Osterbrot, also known as Osterfladen in the South of Germany is a traditional German Easter bread made of yeast dough. The delicious bread is eaten during the Easter holidays for breakfast or as a dessert. It is a soft, fluffy and very tasty and has a filling of raisins and other dried fruit.
The active working time for this yeast dough cake is just 20 to 30 minutes. The perfect treat if you are in need for a last minute Easter bread that is also very decorative on your Easter table.
If you are looking for a traditional German Easter dish check out this recipe for Senfeier, the perfect dish for Maundy Thursday.
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The German word for Easter bread is Osterbrot.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this delicious Osterbrot are simple and you can adjust them to your taste. Scroll down to check out some variations.
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. yeast
- 1 ½ cups milk, lukewarm
- 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 7 tbsp. butter, soft
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
- 12-14 raisins
- 2 tbsp. hot water
See recipe card for quantities.
History
Easter bread belongs to every breakfast and coffee hour in Germany during the Easter season. Records show that Osterfladen, sometimes also called Osterfleck, is the oldest known Easter pastry.
Baked with dried fruit and nuts, the loaves were baked as early as the Middle Ages. In many Catholic parishes, Easter bread is one of the gifts blessed in front of the altar during Easter services.
Variations
Try these variations you might like them.
- Dried fruit - traditionally the recipe calls for raisins, candied lemon and candied orange peel. I used raisins and dried apricots in my video tutorial. Try your favorite dried fruit combinations or simply stick to raisins.
- Glaze - brush the baked bunnies with chocolate or orange glaze instead of lemon glaze.
- Chocolate chips - add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the dough during the kneading process.
- Nuts - add ½ cup of chopped nuts to the dough while incorporating the dried fruit or leave the dried fruit out.
Equipment
I like to knead the dough in a stand mixer as it is quite a large amount of dough. But this is just a personal choice, you can knead the dough by hand it just takes a little longer.
Storage
Leftovers can be wonderfully frozen. Simply cut the Easter bread into slices and freeze them. At room temperature, the slices are then quickly thawed if necessary. The thawed Easter bread is especially delicious if you warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds, then it tastes like freshly baked. You can also toast the defrosted bread for a short time, which also tastes very delicious.
Top Tip
Slice thin slices and spread with butter and your favorite jam or nut spread.
Serve with
Serve with the beverage of your choice or dip it in a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate.
Video Tutorial
Recipe
German Osterbrot - Osterfladen
Ingredients
Dough
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. yeast
- 1 ½ cups milk lukewarm
- 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 7 tbsp. butter soft
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
Filling
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup candied citrus peel or chopped dried apricots
- 4 tbsp. brown rum or hot water
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 4-5 tsp. lemon or orange juice
- 4 tbsp. almond slices
Instructions
- Add flour to a large bowl and form a well in the middle of the flour.
- Add yeast, a couple of tablespoons of sugar and ¼ cup lukewarm milk to the well. Stir mixture while incorporating a little bit of flour from the rim of the well.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or lid and allow to sit for about 20 minutes.
- Cover the well with some flour before you add the remaining ingredients.
- Knead on low for about 3-5 minutes and on medium-high for another 5-8 minutes until a smooth dough forms.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to raise for about 60-90 minutes.
- In the meantime, place raisins into a small bowl and cover with rum or hot water and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes, then drain then well.
- Finely chop candied citrus peel or apricots.
- Place the dough on a slightly floured working space and knead while incorporating the raisins and the candied citrus peel or dried apricots evenly into the dough.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal sized pieces.
- Shape each piece to a ball and place onto a slightly floured area.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
- Slash the bread four times in a cross pattern.
- Place on with parchment paper lined baking sheets. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to raise for about 15-30 minutes.
- Bake in a to 350 °F preheated oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.
- In the meantime, add lemon or orange juice to the powdered sugar to a thick glaze.
- Remove the bread from the oven, spread generously with the glaze and sprinkle with some sliced almonds.
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