Recipe Background
Carrying out traditions is a beautiful way to spend time with the ones you love. Start a new tradition with this Italian Easter Bread. A sweet and fluffy pillow of brioche bread is braided and centered with a colored egg for a gorgeous addition to your Easter tablescape. Gather everyone together to start this sweet, new tradition with Italian Easter Bread. It's egg-actly what you've been looking for!
Carrying out traditions is a beautiful way to spend time with the ones you love. Start a new tradition with this Italian Easter Bread. A sweet and fluffy pillow of brioche bread is braided and centered with a colored egg for a gorgeous addition to your Easter tablescape. Gather everyone together to start this sweet, new tradition with Italian Easter Bread. It's egg-actly what you've been looking for!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus more, to taste, for dusting a work surface
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup milk lukewarm
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 eggs room temperature and slightly beaten, plus 1 egg, not beaten, divided
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 dyed eggs uncooked, optional, for topping
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the flour, the salt, the lemon zest, and the sugar and whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the center of dough and add the milk and the yeast. Use a fork to mix.
- Change the stand mixer to the dough hook attachment. Add the 2 slightly beaten eggs to the dough and knead in the mixer until they are just combined, about 1 minute.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest, folding the ends into the middle every 30 minutes, until it has risen, about 2 hours.
- On medium-high speed, using the dough hook attachment, knead the risen dough and gradually add the butter, until the butter is just combined.
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl, about 5-6 minutes.
- Lighty grease a bowl and add the dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it, about 1-2 hours.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Use the extra flour to lightly dust a work surface.
- Add the dough to the prepared work surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll them each into 10-12-inch-long ropes.
- Join 2 of the dough ropes together at the top and twist the ends, one over the other, all the way down. Join the ends to form a braided circle and repeat with the remaining ropes.
- Place the braided dough circles on the prepared cookie sheet. Cover and place them in a warm, draft-free area to rest until they rise, about 1-2 hours.
- About 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 390 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, add the remaining non-beaten egg and the water and beat to combine.
- Add 1 dyed, uncooked egg to the center of each of the risen dough circles.
- Brush the dough with the egg wash, being careful not to brush the dyed eggs with the egg wash.
- Bake the buns until they are golden and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom, about 20 minutes.
- Immediately transfer the baked buns to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- Serve the baked buns, removing the dyed eggs prior to eating, if desired.
×
