Easter Bread (Tsoureki)

Greeks in our family always used only red colored egg for YiaYia’s Easter bread. For American Easter Bread, pastel eggs are used.

• karena5

• North Carolina

• 6/16/2020

Traditionally the eggs are died red to represent the blood of Christ and the egg His resurrection. Regular red die in the store will make white eggs pink. But if you use brown eggs they will turn out red. Dye them twice and it will suffice. The traditional way to dye them that gets them a deeper red is to save all your yellow onion skins during lent. Boiling the yellow onions with white vinegar in water, yes yellow onions, will make red dye for the eggs. Google How to dye eggs red using onion skins. The deep red eggs make the presentation really beautiful. Then you can crack them on easter when you slice the loaf as in the Greek tradition.

• greekawaiinese

• 4/11/2017

This may be a sweet bread, but it is not tsoureki. Tsoureki requires mastic gum and mahlepi for it to go by that name.

• Anonymous

• Italy

• 4/11/2017

The eggs are edible, as long as you haven't let the loaf sit out of the refrigerator several days. Nothing about baking a hard-boiled egg renders it inedible. We always ate the eggs out of the bakery Easter Bread when I was growing up. If they aren't eaten up on Easter morning, pry them out of the loaf and refrigerate them, just like any of the other Easter eggs.

• elsaf

• Detroit, MI

• 3/23/2016

So, are the eggs edible?

• bvassallo

• Wilmette, IL

• 3/3/2016

So good! I cannot stop eating it! Definitely making this again and again.

• DaniFreitas

• Newtown, CT

• 4/6/2015

Perfect. Don't change a thing. Don't worry when you think the dough is too wet. It's supposed to be this way. Delicious.

• PHiggins328

• Miami Beach

• 3/31/2013

Making this for a second time this Easter. It was a huge it last year and it looks very pretty on the table. This year though I will experiment with a different food coloring method for the decorative eggs because last year the color ran into the dough as the bread baked in the oven.

• adowayee

• Washington DC

• 3/30/2013

Very tasty, especially when just baked. Couple of comments to note when preparing. First, I used store bought dye for my eggs and it tended to "run" into the dough during rising. I think perhaps they weren't quite at room temperature. Second, when preparing the master sweet dough, make sure that you don't leave the stand mixer unattended. Mine almost shimmied off the counter, (I doubled the recipe though.) Third, the recipe doesn't state whether the eggs were edible following baking. To be on the safe side, I discarded the eggs. Although it was very pretty with the eggs, I probably wouldn't use eggs in the future. Otherwise, an excellent challah recipe.

• JanetH

• Birdsboro, PA

• 4/25/2012

Seriously the BEST sweet bread I've ever had and made. So rich, sweet, buttery - but still light and flakey. Very much like a brioche, but more sugar, I believe. The dough is definitely wet. Don't worry about this at all. It comes together. I let mine rise overnight in the fridge. Made three loaves in one batch. All were perfect!

• saidmusician

• Nashville, TN

• 4/13/2012

Wonderful. I am not a big fan of sweet bread, but couldn't leave this alone. Don't worry that the dough is really wet, it works great.

• Anonymous

• Massachusetts

• 4/11/2012

This bread was absolutely delicious! This was my first attempt at making easter bread and it came out perfectly. Received rave reviews from my Italian family and requests for it to be a yearly staple at our Easter dinner.

• Anonymous

• wyckoff, nj

• 4/2/2012