Tsoureki (Greek Easter Sweet Bread)

Name: Tsoureki (Greek Easter Sweet Bread)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 3 loaves
Ingredients: 2 cups milk; 2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast; 8 -9 cups bread flour; 1 3/4 cups sugar; 1 cup almonds, very finely chopped (optional); 1 teaspoon salt; 1 orange, zest of, grated; 2 teaspoons finely ground anise seed or 1 tablespoon mahlepi; 1 teaspoon ground masticha (optional); 1/4 cup butter, melted; 5 eggs, very well beaten; 1 egg yolk; 2 -3 tablespoons milk; 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Community Pick

Submitted by evelynathens

"This is a traditional Easter bread served in Greece to break the Lenten fast. It is traditionally braided, with a red-dyed*, hard-boiled egg inserted at one end, and then baked. Beautiful to look at - delicious to eat. Like many yeast breads, these loaves require two risings, so take that into consideration when timing to make them. I like to eat it most at breakfast, with a piece of graviera (a Greek cheese resembling Swiss) and a huge glass of ice-cold milk. A bite of tsoureki; a nibble of cheese; a swallow of cold milk - heaven!!!"

Download

photo by Jonathan Melendez

Ready In:: 1hr 20mins
Ingredients:: 14
Yields:: 3 loaves

ingredients

2 cups milk
2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
8 -9 cups bread flour
1 ³⁄₄ cups sugar
1 cup almonds, very finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 orange, zest of, grated
2 teaspoons finely ground anise seed or 1 tablespoon mahlepi
1 teaspoon ground masticha (optional)
¹⁄₄ cup butter, melted
5 eggs, very well beaten
Glaze
1 egg yolk
2 -3 tablespoons milk
¹⁄₂ cup slivered almonds

directions

Warm two cups of milk and place in a large bowl. Add the yeast, one cup of the flour, and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Cover and proof for one hour.
In a large bowl, combine seven cups of flour, the ground almonds, salt, remaining sugar, orange rind, aniseed or mahlepi and masticha (if using). Make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, melted butter and eggs. Work from the center outwards, bringing flour into the well, stirring the mixture until a dough begins to form.
Dust a worksurface with a little of the remaining flour and knead, adding more flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and doesn't stick to your hands, about 12 minutes.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth, and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about two hours. Punch down dough.
Divide into nine small balls and roll each into strips 10-12 inches long, and about 2 inches in diameter. Lay three strips side by side, pinching together at one end, and braid. Pinch together at the other end to hold the loaf intact.
Optional: At this point you can press a red-dyed egg between the strips of the braid or just leave the braided loaf plain.
Repeat the procedure to make the second and third loaves.
Place the breads on parchment-lined baking sheets, covered, and let rise for two hours, or until doubled in bulk. While the braids are rising, preheat oven to 340F (170°C), placing rack in middle rack of oven.
Beat together the egg yolk and remaining milk. Brush over tsoureki loaves and sprinkle with slivered almonds.
Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. I check my breads after about 15 minutes as they do tend to colour quickly and drape them with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning. The bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove and cool on racks.
*The special red dye used by Greeks to dye Easter eggs, as well as the spices Mahlepi (Mahleb) and Masticha can be found at all good ethnic grocery stores and in the Penzeys Catalague.

Questions & Replies

I have been making this Tsoureki yearly for years now. Now with the recent " stay at home" I have been making it for my family every 2 to 3 days. It's there " go to snack". All our Greek and non-Greek friends absolutely love it. Since my son is not an almonds fan, I use one tablespoon of Mahlepi seeds that I grind in a coffee grinder with about 2 tsp of regular sugar until its very fine. I put one stick of butter ( half a cup) instead of one quarter and two tsp of vanilla extract. I am not a fan of orange zest so I use the Mahlepi and the vanilla for the flavor and my family and friends are " in love" with this Tsoureki. I have tried many recipes given to me by my mom and others , but your recipe is the " best" . Thank you so much P.S. I agree with the comments, I cover after 15 min and I put it in the medium part of the oven never the bottom. Also, if you don't want it to burn, avoid glass pans to bake or dark pans. I find thick aluminum pans the best. Euxaristo para poli Eleni Rethimiotakis.

drelenimd
I love this recipe but I’ve just bought a kitchen aid mixer. How do I adapt the hand kneading of the dough to a mixer with dough hook? Thanks so much :)

i_petrakis
RE: Tsooureki Greek Easter Bread The recipe item list asks for 1 Cup of Almonds (very finely chopped). The directions state add "ground almonds". Can you kindly let me know which we should use.

Alda M.

Reviews

Okay, I have to say this recipe was AMAZING!!!!! I am greek and decided to make tsoureki for the first time with my 3 year old son for our greek Easter. My mother offered her recipe, which is really good, but there really is no recipe. A little of this and a little of that. I can't bake like that!! So I found this recipe and decided to go for it. My bread turned out amazing!!! My mom said that the key to a good tsoureki is when you break it open and there are "strings" inside and not bubbles like regular bread. Well, my bread had more "strings" than my mother's!! :) I made one large, and 2 small ones. Next time I will make 4 small ones as the large one came out HUGE!!! I left out the anise and added an extra 1/4 cup sugar. I also put slivered almonds on top and brushed them with the 2 egg yolks.(as suggested by a reviewer) I kneaded it by hand as it was to much for my kitchen aid mixer. By far, an amazing and easy recipe. Thanks!!

4yianna
I have been desperately looking for a bread recipe that would produce results similar to the recipe that my grandmother brought over from Greece. My grandmother passed away and my mother had a stroke and couldn't remember how to make it. I was too young when my grandmother was alive to have written the recipe down. We tried many recipes but couldn't find the right mix and proportion of ingredients. I asked my husband to search the net for Tsoureki recipes as Easter was coming up. He found several, but I chose this one because the ingredients looked similar to the ones my grandmother used (particularly the masticha and mahlep). The bread turned out phenomenally. The loaves truly are enormous. They took the entire width of the oven. The next time I do this recipe, I will likely make six smaller loave instead of the two large ones, as we give Tsoureki to family members for Easter. My father, not having any faith in me (because I had tried so many recipes in the past), bought eight loves from a Greek bakery and payed close to $10 Canadian per loaf. The consensus of the entire family (including my father) was that of all the bread that anyone had given us or that we had purchased, this recipe was by far the best and truly reminded us all of my grandmother's bread. I must also say that I found this recipe to be virtually foolproof. This was the first time that I had attempted to make bread in years and it came out perfectly on the first try. My first cousin, who was raised in Greece even asked for the recipe so that she could pass it on to her Mother-inlaw who spent most of her adult life in Greece. Thank you Evelyn for helping helping us recover a cherished family recipe. Mary C. (Thorhill, Ontario)

Mary C.
FANTASTIC. Very light, fluffy. Taste was great. I made it as specified, including all options. I used mahlab, because I prefer it over it anise... completely different and unique taste. We'll see how it goes over tomorrow when mom gets here with hers, which is spectacular btw... she just doesn't have an actual recipe, making it difficult for me ;) ... she did give me a few tips... may help others, so here you go... Like someone else mentioned.. oil your hands when braiding and handling dough after the first rise. Don't actually roll the dough strips (for the braid), rather pull/stretch them lightly, then braid. Finally. To prevent the egg topping from burning or darkening too quickly never mix the egg with milk, rather use 1 egg, approx. 1 tsp or so water and 1 tsp veg. oil (don't use olive.. use something nuetral if you don't have veg.) Worked perfectly for me. Thanks Evelyn!!

vsdutcher
Really great recipe! Its the third time I made it and it hasn't disappointed me.. I can get 5 good sized loaves out of one batch when it says 2 loaves. Make sure you let it rise I know it takes forever but its really worth it!

christina
I've never heard of this bread before, let alone tried making it, but wow was it good! I loved the flavor of it. And was happy with the outcome. Making the leftovers into french toast!

Jonathan Melendez

see 41 more reviews

Tweaks

I misread and used sliced almonds instead of slivered but it was still great!

Jonathan Melendez
I am Bulgarian who lives in Dallas and this Easter bread is traditional for us, too. This is the best recipe I have ever seen for it!!! I think what makes your recipe so successful is the detailed instructions. I appreciate your effort to put them down in writing! : )Thank you! <br/>I added a little more sugar and, instead of the suggested Greek aromatic spices, I used vanilla.<br/>I decorated it with the red hardboiled egg, as suggested, but instead of sprinkling with chopped almonds, I inserted whole almonds on the top, and after the glazing, I sprinkled the top with sugar (see the photos I included here). If someone had a trouble with the rising, make sure that the temperature for the yeast mixture is not too hot, and wait patiently. I also took the advice to put the breads on the lowest level (350F worked for my oven) and covered my breads with foil when the tops looked almost perfectly ready, it was about the 17th minute, in my case. The breads came out perfect - when you break a piece, it comes out as fluffy cotton - amazing!!!! My family raved over it and I am proud that my Easter Breads were better than those sold by professionals! My husband even suggested that I should start selling it! :) Your recipe made this year's Easter a true celebration! Thank you SO MUCH!

movcharov