Greek Easter Bread (Lambropsomo) Recipe
This Greek Easter Bread (Lambropsomo) recipe is easy to spot thanks to its signature red eggs. Get this favorite Easter egg bread recipe.
By Yankee Magazine|Apr 03 2017|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanGreek Easter Bread (Lambropsomo) is a sweet Easter bread, either round or braided, and often with dyed red eggs tucked into the dough to symbolize the blood of Christ.
This classic Greek Easter Bread recipe was shared by “Great New England Cook” Carol Evans from Dover, NH, in 1979.
SEE MORE:
Greek Easter Bread | Yankee Recipe Archives (1979)
Italian Easter Bread with Dyed Eggs
Best Easter Recipes
Yield:
2 loavesIngredients
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons anise extract
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
9 cups flour, approximately
Instructions
Combine the first five ingredients. Add the anise extract, beaten eggs, and sugar. Stir in the flour, 3 cups at a time, and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes until smooth.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once, and cover with damp towel. Allow to rise until doubled — about 2 hours. Punch down and place in 2 greased 9-inch pans*, reserving just enough dough to form a cross on the top of each bread. A red egg can be placed in the center of the bread and the cross formed over it with the reserved dough.
Let rise 1 hour, then bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from pans immediately and brush with butter.
*If you like, rather than placing the dough into the greased pans, separate in half, then divide each half into 3 sections. Roll into long strips and loosely braid together on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Tucked dyed eggs into the braid and bake.
As a child Gus,the Greek cook my mother worked with always made Greek Easter Bread for all the employees, along with Lamb cakes!
Made for years however can never get it to double or rise after 2 hours. Only once in 15 years did it rise. Any suggestions .
For the bread to rise a second tine, it has to be warm. I suggest you cover the dough itself with plastic wrap and lightly tuck down then cover the bowl with a kitchen towel then with a small bath towel. Also, store this in any room that is warm. In fact, if one has zone heating and the bathroom is included, its the perfect place. Raise the heat and shut the door!
While this is a simple unflavored bread recipe, one can add maticha or melhep, two Middle Eastern flavorings. The mastika loses its potency over time so extra must be added. It also must be crushed into a powder. I don’t like melhep, so I can’t say how it is or if it must be crushed.
Always use raw eggs in the bread! In fact, if the eggs are dyed but not cooked, place them in roasting pan and when the last of the breads are taken from the oven, place the pan in the oven and shut off the oven and do not open for about an hour but no more than an hour and a half. The length of time is based upon the oven’s temperature accuracy. P>S>, the flavorings can be found online and in Middle Eastern markets that also sell spices.