italian easter bread

A moist, braided Italian Easter bread recipe shaped into 3 crowns. The rich dough is flavored with orange zest, lemon zest and vanilla extract!

Save this recipe!

Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Post Post Title

Save

Easter brunch should feel special, and what could be more special than a rich, flavorful braided Easter bread? This traditional Italian Easter bread is delicious served with all the savory brunch fare, or it would be equally appropriate served with butter and jam alongside other Easter desserts like carrot cake, carrot cake cookies, and coconut cake. 

I am a firm believer in not having to choose just one delicious carb-filled brunch option so I say you go ahead and make this hot cross buns recipe or my playful cinnamon roll variation, hot cross cinnamon rolls! 

Professional Tips for Making Braided Easter Bread

• Let the zest sit in the sugar for the best flavor. Zest both the orange and lemon into the sugar, then massage it in to begin extracting the oils. You can do this up to 3 days ahead of time, but wven a few minutes while you prep the other ingredients makes a difference.
• Add the butter after gluten development. One time, I accidentally forgot and added the butter with the other ingredients. The butter and other enrichments make it incredibly difficult to develop the gluten network. If you do happen to make this mistake, cover and let the dough rest (autolyse) for 20-30 minutes, then finish mixing. Yes, it will start proofing, but better that than kneading endlessly for 30 minutes.  
• Keep the eggs in mind when shaping the dough. Sometimes I am too focused on getting a perfectly seamless wreath shape, and forget to pay attention to the size of my wreath centers. Even after proofing, they can be too large for the eggs to nest in.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Active Dry Yeast: I prefer active dry yeast for a nice even rise, but you can also use instant yeast to speed up the proofing process and you can skip blooming the yeast.
• Whole Milk
• Granulated Sugar
• Orange Zest
• Lemon Zest
• All-Purpose Flour: I use all-purpose flour in sweet breads and even in brioche buns. It provides the perfect amount of structure without too much unwanted chew.
• Kosher Salt
• Unsalted Butter
• Large Eggs: You will need 5 eggs total: 2 for the dough and 3 for the centers of the wreaths. The eggs in the centers can be dyed or left plain, but they should be raw. They will bake in the oven to a delightful hard-boiled eggs consistency!
• Vanilla Extract
• Simple Syrup: You can purchase simple syrup but it is incredibly easy to make your own! Simply combine equal parts sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour into a clean container and cool to room temperature then refrigerate. Save the leftovers for watermelon mojitos or brushing on cardamom buns for a glossy finish. You could skip the simple and brush the dough with egg wash right before baking instead. 

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Possible Variations 

• To dye or not to dye: I love a natural look, so I often leave my eggs un-dyed, but you could use two of the varieties in my how to decorate Easter eggs post (I cannot recommend the glitter variation), or dye eggs naturally using common kitchen ingredients! I love the appearance of using crackled Easter eggs, but since these must be at least soft boiled before cracking and dyeing, it might not give you the most pleasant egg to eat après baking. 
• One large wreath: Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and braid. Loop it around and seal to create one large circle. Nestle the eggs within the braid in 3 places. You could also skip the twisting and bake them into loaves instead. 
• Add some mix-ins to the dough. You could add raisins and cherries like in kugelhopf, or chocolate chips like chocolate chip challah or even chopped chocolate like this chocolate bread recipe. 
• Add some sprinkles. I personally like the bread speak for itself but you can add sprinkles or jimmies to the top after brushing with simple. 

How to Make Traditional Italian Easter Bread

Use these instructions to make sweet, citrus flavored Easter bread! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Dye the Easter eggs, if you so choose. Let dry completely at room temperature.

Mix the dough: 

Step 2: Heat the milk to around 95-100°F in a pot or the microwave. 

If it gets too warm, and you have no patience, add some cold milk to get it to the right temperature then remeasure. 

Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the active dry yeast and the warmed milk, set aside to bloom. In a large mixing bowl zest the orange and lemon into the sugar and mix together with your fingertips or with the back of a spoon. Add the flour and salt to the sugar mixture.

Step 4: Dump the flour mixture along with the egg and vanilla extract into the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until combined. Scrape down the sides with a stiff rubber spatula or bowl scraper.  

Step 5: Switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed until a rough window pane can be pulled. 

This means the dough will not look perfectly smooth but will have pulled together and made one cohesive dough around the hook. Pinch off a piece and gently pull the sides apart, rotate and pull again, making a square shape. The dough should not tear, you should be able to see through some of the dough like a window pane but then there will be pieces of dough that look rough. This is what you want. 

Step 6: Add the softened butter to the mixer and mix with the dough hook on low speed until incorporated. 

Step 7: Scrape the dough into a well-oiled bowl, give it one set of folds by grabbing one side, pull it upwards out of the bowl and then fold it over 1/3 of the dough. Rotate the bowl 180 degrees and repeat with the opposite side. Rotate a quarter turn and repeat the same folding technique. Rotate the bowl 180° and make the final fold. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for an hour in a warm place. 

Step 8: Perform one more set of 4 folds like in Step 7. You should have a nice tight square packet of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double. Mine took about an additional 40 minutes. While the dough is finishing its bulk proof make sure you have your eggs dyed, dried and ready to go! 

Step 9: When the dough has doubled and feels light and airy when touched, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. It barely needs any flour! Divide into 6 equal portions. You can eyeball this or weigh them. They should be between 200-205g each.

Step 10:  Pre-shape each piece into a log. Working one piece of dough at a time, take the top half and fold it towards the center, pressing it down with your fingers. Rotate 180° and repeat with the other side. Perform 2 thumb folds by starting on the right side, rolling the top portion of the dough around your left thumb, seal it with the heel of your right hand. Repeat all the way down the length of the dough and then repeat once more creating a tightly rolled log.

Don’t worry about how long they are because ultimately we are going to roll them out. 

Step 11: Let bench rest for 10 minutes and then, using both hands, gently roll and press each log into a rope approximately 14 inches long. You’ll want to use floured hands rather than bench flour. Use the friction to help you lengthen the ropes. 

Step 12: Take 2 ropes and firmly press one end of each rope together with your fingers. I find pressing it against the work surface works nicely because then it is easier to wrap them. Taking one rope in each hand, wrap the ropes around each other in a spiral like DNA. 

Step 13: Wrap the spiral into the shape of a wreath (or a crown of thorns) and firmly seal the ends together, tucking them underneath the spiral portion. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 4 pieces. 2 wreaths can go on one sheet and the third will need his own special tray. 

Step 14: Place one dyed egg in the center of each wreath. You don’t need to press it down, the weight of the egg will sink it as the dough rises. Cover with plastic wrap and place back in the warm spot to double. This took about 45 minutes for mine to feel light and airy to the touch. While the dough final proofs make the simple syrup. 

Make the Simple syrup:

Step 15: Combine sugar and water in a small sauce pot, stirring to combine. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a rolling boil. Remove from heat and cool.
This can be made weeks in advance if you wish. This makes more than you need for the recipe, so save it and use it in cocktails or iced coffee. It can be difficult to make a smaller batch of simple syrup because the water will boil before the sugar has fully dissolved ending in grainy simple. 

Bake Easter bread:

Step 16: While the bread proofs, preheat the oven to 350°F  convection (with fan) or 375°F conventional (no fan). 

Step 17: Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, rotate and continue baking for an additional 8-10 minutes until golden brown or until an instant read thermometer reads 185°F when inserted into the center of one of the middle buns. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can insert a cake tester or toothpick into the center and it should come out with clinging crumbs but no streaks of dough! 

Step 18: Brush the hot bread with simple syrup. Let cool on a wire rack. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional bread recipe. Don’t miss all our Easter recipes or dive into more yeasted bread recipes!