little too brown on one side, or the ends of the braid started to become a bit unfurled during baking, with four picture-perfect well-behaved eggs and one that managed to bust free.

Early Easters mean it’s cold outside with low humidity, and other times the windows are flung open on a sticky, humid spring day that means I need to add a lot more flour to the dough than in other years.

Whatever the conditions, and whoever I’m with, this recipe always makes me think about the bakers in my family of past generations, carefully crafting the same loaves year after year on Easter Eve, alongside Easter pies filled with savory meats and cheeses, and sometimes a chocolate chip-studded orange-scented ricotta cheesecake, with a tender homemade crust.

I always feel a connection to them, across the years, traversing many miles.

I won’t lie – homemade bread takes a lot of time to make. You’ll use a lot of eggs and get flour all over your kitchen, and in your hair, and on your cell phone. There will be plenty of dishes to wash, and counters to scrub.

But the results are so worth it, whether enjoyed spread with unsalted European butter while seated elbow to elbow with extended family on Easter morning, or secretly snacked on at midnight around the kitchen table like I did one year, bursting with excitement while I giggled with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, knowing that her surprise bridal shower was the next morning (and getting yelled at when our laughter woke my mom, who was fitfully slumbering upstairs).

Whether this bread reminds you of something your great-grandmother used to make, or it’s a new recipe that you’ve never tried, give it a shot this year. Make it again the next year, and the year after that, and begin to experiment a little to make it your own.

Before you know it, you’ll have your own family tradition, the perfect centerpiece to your celebratory holiday breakfast.

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Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Dye the Eggs

Dye the raw eggs in any food dye color of your choosing. It’s best to use white eggs, rather than other colors. The vibrancy of the dye will stand out more on a white base than a brown, red, or blue shell.

Make sure the eggs are completely dry before making the dough! This will lessen the risk of the dye bleeding onto the dough as it is baking.

Step 2 – Mix the Dough

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, the granulated sugar, salt, and yeast. I like to combine these ingredients with a whisk, to make sure all of the dry ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat until the liquid is just warm and the butter is completely melted. Be sure to not allow the milk to boil or scorch – it will heat up quickly!

Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir together with a sturdy spoon. Add the 2 eggs and stir until combined. The mixture will be very sticky.

Gradually add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a very soft, slightly sticky dough forms. You may not need to use all of the flour.

Instead of mixing and kneading the dough by hand, you can complete Steps 2 and 3 with a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment if you prefer.

Step 3 – Knead the Dough

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured, flat work surface, or on a wooden work bench.

Knead by hand for about 5-8 minutes, until very smooth and elastic. You may need to add more flour as necessary if the dough starts to sticks to the work surface.

Shape into a ball, and place in a large bowl lightly greased with butter or a neutral vegetable oil, rolling it around to coat the entire ball in a thin film of fat.

Don’t clean off your work surface yet! You’ll need that lightly floured area for another step later on.

Step 4 – Proof

Cover with a towel or plastic wrap, being sure to not let the covering touch the dough so that it has room to rise.

Let proof in a warmer part of your house until it doubles in size, about one hour.

Step 5 – Mix in the Fruit, Nuts, and Spice

After the dough has risen, punch it down with your fist, and turn it out onto the same lightly floured work surface.

Knead in the fruits, almonds, and anise seed until everything is completely incorporated throughout the dough. You may need to use a little more flour so it doesn’t stick.

Step 6 – Divide and Shape

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Divide each part into halves – there should be 6 pieces total. For more even division into equal amounts, you can use a scale to weigh the dough.

Cover the pieces and let rest for 10 minutes to re-soften them and allow the gluten to relax.

Roll each piece of dough into a 12-inch rope. Place two ropes together, and pinch the top ends together. Twist the ropes together. Form into a small ring with a small hole in the middle, and place on a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Repeat with the other 2 sets of ropes, making a total of 3 bread rings. Position the bread rings on the same sheet pan, leaving enough space in between each ring for rising.

Don’t feel like making individual rings? You can make one large loaf instead! You can braid the bread however you want, making three or four indentations on the top of the loaf for the eggs.

Step 7 – Second Proof

Cover, and let rise again until nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. Carefully place a dyed egg in the center of each risen ring.

While the rings are rising during this step, preheat the oven to 350°F

Step 8 – Bake

Whisk together the egg yolk with about a tablespoon of water. Carefully brush the top and sides of the bread, avoiding the dyed egg. The dye from the egg will bleed if the egg yolk contacts it.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown on the outside. Remove from the baking sheet pan and let cool completely.

Step 9 – Garnish and Serve

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Let sit and thicken slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes – this can be done as the bread is cooling.

Once the bread is completely cool, spread the glaze evenly around the top of each loaf. Garnish with sprinkles, and let the icing harden slightly before slicing, serving, and enjoying!

Not a fan of the icing and sprinkle combo? You can choose to leave the bread as is, with no garnishes except a beautifully browned crust.