Sweet Braided Easter Bread - is soft, fluffy, and lightly sweet with a beautiful golden crust. This homemade Easter bread recipe is perfect for Easter brunch, Easter dinner, or a festive holiday breakfast. Made with simple pantry ingredients and braided into a gorgeous loaf, this traditional braided Easter bread is surprisingly easy to make and tastes incredible fresh from the oven.
This soft brioche bread decorated with colorful dyed eggs, sprinkles, and a sweet glaze is sure to impress your guests for the Easter holiday. It’s a wonderful treat to enjoy after dying eggs with your kids or to bring to Sunday brunch.
Sweet Braided Easter Bread is a yeast bread made from pantry-staple ingredients and baked with dyed eggs and sprinkles. It’s finished with a sweet glaze for a bright and colorful presentation.
Are you ready for the best Easter brunch ever? Make this sweet braided Easter bread recipe along with my Salami Cream Cheese Roll Ups, a Cheese Platter, and Chicken Breakfast Sausages for an epic spread.
Jump to:
- What Is Braided Easter Bread?
- Why You Will Love This Sweet Easter Bread
- Ingredients for Sweet Braided Easter Bread
- How to Make Braided Easter Bread
- How to dye eggs for Easter
- Tips for Perfect Easter Bread
- How to Store Easter Bread
- Can I Freeze Easter Bread?
- What to Serve with Easter Bread
- More Easter Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
What Is Braided Easter Bread?
Italian Easter bread (pane di pasqua in Italian) is similar to a challah egg bread, Greek Easter bread (tsoureki), or paska bread (Ukrainian Easter bread). The kneaded dough is twisted together, braided, and formed into a circle. This shape represents the thorn wreath worn on Jesus’ head.
Easter bread is a sweet and eggy dessert bread traditionally decorated with colorful sprinkles and a glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice or milk. It’s a light and fluffy treat to enjoy on the side of the Easter ham, turkey, or with deviled eggs for brunch.
Why You Will Love This Sweet Easter Bread
- Soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet – This homemade braided Easter bread has the most delicious soft texture with just the right amount of sweetness.
- Beautiful for your Easter table – The braided shape gives this Easter bread a gorgeous bakery-style look that makes it perfect for Easter brunch or dinner.
- Simple pantry ingredients – You only need basic baking ingredients to make this traditional sweet Easter recipe.
- Perfect for Easter brunch – Serve it warm with butter, honey, or jam for a festive holiday breakfast everyone will love.
- Great for sharing – This braided Easter bread is perfect for gatherings, potlucks, and family celebrations.
- Easy step-by-step recipe – Even if you are new to baking with yeast, this recipe is simple to follow and turns out amazing every time.
Ingredients for Sweet Braided Easter Bread
This eggy bread is made from baking basics, like flour, sugar, and eggs. It can easily be made with less dairy by replacing the cow’s milk with a plant-based alternative (like soy or almond milk). These are all of the ingredients you need:
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Active dry yeast
- Sea salt
- Milk (dairy-free or cow’s milk)
- Butter
- Eggs
- Oil
- Dyed eggs with food coloring
- Sprinkles
How to Make Braided Easter Bread
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate small bowl. Pour the wet into the dry, and mix in one egg at a time. Use the dough hook to knead it all together into a sticky dough.
Step 2: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead with hands until smooth and elastic. Grease a large bowl with oil, place the dough inside, cover, and let it rest until it’s doubled in size.
Step 3: Press your fist into the dough to deflate it. Place it on a floured surface and divide it into 2 equal-sized balls. Use your hands to roll each ball into a long “rope”.
Step 4: Place the “ropes” beside each other and seal the two tops together. Braid the two ropes and form the braided Easter bread into a wreath shape. Seal the ends before placing a dyed egg on every loop (you should end up with 5 loops for 5 eggs).
Step 5: Transfer the dough and egg wreath in an oil and parchment-lined cast iron skillet. Let it rest in a warm place to rise once again.
Step 6: While the oven is preheating, brush the dough with melted butter and add the sprinkles on top. Bake until the bread is golden brown.
Step 7: When it’s done baking, remove the Easter bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Pour the sugar glaze over top while it’s still warm, then enjoy!
How to dye eggs for Easter
Dying Easter eggs with food coloring is so fun and a great activity for your kids. You can follow my instructions on how to make colored eggs in an Instant Pot or using a boiling pot of water. You could even try dying them with natural food coloring, such as beets, like I did in my Pink Deviled Eggs recipe.
Tips for Perfect Easter Bread
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, knead the dough in a bread machine or by hand. It should take about 10 or 15 minutes to knead by hand.
- To help the dough rise, place the oiled bowl with the dough in the oven and turn on the light, close the door and let it rise with just the lights on.
- If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, bake the bread in a dutch oven, oven-safe skillet, or on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Feel free to skip the colorful eggs. It’s still a delicious bread you can eat year-round!
How to Store Easter Bread
To store - Make sure the baked bread is completely cool before storing it in an airtight container. It can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Can I Freeze Easter Bread?
Yes! Sweet braided Easter bread freezes beautifully, making it a great recipe to prepare ahead for your holiday celebrations.
To freeze Easter bread, first let the bread cool completely after baking. Wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then place it in a freezer-safe bag or wrap it again with foil. Properly wrapped homemade Easter bread can be frozen for up to 2 months.
When ready to enjoy, let the bread thaw at room temperature for a few hours. You can also warm slices in the oven for a few minutes to bring back that soft, fresh-baked texture.
Freezing is a great option if you want to bake this braided Easter bread recipe in advance for Easter brunch or a family gathering.
What to Serve with Easter Bread
This sweet Easter bread is delicious on its own, but it’s even better with a few simple toppings or paired with other Easter favorites.
Here are some tasty ways to serve braided Easter bread:
- Butter and honey – Spread warm slices with butter and drizzle with honey for a simple treat.
- Jam or fruit preserves – Strawberry, raspberry, or apricot jam pairs beautifully with the sweet bread.
- Cream cheese – A creamy spread adds richness and balances the sweetness.
- Fresh fruit – Serve with berries, oranges, or grapes for a fresh Easter breakfast.
- Egg dishes – Pair with scrambled eggs, omelets, or quiche for a complete Easter brunch.
This homemade Easter bread recipe is perfect for Easter brunch, holiday breakfast, or even dessert with a cup of coffee or tea.
More Easter Recipes
- Dulce de Leche Cake Pops
- Dyed Deviled Eggs (Pink Deviled Eggs)
- Carrot Cake From Scratch
- Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Streusel & Coffee Glaze
- Hot Cross Buns
- Cinnamon Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Best No Knead Bread
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Braided Easter Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ⅔ cup almond milk or cow milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large eggs for the dough
- 5 raw eggs eggs colored with food coloring
- 1-2 teaspoons avocado oil for greasing a large bowl, or any oil of your choice
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer (this is the one I use & love for almost 10 years!), combine 2 ½ cups of flour, ¼ cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of sea salt and 2 ¼ teaspoons of dry active yeast, mix well.
- In a small bowl, combine ⅔ cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of butter, microwave for 30 second, or until milk and butter is warm, but not too hot.
- Pour warm milk and butter mixture into the flour, add 2 eggs and slowly knead it using stand mixer for about 10 minutes. After place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead with hands until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with avocado oil. Place dough in the bowl and move around to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Deflate the dough and place it onto a floured surface. Divide Easter Bread dough into two equal size balls. Using hands roll each ball into a long roll about 36 inches long. Next, using long rolls, twist them and place 1 egg for every loop, creating total of 5 loops for 5 dyed eggs. Seal the ends of the ring together.
- Next carefully place it on a oily parchment paper over baking sheet or cast iron skillet (my favorite!), cover and let rest for 45 minutes in a warm place.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Brush risen easter bread with melted butter and sprinkle colorful sprinkles over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown color.
Easter Bread Glaze (100% optional)
- Mix together ½ tablespoon of lemon juice or milk and ½ cup of powdered sugar. Glaze over warm easter bread. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Let the dough rise properly – For the softest braided Easter bread, allow the dough to double in size during the first rise. This helps create a light and fluffy texture.
- Use warm milk, not hot – Milk that is too hot can kill the yeast. Warm milk (about 105–110°F) helps the dough rise perfectly.
- Don’t skip the egg wash – Brushing the braided loaf with egg wash before baking gives the bread its beautiful golden color and shiny crust.
- Add extra flavor – You can mix in raisins, dried cranberries, or orange zest to give the Easter bread extra flavor.
- Check for doneness – The bread should be golden brown and sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Storage – Store leftover Easter bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing – This bread freezes well. Wrap it tightly and freeze for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Happy Easter!
Susan Behring
Can I use bread flour?
Munchkin Time
Hi Susan! Using bread flour for your Easter sweet bread is a great idea! The higher protein content in bread flour will give your bread a lovely, chewy texture and help it rise beautifully. Just keep in mind that it might absorb a bit more liquid, so you may want to adjust the recipe slightly. I’m sure your sweet bread will turn out delicious! Happy baking and Happy Easter!