Plaited Easter Bread with Cream Cheese Filling
Holidays deserve a special treat. This buttery, Plaited Easter Bread with Cream Cheese Filling was the perfect holiday indulgence for my family!
This spectacular Easter Recipe is a sublime bedtime snack after Easter Vigil Mass and then again for breakfast or brunch on Easter morning.
Why Youโll Love this Braided Bread
- The dough is soft, buttery, and easy to work with!
- Even if you donโt know how to braid, this method just involves crossing one strip over another. Super simple, plus it looks impressive.
- Adding cream cheese filling makes it worthy of a special occasion. Itโs ideal for a holiday breakfast or brunch!
Tester Endorsement:
From my friend, Kathy, via Facebook: So delicious โ verified taster!
There was an air of excitement and anticipation in my childhood home as Easter approached. The night before the big day, weโd dress up in our Easter dresses with our patent leather shoes and knee socks, attend Easter Vigil Mass, then return home to eat my momโs version of hot cross buns, her easy Easter Bread Recipe, before we were shooed off to bed. These buns were basically dinner rolls decorated with pastel icing. My holiday memories tend to revolve around food. Weโd always have Easter dinner with our friends, the Verhovens; their 5 children plus the 4 of us made for a rowdy gathering, especially after being hyped up on chocolate eggs.
My momโs decorating was simple, just a flowering branch from the yard in an earthen jug. She would hang pastel-colored eggshells. Weโd watch my mom blow out the eggs and help dye the shells as Easter approached. There were a LOT of scrambled eggs for breakfast on the mornings leading up to the holiday. Such warm, indelible memories. Having Easter bread to start the day was a tradition I continue with my family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the Significance of Easter Bread?
The rising of leavened Easter bread reflects Jesus rising from the dead. Plus the eggs in the dough and/or inserted in some Easter bread celebrate rebirth and a new season with Lentโs departure.
The wreath shape of many Easter bread recipes is often said to represent Jesusโ crown of thorns and also eternal life as thereโs no beginning or end. There is a lot of symbolism in a simple Easter bread.
What Types of Bread are Served on Easter?
So many nationalities have their own version of Easter bread. Here are some of them: Babka (Poland and other Central and Eastern European Countries), Zozukak (Bulgaria), Pinea (Croatia), Pane de Pasqua (Italy), Kalich (Russia), Osterbrot (Germany), Pasca (Ukraine).
How to Make a Braided Easter Bread
So when I think of Easter, my thoughts travel back to those freshly baked rolls that we tore into before heading to bed. With full stomachs we excitedly headed upstairs, knowing there would still be leftovers for breakfast. When I learned that our Twelve Loaves theme for March was Holiday Breads, I wanted to make a rich egg bread, fill it with cream cheese, and make sure there was frosting. I broke open my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (affiliate link) and vacillated between brioche and challah until the challah won out.
- After mixing all the ingredients together in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, the dough has an initial 2 hour resting period.
- Then it can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or used immediately.
- Only half the dough is needed and itโs rolled into an 8 x 12-inch rectangle.
- Make the filling and spread down the middle 3 inches of the dough, leaving wide borders on each side.
- Cut slits along each side, each about 1 1/2-inches wide either at a slight angle or straight.
- Starting at one end fold one strip over the filling, then repeat on the other side, working back and forth from one end to the other until all the filling is covered.
- Let the dough rest again, then bake for a half-hour. This is one of those amazing Easter Recipes that is destined to become a tradition.
Cut strips on each side leaving the middle intact. Place filling down the center, then criss-cross the strips over the filling.
You May Also Like:
Look at what my very talented baker friends have created:
- Grammyโs Italian Easter Bread by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
- American Irish Soda Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days
- Greek Easter Bread by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
- Italian Pizza Rustica
- Plus my Braided Easter Bread
- More of my best Bread Recipes
Plaited Easter Bread with Cream Cheese Filling
Bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast (1 packet)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash:
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Icing:
- Powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla to make icing
Instructions
- Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter with the water in the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Mix in the flour and with a dough hook attachment, mix till flour is all incorporated.
- Cover the dough with a cloth and allow it to rest at room temperature for approximately 2 hours.
- The dough can be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (after that, freeze).
- When ready to bake, line the baking sheet with parchment and dust the dough with flour.
- Roll half of the dough into a rectangle 8 inches by approximately 12 inches. Return the other half of the dough to a covered container in the refrigerator for later use.
- Cut slits along both longer sides towards the middle at about 1 1/2 inch increments...leaving a strip of uncut dough about 3 inches wide, down the middle of the rectangle.
- See photo. I cut out and removed a little extra dough on both ends for easier braiding, but that's totally optional.
- Mix cream cheese, sugar, butter, and lemon juice till smooth. Spread down the middle of the dough, then plait (braid) the strips by crossing one over the other at a slight angle, to cover the filling.
- Cover with a dishcloth and let rest for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Add more time if your dough is cold.
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Brush loaf with egg wash.
- Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 30 minutes. Cool and ice as desired with a mixture of powdered sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla.
Notes
Yield: 1 loaf plus 1 pound bread dough for a second loaf.
Total time does not include proofing times.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 361Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 529mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 1gSugar: 24gProtein: 8g
My nutrition calculator took into account the other half of the bread dough that's not used. Therefore, the calories are higher than they should be.
71 Comments on “Plaited Easter Bread with Cream Cheese Filling”
WOW! I’m impressed, your bread making prowess is phenomenal! This really does sound and look like a very special treat for Easter, I can see why you would want a repeat performance. Very nice indeed.
I have never seen anything similar! It looks amazing and so appetising! Reminds me a bit of cheese strudel, but this bread contains much more cheese. Congratulations for the perfect, even result!
Liz,
your bread is the most beautiful, perfect bread I have ever seen. Just gorgeous! and a cream cheese filling and glaze?! OMG, you’re killing me. LOVE this!!! Definitely pinning this and def going to give this one a try. . I was wondering how you got the braiding so perfect. . thanks for the photo!!! I seriously love this!
So gorgeous, your braiding is perfect!
It’s like an Easter version of my favorite cheese danish! Looks amazing!!! And so beautiful too ๐ I love having such vivid memories of childhood…so fun to remember.
Oh Liz! This is AMAZING. I would eat a majority of it myself. I think I have to make this soon!
I posted my cinnamon kringle on the TwelveLoaves, and only then I saw you wanted something posted in March. You can take it out. Will read more carefully next time.
What a professional looking bread! I want a piece or three, right now!
This bread is soooo beautiful Liz!!! It looks so delicious too, I know Michael would love it! ๐
Wow, we always make sweet cheese filling pastries for Easter, and this is looking sooo beautiful. This pleating is new for me, will definitely have to make this, I love bread challenges:)
Yummy! Braided bread always looks so complicated – this looks super simple. Well done.
What a great bread and an awesome braiding job. The filling sends this one over the top.
I too have fond memories of Easter and dressing up and having dinner with family. Memories I will treasure for a lifetime. The braided Easter bread is perfect! Having any bread with a cream cheese filling sounds good in my book.
Simply beautiful Liz! What a great holiday breakfast bread.
Great tutorial, Liz! The only thing I can plait is my hair. Lol! Looks like fun!
This looks amazing. Thanks for sharing your memories of Easter growing up also!
Yikes…the recipe disappeared when I reloaded my linky code. Thanks, Paula, for letting me know!!! I’ve added it back ๐
When your mom is a baker, you always have great childhood memories. I need to try one of this 5 minute recipes. And if they have a challah so much better. Pleating is was a wonderful idea Liz! And I adore cream cheese filling! But hon, where is the recipe for this gorgeous bread?
A beautiful Easter bread, Liz!!! Thanks for sharing the how-to photo! Have a great weekend!
I couldn’t wait to get a closer look at your plaited bread…so pretty, Lizzy. It is gorgeous for Easter morning. The cream cheese filling just takes it over the top:)Thank you for baking again with the group. xx