Sicilian Easter Bread Baskets (Pane di Pasqua)
These Sicilian Easter Bread Baskets were a special treat lovingly made by my great grandmother. She sailed to America in 1914 at 14 years of age. Her name was recorded as Apollonia from Sicily; the first matriarch of our Italian-American family, in America she was called Maria. We just called her Nonna Mary for short. Nonna Mary always made these Easter Bread Baskets as a treat for each of her great grandchildren. I loved going to her house on Easter morning and getting my bread basket, it’s a great memory!
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From the Old Country – A Story
This is her story. In the beginning of the 20th Century, at the age of 14, my Nonna Mary escaped crushing poverty from her home in Giarre, Catania, Sicily. She arrived with her family on a boat named Canopic to Boston, Massachusetts to start a new life. However, she never fully let go of her Sicilian roots, she spoke English haltingly as a second language, and was a strong, opinionated woman who passionately loved her family. She eloped with my great grandfather Domenick followed by a church wedding in 1921. I never knew my great grandfather as he passed away young, however, the oral family history says that Domenick was a hard-loving man who took no grief from anyone. He was a hard-working, well-respected (maybe even feared) man in the Italian-American community where they lived. He started and operated his own business, D. Mangano and Sons Plumbing & Heating.
Family Oral History Memories Passed
My parents have shared their own special memories of my great grandparents. My father remembers Domenick as a doting grandfather. He told me that his funeral procession included four cars filled with flowers following the hearse to the cemetery. My mother shared that my Nonna Mary was passionate about vanilla sugar for baking (which could not be bought in America at the time). So, on one trip back to Sicily, she bought and hid vanilla sugar packets in her bra to smuggle them safely back to America! She crooned over her baked goods made with that precious vanilla sugar and mourned when it was all gone. Now that’s extraordinary passion.
A Special Sicilian Easter Bread Basket Recipe
This Easter Bread Basket recipe shared here is a recreation of her recipe and passion. She made a dozen or more of these every Easter and gave them to each of her great grandchildren. How I loved to get my Easter Basket on Easter Sunday and then bring it home. I stored it in the refrigerator and nibbled away at it all week until there was only the egg left. Then I would crack open the egg and eat that, too.
The dough for this basket is a yeast-risen, dense, enriched dough made with egg, milk, sugar. Yeast gives the final product a risen, smooth appearance. The denseness gives the dough the strength it needs to hold the basket together so it does not break when handled. The resulting bread is really a cross between a cookie and a bread. My favorite flavor combination is vanilla extract and a touch of anise. It’s a flavor reminiscent of black licorice and is popularly used in Italian sweets. If you don’t like anise just substitute almond extract. The dough is the same as the dough used to make this recipe – Italian “S” Cookies Biscotti.
Is this Recipe Very Difficult?
This recipe is not difficult but it does take time and patience. The dough is heavy and dense so can take a bit of time to rise. Also, the process for assembling the baskets, once again, is not difficult, but is written in detail below with process photos for ease. So, follow the recipe and instructions carefully, and you will be rewarded with these beautiful Sicilian Easter Bread Basket treats!
I used a white shelled, dyed Easter egg in the center of the basket. A raw egg in it’s shell is fine because it will bake to hard-boiled consistency in the oven. You could skip this step as it’s not necessary to color the egg but it does add a lot to the overall presentation. If you want to color the egg with food dye as I did (multi color tie-dyed), find the process at this link. Store finished and baked baskets in the refrigerator for food safety (since it has a hard cooked egg in it).
Sharing is Caring
Just as my Sicilian great grandmother Nonna Mary used to do, I encourage you to share these fantastic Sicilian Easter Bread Baskets with those who are special to you. Possibly, it will become a tradition in your family, too. Then, in 50 years, your great grandchild will be reminiscing about it and sharing the tradition for the next generation!
Happy baking, my dear friend. Bake One Share One – Great Bread for All.
Easter Egg Bread Baskets
Equipment
- Digital Metric Scale
- Electric Mixer with Dough Hook and Whisk
- Baking Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Bench Scraper (or knife)
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Basket Bread Dough
- 80 ml Milk warmed to 100°F / 37°C (1/3 cup)
- 3 tsp Instant or Active Dry Yeast
- 2 ea Eggs
- 135 g Sugar 2/3 cup
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Anise or Almond Flavor Extract
- 75 g Butter melted (1/3 cup)
- 200 g All Purpose Flour 1 ⅔ cup
- 200 g Bread Flour 1 ⅔ cup
Decorating
- 1 ea Colorful Easter Egg (see not #1 below)
- 1 ea Egg
- 1 T Milk
- 2 T Nonpareils colorful sprinkles
Instructions
Scaling Ingredients
- Measure all ingredients using a digital kitchen scale.
Mixing
- Mix together warm milk (100°-110°F), a pinch of sugar, and dry yeast until yeast is dissolved, set aside for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and anise (if using). Mix with whisk attachment on medium high for 30 seconds.
- Add 1/2 cup of flour and yeast/milk mixture. Mix with whisk attachment on medium high for 30 seconds.
- Add melted butter and 1/2 cup of flour and mix again on medium high for 30 seconds. Switch to dough hook.
- Add remaining flour and mix with dough hook on level 1 for 2 minutes until coarse dough is formed. Switch to level 2 and mix for 4-5 more minutes.
- Dough is done mixing when it is smooth, pulls from the sides, but sticks to the bottom.
Bulk Fermentation
- Remove dough from mixer and knead into a smooth ball. Place ball in to a bowl sprayed with oil to prevent sticking. Cover. Allow dough to relax for 2 hours in a warm location. Hint: This dough will only rise a little bit during these two hours, that's okay, don't expect it to double like yeast-risen breads.
Folding
- Dump dough out on to a flat work surface.
Dividing
- Cut dough into 4 equal pieces. Then cut two of those four pieces in half. Then cut remaining two pieces into thirds. You should end up with four triangular shaped pieces (top and bottom of basket) and six 3″ long pieces (to braid the baskets’ handles). See photo.
Pre-Shaping
- For the bottom of the baskets, using a rolling pin, flatten four of the triangle pieces of dough into a 6″ (15 cm) long “D” shape. See photo.
- For the braided handles of the baskets, roll each of the six pieces into 12″ (30 cm) long ropes. Take three of those ropes and braid them. Set aside. Repeat with the remaining three ropes. Set aside.
Makeup and Panning
- Prepare a half sheet pan (large cookie sheet) with parchment paper.
- On the parchment paper, lay down one "D" shaped piece of dough, place a decorated egg in the center of the flat shape of the "D." Using a little water, connect the end of the rope to the left and right of the decorated egg.
- Wet the dough around the egg and lay a second "D" shaped piece of dough over the egg (leaving the top exposed). Gently press the top and bottom together. Crimp the edges around the bottom of the basket. Repeat to assemble the second basket.
Proofing
- Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30-45 minutes until dough is puffy.
Baking
- Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C
- Mix together 1 egg with 1 T of milk to make an egg wash then coat each basket with it. Sprinkle bottom of the basket with the colorful nonpareils.
- Bake baskets for 13-15 minutes until browned on top and on bottom.
Cooling
- Remove baskets to a cooling rack. Cool for 15 minutes. Serve.
Storing
- IMPORTANT! Store these in the refrigerator for food safety due to the egg.
Notes
2. Follow the process pictures, they are really helpful in the assembly of this basket.
3. This is a heavy dough. I recommend some proofing times above but use your best judgement. The dough may not rise much during the first proof but make sure you allow it to rise until puffy after assembly of the baskets and before baking.
3. Store baked baskets in the refrigerator to keep the egg fresh and edible. If they are stored at room temperature for more than two hours do not eat the egg but the basket will be fine.
Oh these are amazing! Perfect flavor and texture and turns out incredible – not to mention they’re beautiful!
Katie – I appreciate the comments, enjoy my family’s Pane di Pascual!
I enjoyed reading about your family. These bread baskets are precious and would be perfect for Easter.
Thanks, Gina! It was a fun blog to write and share. Happy Easter!
thanks for sharing your grandmothers history and story with us. That Sicilian Easter Bread Basket looks super cute!
Thank you for visiting and reading the post, Nancy!
This recipe looks amazing! So cool with the egg tucked in. My kids will love this! I will give it a go for Easter. Thanks!
Great, Camilla! Enjoy baking these, they are truly a fun project, especially with kiddos!
Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Jeff – You’re welcome, happy baking!
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.my family loved it.will be sharing this recipe with my friends.they will like it.
Great, Ashok! I am so happy you and your family enjoyed the bread.
WOW these are beautiful !! so professional looking.
Awww, thanks, Nancy!
This is so fun! Great recipe
Thanks, Maria. It’s a family favorite for many years. I am happy to share it!
What a fantastic family memory and recipe. It is so wonderful when we have those loving memories in our hearts. Thank you for sharing and on my list to make it.
Hi Giangi, I agree, loving memories are indeed wonderful. Have fun baking these Easter treats!
thanks for sharing a little story about how your grandmom used to make it and the recipe pass over to generations. Such a sweet bond if memories and the bread looks reall good and tasty.
Thank you, Jeannie, I am glad you appreciated the family story behind this recipe!
What a great post!!!! I loved that you told your grandmother’s story.
Being Italian I know the tradition of the Easter Bread Basket.
And your recipe explaining all the steps step by step makes it simple to make. Thanks for sharing posts like this
Hi Fabiana – Thank you for the beautiful comments, this was a fun post to write and share!
You are right: my memories of baking with mom are among the best of my childhood. This is why I love to involve my child in baking for their future memories. Your egg baskets are on my Easter baking list!
Mihaela – I love that you are creating baking memories with your child. Enjoy baking the baskets together!
This is so fun! I absolutely love it. I also enjoyed reading about the history of this recipe in your family. It is so comforting to have recipes passed down through the generations.
Hello Leah – Thanks for reading this story of my family. I definitely believe recipes have more meaning when you know the history and they are worth preserving for more generations to come!
That Easter bread is so beautiful! The design is unique, and I’m sure the taste is fantastic. 🙂
Thank you so much, Alyssa! The taste is quite good. 🙂
What a special recipe. I loved reading about your family history.
Hello Marita – Thanks for visiting and enjoying the stories!
What a fun idea! 🤩
Thank you and thanks for visiting, Casey!
These are adorable!!!!!!
Thank you so much, Amy!
These baskets are simply incredible. What an amazing story and family history! Simply inspiring, thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Sue. I am grateful you enjoyed this personally sentimental post.
I love the story as much as I love this recipe! I can’t wait to give these baskets a try for Easter, let’s see if they will look even close to as amazing as yours!
Thank you, Emily! This was a fun post to write and the baskets are sentimental. Have fun making them for your special peoples!
Wow Christina! What a beautifully written tribute to your great grandmother. You are lucky to know your family history as well as have this wonderful recipe passed down. I love the Easter bread basket. Thank you for sharing. ❤️
Hi Laurie! I am so thankful to have this family history and recipes to share. Thanks for visiting!
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