Italian Easter Egg Wreath Bread Recipe

For me, Easter is about traditions. These Sweet Italian Egg Wreath Breads are a tradition I’ve been wanting to start for years! Try them with your family and come back to let us know how they turned out 🙂   (Printable version at bottom)

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Ingredients:

• 3 ¾ Cup Flour
• 8-10 Eggs
• 1 Package Active Dry Yeast
• ½ Cup Sugar
• 2/3 Cup Milk + 1 Tablespoon
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• Olive Oil
• Rainbow Nonpareil Sprinkles
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Egg Dye Kit (optional)
• Vinegar (optional)
• Water (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine: 1 cup flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix well.
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2. In a sauce pan, mix the 2/3 cup milk and butter. Heat until milk is warm and butter is melted. Do not heat too much.
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3. Combine milk and flour mixture. Mix well.
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4. Add two eggs and 2 cups more of flour. Mix well.
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5. Knead dough with fist for a minute or two and then dump it onto a floured surface. Flatten the dough out with your hands and little by littl, sprinkle your remaining flour over the top of it and knead more until no sticky parts of the dough remain.
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6. Oil a large bowl and place the dough inside. Brush oil onto the dough ball and then cover with a warm damp towel for about an hour.
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7. While dough is rising, take 5-7 eggs and dye them. DO NOT boil them first. Dye them uncooked. I did not have access to an egg dying kit or tablets so I used food coloring. Tablets would work better as far as bright colors and less bleeding into the dough goes. If you don’t have access to any tablets, place half a cup of boiling water, 1 Tablespoon vinegar, and 15 drops food coloring into a small dish or cup. Drop an egg in each cup and dye for at least two hours for bright colors. Rinse eggs under cold water and wipe with a paper towel to reduce any excess color from bleeding into the dough. Set eggs aside.
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8. Once dough has finished rising, lay it out on a floured surface and divide it into 10-14 equal portions. Roll each portion into a “snake” of dough until it’s about a foot in length.
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9. Take two of  the rolled portions  and pinch one of the ends together. Braid the two strips of dough until you reach the end and then pinch that end together. Bring both ends together to form a ring and pinch those together. Be sure the hole in the middle of the bread is big enough to push or rest an egg into. You want it to be snug.
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10. In a small dish, mix one egg and a tablespoon of milk together. Brush this mixture onto each one of the dough wreaths before putting the eggs in the middle.
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11. Place the dyed eggs in the middle of each one of the wreaths making sure it’s pushed a little way in and is snug.
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12. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-18 minutes.
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13. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
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14. Once cool, brush the tops of the wreaths lightly with either a bit of melted butter or water. I stress lightly as you don’t want to make the bread soggy, just dampen it enough for the sprinkles to stick. (*Note: DO NOT  put the sprinkles on before you bake them—they will melt and make it look like you have rainbow wreaths). Once you brush each wreath, sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles and serve!

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Italian Easter Egg Wreath Bread Recipe