Mastiha Tsoureki — Easter Bread
The fragrant braided bread of Greek Easter, scented with mastic and mahlab
⏱
180 min
Prep
🍳
35 min
Cook
👥
1
Serves
📊
Advanced
Difficulty
Tsoureki is the sweet braided bread that every Greek family makes at Easter — the kitchen fills with a scent so distinctive and so deeply associated with celebration that it can stop you in your tracks. On Chios, tsoureki is flavored with two key spices: mastic resin and mahlab (ground cherry pits), which together create a flavor unlike anything else in world baking.
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 7g instant yeast
- 100g sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Chios mastic powder (grind 6-8 crystals with a pinch of sugar)
- 1 tsp ground mahlab (or substitute a little almond extract)
- 2 eggs
- 100ml warm milk
- 80g unsalted butter, softened
- Zest of 1 orange
- For the glaze:
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp milk
- Sesame seeds or slivered almonds
Method
- Grind the mastic crystals with a pinch of sugar in a mortar until they form a fine powder.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, mastic powder, and mahlab. Make a well in the center.
- Whisk together the eggs, warm milk, and orange zest. Pour into the well in the flour mixture. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
- Add the softened butter in small pieces and knead — by hand for 15 minutes, or by stand mixer with a dough hook for 10 minutes — until the dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky.
- Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each into a long rope about 50cm long.
- Braid the three ropes together, pinching and tucking the ends under. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Cover loosely and let rise again for 45-60 minutes until noticeably puffed.
- Preheat oven to 170C (340F). Brush gently with egg yolk mixed with milk, and sprinkle with sesame seeds or almonds.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until deep golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Cool completely before slicing.