Paska Bread Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Paska Bread Recipe
  • READY IN 6+ hrs

Paska Bread

Read Reviews (38)

"This traditional Polish egg bread is wonderfully light with a slightly sweet flavor." —  

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Original recipe makes 3 round loaves Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl until slightly frothy.
  2. In the meantime, dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in the warm milk; allow to cool to lukewarm. Once cooled, add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture along with 4 cups of flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Cover and put in a dark, warm place until the mixture is bubbly and doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  3. Stir in the beaten eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup butter, salt, and lemon peel. Stir well to blend. Begin adding the remaining flour a cup at a time to form a very soft dough.
  4. Knead the dough on a floured board until soft and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch dough down, and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.
  5. Divide dough into three parts (see Cook's Note). Shape into slightly rounded loaves, and place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water; brush onto loaves.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  7. Bake in preheated oven until loaves are deep brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Once they are done, brush the tops with melted butter for a soft crust.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 30 mins
  • COOK 50 mins
  • READY IN 6 hrs 40 mins

Footnotes

  • Cook's Note:
  • This recipe can be shaped into 3 large loaves or 6 small ones. (Check small loaves at about 30 minutes during baking.) You may use orange peel in place of the lemon zest, if you prefer.
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Nov 06, 2003

Of all the Paska recipies I have tried this one has turned out the best quality bread. The quanity made it a little difficult to work with my kitchenaid mixer, but that was minor compared to the quality. I would recommend this to anyone. Just make 2/3 of recipe to manage better.

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Apr 18, 2006

The bread looked beautiful, but just did not have any flavor, sorry.

— 

43 Ratings

Nov 06, 2003

EXCELLENT FLAVOR. WILL ADD DRIED FRUIT NEXT TIME TO HALF OF IT. MADE THREE MASSIVE LOAVES. MOIST. WONDERFUL

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Nov 06, 2003

This recipe is wonderful & true to its origin. It was just as I had remembered my Great Aunt making . Thank you for sharing such a treasure .

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Mar 22, 2011

This is the recipe that my Slovak Grandmother made every Easter. We used to make 4 types of breads, rolls, and desserts from the basic recipe. First we'd make standard bread using loaf pans. Then we'd make poppyseed and nut rolls by rolling the dough out into a square sheet of dough about 1/2" thick and covering it with canned poppyseed or nut fillings. We'd drizzle a little honey on top of the filling then roll it up starting at one edge and sealing it with a little bit of water when we came to the other edge. Finally we'd roll the dough out between our hands to make a "rope" about 3/4" in diameter. This would be cut into 3/4" pieces and then baked for 20 to 30 minutes until lightly browned to make Babalki(bobalky, bobalki, babalky). The Babalki would be served by coating them with a mixture of warmed honey and canned poppyseed filling just before serving as a dessert.

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Aug 13, 2004

I read in one of the reviews not to use the mixer, so instead I divided the dough in half thinking that would solve the problem. It burned out the motor (425 watts) of my heavy duty kitchenaid. At a $175 repair bill this was the most expensive easter bread I have ever made! That said, it was tasty, but Don't Use a Mixer!

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Jul 02, 2010

WOW!! Very good recipe! I'll use this frequently. I used 1/4 c. less sugar, 2 c. ff 1/2 & 1/2 and 1 c. ff milk, 3 cups WWW flour and butter instead of margarine. I upped the salt to 3/4 tsp because I used unsalted butter, no lemon zest and no egg wash, but I did rub with butter when it came out of the oven. This recipe made 1 large loaf of bread, 8 hot dog buns, 6 large burger buns and a 9 x 13 pan of cinnamon rolls. Its very tender, slightly sweet. Get out your BIG bowls, it's ALOT of dough. Handles nicely. Beautiful! Thanks for a great recipe.

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Feb 11, 2007

I followed "meisert's" advice and reduced the recipe by 2/3. I used less flour than called for, stopping at a soft dough, and putting the loaves in round pans (dutch oven, souffle dish)I would add more lemon zest. It's wonderful toasted with honey!

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 600 kcal
  • 30%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 98.3 g
  • 32%
  • Cholesterol
  • 116 mg
  • 39%
  • Fat
  • 15.4 g
  • 24%
  • Fiber
  • 3.2 g
  • 13%
  • Protein
  • 15.7 g
  • 31%
  • Sodium
  • 161 mg
  • 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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