40 Amazing Easter Bread Recipes

March 06, 2019
Photo: Oxmoor House
Celebrate spring and rebirth with classic and traditional bread recipes from around the globe along with a few recipes that are perfect for the breakfast spread on Easter morning. 
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Braided Lemon Bread

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Braided Lemon Bread Recipe

The perfect recipe for spring. This slightly sweet, lemony, and tender braided bread lands somewhere between brioche and challah. Serve the impressive poppy seed-studded loaf with dinner, use it to for sandwiches, or make an unconventional French toast. 

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Blood Orange Poppy Seed Bread

PHOTO BY GINA DISIMONE
Blood Orange Poppy Seed Bread Recipe
Make the most of citrus season

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Classic Banana Bread

Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Zapalowski
Classic Banana Bread Recipe

This healthier take on banana bread uses yogurt instead of butter, but it's just as moist and indulgent as classic recipes. This banana bread recipe isn't just easy. It's also highly customizable and can adapt to a number of flavors and substitute ingredients. Banana bread should form a crack down the center as it bakes--a sign the baking soda is doing its job. Serve toasted with a smear of cream cheese, Greek yogurt, or peanut and top with mixed nuts, if desired. You can even customize your bread with a crunchy streusal topping that the kids will love.

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This Whole-Wheat Braided Egg Bread Is Perfect for Easter

Photo: Jamie Vespa
This Whole-Wheat Braided Egg Bread Is Perfect for Easter Recipe

Our beautiful Easter centerpiece bread offers a healthier take on the classic egg- and butter-enriched bread. It’s made completely with white whole-wheat flour and less added sugar (in this case, honey) than many traditional recipes. Our techniques and ingredient choices leave you with a soft, fluffy, lightly sweet bread that’ll garner raves: The soaking step at the beginning allows the dense flour to hydrate more fully, resulting in a more tender bread, and the vital wheat gluten—which you’ll find near the yeast and flour in well-stocked supermarkets—aids in tenderness as well. The colored eggs are decorative, though you could eat them if you’d like (they’ll be overcooked). If they discolor from baking, simply twist to remove them, and replace with more vibrant eggs. The finished bread is gloriously large and serves a crowd. If you have leftovers, try slicing and toasting for breakfast—or using for French toast or bread pudding.

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Tuscan Pignoli-Orange Zucchini Bread

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Deb Wise; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Tuscan Pignoli-Orange Zucchini Bread Recipe

Got a boatload of zucchini? A loaf of so-simple quick bread is a delightful, kid-friendly way to put it to use. With bright citrusy notes, toasty pine nuts, and a delightful texture delivered by the blend of semolina and almond flours, this Italian-inspired uptake on your typical zucchini bread is sure to impress. 

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Raspberry Braid Loaf

Meredith Food Studios
Raspberry Braid Loaf Recipe

This impressive braided loaf is a show-stopping addition to any springtime table. For more incredible bread recipes, check out  Zoë Francois and Jeff Hertzberg’s Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

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Cranberry Pull-Apart Bread with Orange-cream Cheese Icing

Greg DuPree
Cranberry Pull-Apart Bread with Orange-cream Cheese Icing Recipe

The entire family will love the sticky-fingered fun of tearing apart these sweet layers filled with tangy cranberries and bright orange zest. The recipe makes two loaves of bread; give one as a gift, and take the other to brunch.

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Easy Everything Dinner Rolls

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Tami Hardeman
Easy Everything Dinner Rolls Recipe

To make your own everything bagel seasoning mix for this recipe, combine 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, 1 tablespoon dried minced onion, 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt in a small bowl.

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Hot Cross Buns

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
With less heft and more flavor and fluff, these delicate Hot Cross Buns deserve attention all year long. A hint of warm spices balances a sweet glaze to finish off these Easter rolls.
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Banana-Oatmeal Bread

Photo: David Malosh; Styling: Gerri Williams for James Reps
Banana-Oatmeal Bread Recipe

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Sweet Portuguese Rolls

Greg Dupree
Sweet Portuguese Rolls Recipe

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Sesame-Cashew Zucchini Bread

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Deb Wise; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Sesame-Cashew Zucchini Bread Recipe

Got a boatload of zucchini? A loaf of so-simple quick bread is a delightful, kid-friendly way to put it to use. Incredibly rich in toasty flavor, this nutty twist on classic zucchini bread was a fast favorite in the test kitchen. If you don’t have cashew butter on hand, feel free to use peanut butter or almond butter for the creamy glaze instead—either would be equally delicious. 

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Powdered Sugar Donut Monkey Bread

Photo: Gina DeSimone; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Deb Wise
Powdered Sugar Donut Monkey Bread Recipe

Featuring mini powdered sugar donuts, this whimsical twist on monkey bread is the perfect sweet centerpiece for a casual brunch get-together. 

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Rosemary Focaccia with Stewed Grapes and Olives

Photographer: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Lauren Smith Ford; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos 
Rosemary Focaccia with Stewed Grapes and Olives Recipe

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Miso Banana Bread with Yuzu Glaze

Photography: Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer.
Miso Banana Bread with Yuzu Glaze Recipe
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Grapefruit-Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls

Sara Tane
Grapefruit-Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

These gooey and gorgeous homemade cinnamon rolls are a vibrant uptake on those classic canned orange rolls Mom would break out for special occasion breakfasts. Never made sweet rolls from scratch before? Trust us, the dough is far easier to make and work with than you might think. And with a soft pink colored grapefruit-cream cheese glaze and a decadent filling featuring pistachios, dark brown sugar, fresh ginger, cardamon, and cinnamon, these morning glories are sure to steal the show at any brunch gathering. If you want to prep them ahead, simply follow the recipe through step 6 the night before and pop your rolls into the fridge; just be sure to bring them to room temperature the following day before baking and glazing.

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Parker House Rolls

Photo: Antonis Achilles; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos and Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland
Parker House Rolls Recipe

Buttery, yeasty heaven you can enjoy at brunch, dinner, or whenever. 

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Cream Cheese Pastries

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Cream Cheese Pastries Recipe
These gorgeous homemade pastries look like they just arrived from a bakery.
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Homemade Dinner Rolls

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe

Soft, tender, pillowy, and buttery. What's not to love? Once you go homemade, it's hard to go back to store-bought dinner rolls. 

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Herbed Biscuits

Jennifer Causey
Herbed Biscuits Recipe

Two key techniques make these whole-grain biscuits light and fluffy: smashing the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers, and folding the dough to create layers.

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Crumpets

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Pam Lolley
Crumpets Recipe

Skip the crumpets that you can find in the refrigerated section at the grocery store, because these are way better. If you don't have English muffin rings, you can use a cleaned can of tuna, as long as the top and bottom are removed. Serve these super simple treats with butter, assorted jams, a drizzle of honey, and of course, hot tea.

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Strawberry Kuchen

Victor Protasio
Strawberry Kuchen Recipe

The Southern dessert canon is loaded with sweet treats that represent cultural influences that have swept through our region, specifically in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas. As a result, we’ve been spoiled by a number of treats including kuchen, a German word meaning “cake.” In her book, Cake: A Slice of History, food historian Alysa Levene explains that German immigrants were fond of social occasions that called for coffee and cake. “The German style of kaffe und kuchen was part of Irma Rombauer’s family heritage and explains the heavy presence of German cakes in The Joy of Cooking,” she writes. While some types of kuchen are more bread-like and made with a yeasted dough, our version has a tender, fluffy crumb and a dimpled top covered with strawberries and almonds.

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Monkey Bread Babka with Nutella Glaze

All Photos Courtesy Tuck Room Tavern
Monkey Bread Babka with Nutella Glaze Recipe
Straight from Sherry Yard's kitchen at LA's Tuck Room Tavern

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Boysenberry Danishes

Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Robyn Valarik
Boysenberry Danishes Recipe

Even if you're a baking newbie, you can turn these out with ease, thanks to frozen puff pastry. To keep them from sticking, remove the pastries from the pan right after baking.

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Greek Easter Bread (Lambropsomo)

Rachel Weill
Greek Easter Bread (Lambropsomo) Recipe
In this symbolic, traditional Greek Easter recipe, dyed hard-cooked eggs are placed on the bread in the shape of a cross.

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Kulich

Kulich Recipe
After being iced, the bread is topped with raisins to form the letters XB, meaning "Christ has risen."

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Babka

Photo by Sage McAvoy
Peanut Butter and Jelly Babka Recipe

Because frying doughnuts is just too much

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Maple-Pecan Sticky Buns

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Degaris Pursell
Maple-Pecan Sticky Buns Recipe
Enjoy Maple-Pecan Sticky Buns without skimping on size. Our secret is a low-fat roll mix that creates extra indulgent--and easy--sticky buns. Mornings just got brighter!

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Danish Cinnamon Buns

Photo by Jacqui Small, an imprint of the Quarto Group
Danish Cinnamon Buns Recipe
From Ladies of London star Caroline Fleming's cookbook

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Sausage-Stuffed Honey Buns

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Tami Hardeman; Prop Styling: Elizabeth Demos
Sausage-Stuffed Honey Buns Recipe

These sweet and savory rolls are inspired by the Howard family's love of sausage biscuits with muscadine preserves.

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Best-Ever Sticky Buns

Greg DuPree
Best-Ever Sticky Buns Recipe

These ooey-gooey, pecan-topped cinnamon rolls live up to their name. Paige and her mother prepare the dough on Christmas Eve and bake the sticky buns first thing in the morning. Bonus: Everyone enjoys waking up to the sweet smell of cinnamon and brown sugar on Christmas Day.

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Pão de Queijo

Photo: Kelsey Hansen; Prop Styling: Thom Driver; Food Styling: Anna Hampton
Pão de Queijo Recipe

Comparable to gougères, these light and cheesy buns feature a golden-crispy exterior and delightfully spongy center. This tasty gluten-free bread is best enjoyed warm from the oven, and is a delicious addition to the breakfast table (and it also makes for an excellent afternoon snack). Tapioca starch comes from cassava, a brown starchy tuber also known as yuca (not yucca) and is commonly labeled tapioca flour, tapioca starch, cassava starch or manioc flour. The starch can either be dried for sweet tapioca (polviho doce), or fermented (polviho azedo)—which is what you want for this recipe. This slightly sour starch is what gives pão de queijo  it’s signature chewy texture and a thicker crust as opposed to the unfermented variety. If you have trouble finding this variety, Bob’s Red Mill makes a tapioca flour/starch that is not fermented, but will make a fine substitute, if need be. Traditionally, pão de queijo is made with Minas cheese, a salty, aged, and slightly soft cow’s milk cheese, but a combination of Parmigiano-Reggiano and sharp white cheddar makes a great, easily obtained, swap for this recipe. You’ll use a similar method to making a pate a choux dough for this bread. When stirring in the tapioca starch, the mixture will be very dry, but keep stirring until it is incorporated before transferring to the mixer. The dough will look scrambled after beating in the eggs, but should come together a bit more once the cheese is added. Keep in mind, it’s super helpful to spray your scoop with cooking spray after scooping each ball of dough. For this recipe, we start the oven temperature high in order to help the bread puff up, but dropping the temperature allows it to cook through without getting overly brown.

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Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon-Honey Butter

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Stylist: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Stylist: Paige Grandjean
Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon-Honey Butter Recipe

Texas Roadhouse’s buttery-sweet rolls are cherished far and wide for good reason—they’re delicious. And now, you can enjoy a fresh, warm batch at home, anytime you please.

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Sandkaka

Photo: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey and Elise Mayfield; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke and Laura Evans
Sandkaka Recipe

Potato flour serves as the backbone for this delightfully simple Swedish classic. Though gluten-free, sandkaka is similar in texture to a dense, buttery pound cake and, thanks to the starchiness of the potato flour, will retain its moisture for days. 

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The Big Cinnamon Roll

Photo: Stephen DeVries, Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford; Food Styling: Torie Cox
The Big Cinnamon Roll Recipe

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Yeast Rolls

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Kay E. Clarke
Yeast Rolls Recipe

You can make the dough for these tender, buttery rolls the night before.

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Everything Rugelach with Ricotta and Dill

Sara Tane
Everything Rugelach with Ricotta and Dill Recipe

Everybody's favorite Jewish cookie gets a savory makeover in this salty, crunchy treat. Perfect served as an appetizer or as a part of a special breakfast spread, this everything rugelach is the perfect marriage between flaky dough and classic everything bagel toppings. Eat them on their own, or smear on a thin layer of cream cheese and top with fresh lox and capers for a non-traditional snack.