Easter Greek sweet bread – Tsoureki with no butter

This year, I have an amazing and baby-friendly version of Easter Greek sweet bread known as tsoureki that you’ll love. It makes tsoureki that stays fluffy for days, with no butter or refined sugar, with an amazing aroma and white petimezi by Cretan Nectar. After last year’s success with the mini tsoureki-donut recipe, there’s another dreamy recipe here for you this year. Our tsourekia with fibres are fluffy and come in their traditional shape, while they are baby friendly if you use plant milk. And if you haven’t made any before, don’t be scared; they’re easier than you think, thanks to the mixer!

What we are going to need

  • Flour. I used flour for tsoureki/brioche bread, and the result was truly amazing. Alternatively, you can use hard flour.
  • Yeast. I used dry yeast. You can use fresh yeast as well, though the quantity will be naturally more. As an example, 8 grams of dry yeast can be replaced by 30 grams of fresh yeast.
  • White petimezi by Cretan Nectar. White petimezi is suitable for children 6 months or older, but just like all sweeteners, you should use it in moderation before the age of 2 years old. In contrast to classic petimezi, white petimezi has been processed in lower temperatures without caramelizing, so it lacks the characteristic bitter taste of classic petimezi. It has a sweet, subtle, smooth taste that doesn’t resemble the classic petimezi at all, and that’s why I don’t suggest substituting it with that. You’ll find it at cretancellar.gr.
  • Milk. I used sheep milk, but I also made it with plant milk and the result was good. The important factor is the temperature of the milk. You should heat it up in a pot, and it should feel warm. If the milk is burning hot, it won’t activate the yeast, it will just destroy it instead, and our tsourekia will never rise. For children under the age of one year old, make them with plant milk.
  • Olive oil. I used to add very little butter in my recipe, either way, so now I didn’t add any, and the result was still delicious and fluffy tsourekia.
  • Eggs. Necessary, and I don’t suggest substituting them in this recipe.
  • Spices. What does the Easter tsoureki need to be called tsoureki? Besides a successful dough, it also needs the aroma of mastic, cardamom, and mahleb.

Tips

  • The dough is elastic and soft. Even though it’s slightly sticky, you can easily knead it with lightly oiled hands.
  • During kneading, use only olive oil for the surface and your hands. Do not use flour.
  • If you don’t have a mixer, you’ll need to knead it by hand for quite some time.
  • Follow all the steps of the recipe carefully.
  • If you place your tsourekia on a baking sheet, they might split open, so it’s best you bake them in rectangular forms.
  • Temperature differs from oven to oven, so check often and adjust the baking time.
  • After the tsourekia have cooled, wrap them in saran wrap so that they remain fluffy for days.

How the little hands can help

  • This time, my little hands only helped in kneading. To be fair, they also helped in the shooting by munching on them, as you can see!
  • Your little hands can help by weighing and adding the ingredients in the mixer bowl.

Ingredients for 2 tsourekia

  • 380 g milk, lukewarm
  • 860 flour for tsourekia or hard flour (divided in two portions of 200 gr and 660 gr)
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature, +1 for the coating
  • 55 g olive oil
  • 180 white petimezi by Cretan Nectar
  • 24 g dry yeast
  • 1 orange, the zest and 40 gr juice
  • 20 g ground mahleb
  • 1 g mastic
  • 1 tbsp cardamom

Instructions

  1. Add the lukewarm milk and the dry yeast in the mixer bowl and whisk.
  2. Add the first portion of 200 gr flour and whisk.
  3. Set the mixture aside for twenty minutes to rise.
  4. Process the mastic, the cardamom, and the mahleb in a mortar or a food processor.
  5. Add the eggs, the spices, the olive oil, the white petimezi, the orange juice and zest, and the rest of the flour in the mixer bowl with the dough and mix them with the hook at low speed.
  6. Slowly raise the speed to medium and mix for 10–15 minutes. When you raise up the mixer, the dough will be hanging off the hook like a piece of gum.
  7. Lightly oil a large bowl and your hands, and unstick the dough with gentle movements, then transport it to the second bowl.
  8. Line a baking sheet or two rectangle forms with parchment paper.
  9. Cover the bowl with the dough with saran wrap and a towel and set side to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Afterwards, the dough will have doubled in size. If you depress the dough with your finger, leaving a mark, and the dough doesn’t spring back, it has risen enough and is ready.
  10. Deflate the dough and move it to a lightly oiled surface. Knead it lightly, then cut in two pieces.
  11. Work the first piece into a large rope, fold in half, and repeat 3–4 times. Then, divide the piece in 3 or 4 equal parts.
  12. Work each piece into a rope. It may spring back when you release it but continue to the next pieces letting the others rest. In the end, work it again to the length you want. Join the ropes at the top and weave them in a braid.
  13. Repeat the same procedure with the second piece of dough.
  14. Move your tsourekia to the baking sheet or the forms.
  15. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  16. Cover your tsourekia with a towel and let them rise for 20 minutes.
  17. After they’ve doubled in size, coat them with some beaten egg and sprinkle them with almond flakes.
  18. Bake for 20–25 minutes.
  19. Remove from the oven, remove from the forms, and allow them to cool on a cold surface.
  20. Wrap them in saran wrap after they’ve cooled.

PREP TIME
1 hr 40 mins
COOK TIME
25 mins
TOTAL TIME
2 hrs 5 mins

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