Easter Bread Recipes Italian

This easy Italian Easter bread is fluffy, slightly sweet, and full of citrus and anise flavors. The hard boiled eggs make it so festive and pretty, and kids love this tradition!

I wish I had some touching story about how I made this with my grandma every Easter when I was little, but the fact is that my kids saw some pictures of these online and wanted to make them, so we gave them a try! So that’s what we did and now they will be a tradition in our family, just like our Empty tomb rolls.

Now maybe like 30 years from now, my grandkids will be able to talk about making these with me every Easter. This is how traditions start!

Sicilian Easter Bread Baskets

Italian Easter bread has a similar taste and texture to challah bread. It is eggy and has just a slight sweetness to it. I always love all the symbolism associated with Easter recipes, like our hot cross buns, and this one is no exception.

The bread represents Jesus Christ being the Bread of Life, and the eggs represent new life and rebirth is Christ. The bread is also traditionally baked in a wreath to symbolize the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head at the crucifixion.

Let’s jump right and in talk about how to make this Easter bread. I know that yeast breads can be intimidating for some, so let’s go through each step together. No intimidation allowed!

Italian Easter Bread Recipe

Step 1: We are going to activate the yeast. Warm up the milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. I like to warm it up in 30 second increments and give it a stir after each 30 seconds. Once it is nice and warm (but not boiling!), add the butter and stir it until melted. Then add the sugar and yeast. Let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast gets frothy and bubbly. See section below for more info on yeast!

Pro tip: If your yeast doesn’t bubble, then either your milk was too hot and it killed the yeast, or your yeast wasn’t good to begin with. This is pretty rare, but if it happens, you’ll need to start over with new yeast.

Step 2: Next, we are going to combine all the wet and dry ingredients to form the dough. Combine the yeast/milk mixture with the salt, orange zest, and 1 cup of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer and blend them all together. Add the eggs and another 1/2 cup of flour and mix together. This will make a thick batter. Beat it on high speed for 2 minutes. Then add flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough draws away from the sides of the bowl.

Italian Easter Bread (pane Di Pasqua)

Step 3: Then we come to everyone’s favorite part of bread making…kneading! Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes.

Step 4: Once the dough is kneaded, it is time for the first proof or rise. Put the dough into a greased bowl and turn it so that all sides get greased and then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place and let it rise until doubled (about 1 hour).

Step 5: While the dough rises, combine the raisins, orange extract and anise extract in a bowl. Then when the dough has doubled, punch it down and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead in the fruit mixture. It will be difficult to get the dried fruit incorporate, but just keep at it!

Italian Easter Bread, Pizza Chiena, Pizza Gain

Step 6: During this step, we are going to form the dough into the wreath. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a 24-inch rope. If any little fruit pieces escape, just stick them back into the dough. Take the two dough ropes and loosely twist them together and form them into a ring. Place the ring on a greased baking sheet and pinch the ends together so the ends are sealed together well.

Step 7: Now we are going to prepare the wreath for the second proof or rise. Whisk together an egg white and water and brush the top of the wreath with the egg white mixture. Grab your dyed uncooked eggs and open up a few spots in the twisted dough to place the eggs. Push the eggs down into the dough as far as you can.

Step 8: Cover the bread with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rise again in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled (about 1 hour). When the dough is close to being ready, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Bread Machine Easter Bread Recipe

Step 9: After the second rise, remove the towel or plastic wrap and bake the bread in a preheated oven (350 degrees F) for 30-35 minutes. The top should be golden brown and the bread should sound hollow when you tap on it.

Step 10: When the bread is done, move it to a wire rack to cool. While it is cooling, prepare the sweet glaze (see section below), and then drizzle the bread with the glaze when it is slightly warm. Add sprinkles if desired!

Right when the bread comes out of the oven, combine all the ingredients to make the sweet glaze (powdered sugar, milk and vanilla). Stir them all together until they are smooth. More milk should be added if needed. It should be smooth but not runny. Drizzle all over the bread while it is slightly warm. Sprinkle the glazed bread with sprinkles to make it extra colorful and fun!

Easy Italian Easter Bread

There are reasons to use different types of yeast but for this recipe we use instant yeast. Head to our post about the differences between active dry yeast and instant yeast for all the details.

Anise is a Mediterranean plant with seeds that are very aromatic. The seeds are used for cooking and in herbal medicines and have a black licorice scent and flavor. The anise extract gives this bread the best flavor, but if you don’t like the flavor of black licorice, different substitutes can be used.

Vanilla extract can be used as a substitute for the anise if you don’t care for the anise flavor. If you want keep the anise flavor but just don’t have any anise extract, you can use anise flavored liqueur (about 1 tsp for this recipe) or ground anise (1 tsp for this recipe). Fennel seeds and caraway seeds also have a similar flavor to anise and could be used (2 tsp for this recipe).

Easter Bread With Colored Eggs

You can also change the amount of the extracts to your taste as well as omit the raisins or use chopped, dried fruits instead.

No, the eggs should be dyed raw. Be careful not to drop or crack them! They can be placed in the bread uncooked. The will be perfectly cooked when the bread is done.

This Italian Easter bread is so fun! It is great for teaching the littles about the meaning of Easter. They also make quite impressive gifts for friends or neighbors! And above all of that, it is just dang good! So fluffy, eggy, and perfectly sweet! Happy Easter, friends! Xoxo!

Italian Easter Bread {pane Di Pasqua}

This easy Italian Easter Bread with hard boiled eggs and a sweet glaze on top is an easter tradition for kids that is as yummy as it is pretty!

You can change the amount of the extracts to your taste as well as omit the raisins or use chopped, dried fruits instead.

Serving: 1 g Calories: 1173 kcal Carbohydrates: 217 g Protein: 36 g Fat: 17 g Saturated Fat: 7 g Cholesterol: 306 mg Sodium: 783 mg Potassium: 589 mg Fiber: 8 g Sugar: 56 g Vitamin A: 657 IU Vitamin C: 1 mg Calcium: 133 mg Iron: 11 mg

Pane Di Pasqua

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We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.Italian Easter bread is a traditional bread that celebrates spring, renewal, and the resurrection. Each twisted ring has a whole egg nestled in the center. The dough is scented with citrus zest, and the finished bread is irresistibly fluffy and soft with a texture reminiscent of challah.

Italian Easter Bread is flavored with lemon zest, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Of course, it's then fitted with its signature brightly colored egg and topped with sprinkles. The eggs not only add celebratory flair to Easter bread, but they are also considered a symbol of rebirth.

Italian Easter Sweet Bread Recipe: Pane Di Pasqua

The name of this recipe may seem to imply there is one definitive Easter bread in Italy. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! There are as many variations of Easter bread across the regions and subregions, ranging from savory breads such as

, where a raw egg is encased in the dough and cooked