These pretty and slightly sweet Italian Easter bread with eggs, have naturally dyed eggs, a sweet glaze and sprinkles. A perfect way to display Easter eggs!
Jump straight to the recipe!
🐣A beautiful sweet bread for Easter
Italian Easter bread with eggs is made from a slightly sweet brioche dough. It is twisted into wreath shapes, or one long loaf. Unbaked coloured eggs are placed in between the twists and everything gets baked together. The eggs are perfectly hard boiled when done!
The wreaths get a sweet glaze brushed on after baking, and then sprinkled with colourful, spring coloured sprinkles.
If you are looking for other Easter baking recipes, try my hot cross buns recipe!
🥘Ingredients
Italian Easter bread
Ingredient notes
- Butter - You can use salted butter. Just leave out the extra salt.
- Yeast - Use whichever type of yeast you prefer. I use dry active yeast.
- Milk - I like to use full fat milk in baking. 2% milk will work too, but I wouldn't go any lighter then that.
Natural egg dye
Ingredient notes
- Beets - I was unhappy with the colour the beets made the eggs. They came out more beige than pink. Maybe try cranberries instead?
🔪Instructions
Mix yeast, sugar and warm milk together in a large bowl. Make sure the milk is between 100°F and 105°F. If you don't have a thermometer, the milk should feel warm to the skin, not hot. If you are new to baking with yeast, or need a refresher, see my baking with yeast post!
Add eggs and butter and stir in eggs and butter. Measure out the flour into a small bowl. Add ¾ of the amount of flour to the mixing bowl. Add salt and orange zest. Knead the ingredients together, adding ¼ cup of the remaining flour at a time until the dough comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl.
Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm environment until doubled in size.
How to braid bread
Punch down the dough and divide into 4 pieces. Divide each piece into 3 more pieces. Roll each piece into three 1-inch ropes about 14 inches long. Braid the pieces together, pinching the ends and forming them into a circle.
Place each ring onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and allow them to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a dyed egg into the center of each ring. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown. The eggs will also be hardboiled when the bread has finished baking.
🥚Naturally dyed eggs
I have seen so many Italian Easter bread with eggs, that use chemically dyed eggs. Pictures show that the egg dye runs into the bread. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to eat that!
One way to get pretty coloured eggs without the icky chemicals, naturally dyed eggs! It is so easy to do, and the colours deepen the longer you let the eggs sit in the dye.
Here's what I used to colour the eggs:
Pink - Beets and their juices. I find that the beets did not do a great job at making the egg look pink. It turned out kind of beige, no matter how long I left it in the dye.
Blue - Red cabbage (I know, but trust me on this one!)
Yellow - Ground turmeric
You can also make so many other colours by playing around with ingredients in your kitchen, like spinach leaves to make green dye or cranberries for red dye. Let me know what you try!
Fill three saucepans with 2 cups of water in each one. Add in vegetables, fruits or spices to each saucepan, and bring them to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
Sieve the coloured water into mason jars. Place an egg in each one and store in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
For more step by step photos, see my web story for Italian Easter bread!
✔️ Expert Tips
- Use whichever type of yeast you are familiar working with. I use dry active yeast.
- Make sure the milk is warmed between 100°F and 105°F, or until it feels warm to the skin. Not hot!
- Add flour to the bread until it just cleans the bowl. Too much flour will make a dense bread.
- Experiment with different vegetables, fruits or spices to make the natural egg dyes.
💭FAQs
It's a sweet yeast dough that is slightly brioche like. It is usually braided into wreaths or as one long loaf. Coloured eggs are nested in the bread.
You can make the dyed eggs ahead of time. They can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week before you make the bread.
Yes, the natural dye does not affect the taste of the egg. The eggs are baked in the breads, and will come out hardboiled. Use them as you normally would.
📖Related recipes
📋 Recipe
Italian Easter Bread
Ingredients
Italian Easter Bread
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole milk warm
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- zest of one orange
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3½ - 4 cups all purpose flour
Natural Egg Dye
- 2 cups red cabbage shredded
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 2 cups beets
- 6 cups water
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- sprinkles
Instructions
Italian Easter Bread
- Place yeast, sugar and milk into a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs and butter and stir.
- Measure out the flour into a small bowl. Add ¾ of the amount of flour to the large bowl. Add salt and orange zest. Knead the ingredients together, adding ¼ cup of the remaining flour at a time until the dough comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm environment until doubled in size.
- Punch down dough and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into three 1-inch ropes about 14 inches long. Braid the pieces together, pinching the ends and forming them into a circle.
- Place each ring onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and allow them to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Place a dyed egg into the center of each ring. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Natural Egg Dye
- Prepare 3 saucepans with 2 cups of water in each one.
- In one saucepan, add red cabbage, in the second, add in beets, and the last, add ground turmeric.
- Place each saucepan over medium heat and cook until boiling point is reached. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Sieve the coloured water into mason jars or other containers. Make sure they are deep enough so that the egg will be completely covered in water. Add eggs and store them in the refrigerator for 2 hours to overnight.
Glaze
- Mix granulated sugar and milk together in a small bowl. Brush over each bread and decorate with sprinkles. Bread will last up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Use whichever type of yeast you are familiar working with. I use dry active yeast.
- Make sure the milk is warmed between 100°F and 105°F, or until it feels warm to the skin. Not hot!
- Add flour to the bread until it just cleans the bowl. Too much flour will make a dense bread.
- Experiment with different vegetables, fruits or spices to make the natural egg dyes.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️