Easter Bread Machine Paska Recipe with Icing

This classic Easter recipe is shared and loved by many Russians and Ukrainians. Paska is a delicious, aromatic, soft, and sweet bread that tastes amazing as is or acts as the perfect base for other recipes like French Toast.

Holiday food is special. It tastes divine. Every dish on the table is tempting.  As l have a strong Eastern European heritage, l make sure l pull out all the stops when it comes to Easter food.

Our Easter dinner table is always full of delicious foods, but it is never complete without Paska bread. After all, this is our celebration bread. While this bread is sweet, it still has a taste and texture closer to bread than a cake since it requires yeast and time to rise.

Sweet egg bread is part of nearly every European country’s celebratory menu, especially around Easter. The loaves are typically served at a light supper on Easter Sunday.

Paski is the perfect bread to serve during the holidays. This traditional easter bread pairs well with everything. It is delicious all by itself. And it comes into existence with some effort. 

Don’t let that steer you away though, because this Easter bread is well worth the time, I promise. This round-shaped, raisin-filled sweet bread is melt-in-your-mouth yummy. Using the bread machine makes this a fairly easy recipe. 

Many traditional recipes for Paska, and Ukrainians usually use coffee cans or other smaller-sized cans for baking Paskas.

When this dessert bread is made properly, it will be buttery and soft, light and fluffy, but still somewhat moist.

Best Ingredients for the bread

1 ¼ cups milk: The milk gives the Easter bread a soft crust and a rich texture.

2 Tbsp sour cream: This adds moisture to the bread

2 large eggs: Free range is best. The eggs bind the ingredients together and give a little color to the bread. That’s why Paska is also called egg bread. 

100g unsalted butter, melted (1 stick): If you can, use European butter. It has higher butterfat content which increases the butter flavor in the bread. This sweet bread is made with lots of butter, which keeps the bread from going hard and stale for more than a week

¼ cup sugar: Use white sugar or berry sugar. Sweetens the bread and feeds the yeast to help the dough grow.

½ Tbsp oil: You can use any oil other than olive oil

1 Tbsp active dry yeast: Starting with yeast that is old or inactive will not produce the needed rise for light and fluffy Paska.

1 pinch of vanilla: Use real vanilla if possible for flavor 

4 cups of flour: Try using Canadian all-purpose flour. Canadian flour is my go-to for so many recipes. When it comes to bread specifically, Canadian flour rises and produces a larger and more expansive dough. It’s also very high in gluten.

A handful of golden raisins: These add a little sweetness to the bread. The raisins are optional though. If your family are not big fans, don’t include them, you can also use the black raisins instead of golden raisins.

Key ingredients for the frosting

• 3 egg whites
• 1 ½ cups of icing sugar
• Sprinkles

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below in the recipe card.

Expert Tips

• Use a bread machine, if you have one. It’ll help cut the time and form the perfect dough.
• Soak your raisins a week or more in advance if possible since this gives them a softer, fluffier texture.
• If you don’t have an Easter bread mold (I didn’t), you can line oven-safe pots with parchment paper as I did.
• For best result, add your raisins after the dough is formed.
• When your dough is ready to be placed into the pans, spray your hands with oil. The sticky dough doesn’t stick to your hands, making it easy to handle.
• Keep an eye on the top of the Paska so it doesn’t burn. If it starts to burn, you can cover it with foil to protect it. Use a wooden skewer to test that the Paska is cooked on the inside.
• Wait until your bread is completely cool to pour on your icing. Otherwise, the icing will melt off and be quite transparent. You won’t get that pretty finish.

Equipment

Bread machine: Use a bread machine that has the “dough” feature. (most of the machines have it)

Easter bread molds: Bread molds can be bought online or at local kitchen stores. If you don’t have some, use parchment paper or just small 3qt pans.

How To Store Leftover Paska Bread 

• Keep paska bread in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also use a tight zip-lock bag.
• You can use the leftover bread in French toast or a bread pudding.
• Can you freeze Paska? Yes! To keep it for longer, wrap the cooled paska bread in a tight coat of plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil. Then store in a freezer-safe bag for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight.

Other delicious Easter recipes you’ll love:

• As another spring dessert I like to make the Bird’s Milk Cake, which is well worth day time.
• Lamb chops Stew is also a hit during this time at the dinner table along with classic deviled eggs combined with mayonnaise and garlic.

Other Tasty Bread Recipes

If you tried this Easter Bread Machine Paska Recipe with Icing or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you enjoyed it in the📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!