Traditional Italian Easter Bread

Last Updated July 3, 2021. Published April 1, 2019 By Rosemary 138 Comments

This Traditional Italian Easter Bread is a soft sweet brioche dough formed into wreaths or braided. Coloured eggs are baked into the bread and the bread is sprinkled with lots of nonpareils. Festive and bright for the Easter Holiday.

Another very popular yeast bread is a recipe called Casatiello Napoletano which is a savory stuffed bread.

I absolutely love Brioche Bread and of course this Sweet Soft Bread is a must in any Italian home on Easter.

I wanted to find a true Traditional Italian Recipe and I came upon this recipe Brioche di Pasqua from a fellow Food Blogger, Chiara from Chiarapassion.com.

How to make it

In the bowl of a stand up mixer whisk together the flour, salt, zest and sugar, make a well in the centre and add the milk and yeast, mix together with a fork.

mixing the dry ingredients adding the yeast

Then add the egg. With the dough hook attachment knead for approximately 1 minute just to combine*. Cover the bowl with plastic and let rise 2 hours.

adding the egg and kneading the dough 1 minute

Every 30 minutes fold both ends into the middle (repeating 4 times).

When the time has passed add the butter a little at a time at medium high speed with the dough hook, knead to just combine all the butter, then let the dough rest 10 minutes. Knead again until the dough is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

adding the butter and kneading until smooth

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Move the dough to a lightly floured flat surface. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each part into 2 ropes, join the 2 ropes at the top.

forming into 2 ropes and joining the ends.

Twist the ends one over the other join the ends to form a wreath (circle) repeat with the remaining ropes. Place the wreaths on the prepared cookie sheet, cover and let rise in a warm draft free area for 1-2 hours or doubled in bulk.

ropes twisted and formed into wreaths and placed on cookie sheet for rising

Before baking an uncooked dyed egg can be placed in the dough, then the dough is brushed with a simple egg wash and covered in sprinkles (nonpareils) and baked.

dough risen an egg and sprinkles added and ready for baking.

Immediately move the baked bread to a wire rack to cool.

Tips on making the best Easter Bread

This Italian Easter bread is a yeast bread which means you need time and patience. It’s not difficult just time consuming but absolutely worth it.
This dough needs to rise 3x, the first time the dough (without the butter added) is placed in a bowl for 2 hours. Every 30 minutes the dough needs to be folded over.
The second rise is done once the butter has been added to the dough and then refrigerated for 1-2 hours.
Believe me they are worth every minute of your time!

This bread is very popular all over Italy. Sometimes I like to make an Easter Bread from the South of Italy, it is a much drier bread and is used as a dunking bread in your morning caffe latte or afternoon espresso. But the most popular Easter Bread which is called Colomba or Dove Bread is also worth a try.

How to colour eggs with Natural Dyes

If you decide to use coloured eggs in your bread and you don’t want to use regular dyes then there are Natural Dyes that you can use. Vegetables and spices are great for dying eggs especially red onions, paprika, dill seed and even red cabbage.

What is the significance of Easter Bread?

Italian Easter Bread when it is baked in the shape of a wreath it is to symbolize the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ. When the dough is braided with three pieces it represents the Holy Trinity.

Adding an egg to the bread represents rebirth, Christ rising from the dead.

How to Store Italian Easter Bread