Yia Yias Tsoureki Greek Easter Bread Recipes

YIA YIA'S TSOUREKI (GREEK EASTER BREAD)

Steps:

• Pour yeast into a small bowl; add warm water and 1/4 cup of flour. Stir, cover with two damp kitchen towels, and leave in a warm place until bubbly, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Combine butter, shortening, and mastic in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
• Stir milk and sugar together in another saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm. Remove from heat.
• Pour 2 cups flour into the butter mixture and stir well. Add salt, then stir in the yeast mixture. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir well. Stir in 3 beaten eggs. Slowly add the milk mixture and 1 cup of flour and stir well. Add the room-temperature water and the last cup of flour and stir until the dough is not sticky.
• Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 20 minutes with lightly floured hands. Form dough into a ball. Cover with damp towels and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two baking sheets.
• Divide dough into two pieces and separate each piece into three strands. Braid each of the 3 strands together to form 2 braided loaves. Place on the baking sheets. Nestle the red-dyed eggs between the strands. Brush the dough with the remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle the tops with almonds and sesame seeds.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

EASTER BREAD (TSOUREKI)

Steps:

• Place 5 or 6 eggs in a medium pot. Pour in cold water to cover by 1" and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, cover pot, and let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer eggs to a medium bowl of ice water; let cool completely.
• If desired, color eggs according to food-coloring package directions. Transfer eggs to paper towels to dry. DO AHEAD: Eggs can be dyed up to 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down dough. Divide into 3 equal pieces. With lightly floured hands, roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a 16"- long rope with tapered ends. (If dough begins to bounce back, cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes to allow dough to relax.)
• Arrange ropes side by side lengthwise on prepared sheet. Pinch top ends together. Braid dough. Pinch bottom ends together to secure (braided loaf will be about 12" long). Tuck dyed eggs between braids, spacing evenly. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until puffed but not doubled in size, 45-50 minutes. Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°F. Whisk remaining egg with 2 teaspoons warm water in a small bowl. Avoiding dyed eggs, brush dough all over with egg wash. Bake until bread is golden and an instantread thermometer inserted into center of loaf registers 190°F, 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let cool completely and store airtight at room temperature.

TSOUREKI (GREEK EASTER BREAD)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, heat milk to 110 - 120 degrees F (about 1 minute in the microwave) then add add yeast, 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1 cup flour. Stir to combine, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour at room temperature or until bubbling.
• In large mixing bowl combine 3 cups flour, ground mahlepi, remaining sugar and salt. Mix well.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the beater paddle, beat softened butter and eggs until smooth.
• Replace the beater paddle with the dough hook on your mixer. Add flour mixture to the butter & egg mixture and mix at low speed until moistened. Fold in lemon zest and mix ~3 minutes at medium speed.
• Add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing on medium speed in between additions until a sticky dough has formed (you'll probably have used 4-5 total cups of flour at this point). Place in greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in warm place until light and doubled, (~1-2 hours).
• After the first rise, punch down dough and remove from bowl. Add additional flour as needed until a firm dough had formed (probably another 3-4 more cups; you want the dough to be pliable enough to roll and shape).
• Take one of the 3 balls of dough and split into 3 more equal sections. On a lightly floured surface, roll each section into 3 long ropes (each rope should be ~12 inches long). Pinch the 3 rope pieces at the top to hold them together, then braid the rope and pinch at the bottom.** Place back on the parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Repeat with other remaining dough balls until you've formed 3 loaves. Cover and allow to rise for another 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush each loaf with beaten egg then bake each for 25-30 minutes on the the middle rack until golden brown.