UPDATE MARCH 24, 2016: I’ve shared a new, improved Gluten Free Easter Bread recipe. Please click over and check it out!
At this time of year, we start to think about spring (goodness knows we can’t feel it here yet, only think about it. Ha!), and with spring comes Easter. In our family, my Mom & Grandma have always treated us with Easter bread, or Paska. This year, the challenge was to make myself some gluten-free Easter Bread or Paska. After playing around with a few recipes, I’ve finally got it to where I’m pretty pleased with the results. The smell when this bread is rising is AMAZING! And when baked & topped with some vanilla icing, they are perfect!
Gluten-Free Easter Bread (Paska)
The smell when this sweet, citrusy bread is rising is AMAZING! And when baked & topped with some vanilla icing, they are perfect!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast
- 1 1/3 cup white rice flour
- 2/3 cup sweet rice flour
- 1 cup tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons unflavoured gelatin
- 1 tablespoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 cup warm heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- zest & juice of 1/2 navel orange
Instructions
Combine warm water, sugar & yeast. Set aside until bubbly (proofing your yeast).
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients and mix until evenly distributed.
In a medium size bowl, combine all wet ingredients, including zest & juice of lemon & orange.
Slowly add the wet ingredients, and the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients, and beat for 2 minutes. Add more water if it is too dry. The dough should be very soft and sticky.
Place dough in greased pan. This recipe bakes one loaf, or you can make 12 buns, using muffin tins as a mold. Smooth tops with a wet spatula or greased hands.
Let rise in warm place for 30-40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes (25-30 for buns). Cover tops of loaf/buns with foil after 10 minutes, to prevent the tops from browning too much.
Once cooled, frost with your favorite vanilla frosting (shh...mine was store-bought).
Sophie says
This I will definitely be making soon! Very cool that you were able to make this gf! I’m loving the frosting, too :).
betty r says
Wow Jeanine..you and Julie (from our blog) both posted gluten free paska today!
You paska looks yummy!
Iris says
Wow. I thought this was something we’d have to do without from now on, but once again, you’ve come to the rescue! I’ll make this soon and round out our Easter celebration with it.
Dragon says
This looks so delicious and pretty!
from my motorhome to yours says
these look yummy
Anonymous says
Hi, my daughter made this recipe yesterday and it turned out fabulous! The flavor is very good. We made it in two 8 inch cake pans instead and topped them with a mixture of sugar, rum and slivered almonds. It remided us of the recipe for Easter Braid that we used to make before going gluten free. Thank you for posting this recipe. Claire
hope4today says
Hi!
Decided to try this replacement for my family's Easter traditio. Alas I did not read the instruction to cover the buns.Took them out when they got brown at 25 min. and they collapsed.
Still taste GREAT and slathered in icing…no one but me will know!
Thanks again for a great recipe!
Maria says
Hi! I am looking for a Grain free/ yeast free Kulich type recipe. (Specific Carbohydrate Diet)
(Coconut flour or Almond flour)
If you hear of any… let me know!
Jeanine - The Baking Beauties says
@hope4today, Yes, the buns do brown quickly. Hope everyone still enjoyed them! Anything slathered in frosting tastes great. 🙂
Jeanine - The Baking Beauties says
@Maria, Sorry, Maria, I haven't seen a recipe like that. I'll keep my eyes open though!
Anonymous says
Used coconut milk (boxed, not the thick canned stuff) to make it dairy free for my daughter. Even with cooking it at 375 (I read wrong) and a hour mine all came out white as, well a nice clean white.
Thank you for posting this! My sister and nephew have the same allergies so this is our Pascha dessert this year…
Moosie says
Yeah thanks so much for posting this. Do you think that I’ll be able to braid this around the Easter eggs? Should I just try and make this without the whole Easter egg? Thanks
Jeanine says
Hi Moosie,
I don’t think this would be braidable, unfortunately. GF dough is so sticky, it works so different from regular dough. I am working on another version of paska though, so be sure to check back! 🙂
laura says
hello, i truly hope you see this before Easter! i am a GF baking novice but would love to try this bread. since i really know nothing about gf baking yet, i’m wondering what the best way to store it is. if i bake it on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, how should i store it for serving on Sunday to preserve optimum freshness? thanks!
Jeanine says
Hi Laura!
Gluten-free baking is best fresh. I would bake these on Saturday, store them in an air-tight container once they have cooled. And before serving, I would probably even microwave them a bit to warm them up. Gluten free baking tends to get harder when it is cool, or day old, so this helps to make them feel fresh again.
Vivi says
Thinking to make this for next Easter (Paskah = Easter). I will add raisin and mix fruit and sneak in a roll of amandel as in traditional dutch way.
Jeanine says
Sounds great, Vivi! Many add raisins & dried fruit, but what is amandel? I don’t think I’ve heard of that before.
Vivi says
Hi jeanine, i did a trielrun with your paska bread and it is yummy !!!!! thank you. This is a great bread recipe. Thank you so much !!!!!
Amandel is almond paste roll that is regularly out in kerstkrans/banketstaaf.
I did this run with my last batch of regular yeast. I, however just bough a big package if quick yeast (to make your cinammon rolls). How to modify the recipe so that I can use the instant yeast instead of the regular yeast?
Jeanine Friesen says
Hi Vivi, to use the instant yeast, you can actually still follow the directions as written, it won’t harm the yeast in any way.
Carol says
Can I add fruit and raisins then blob it in a pan like hot cross buns? How much fruit should be used so it has several goodies per piece, but doesn’t become a fruitcake? What size pan should I use?
Heidi @ OneCreativeMommy says
Just found your site from the Frugal Girls, and I’m excited to browse your GF recipes. These looks really yummy. Are they similar to orange rolls?
Jeanine says
Hi Heidi, welcome here! 🙂 Actually, these are more like a citrusy flavoured bun, but THESE are like orange rolls – my favourite! –> http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2012/04/gluten-free-paska-rolls-aka-sunshine-rolls.html
Heidi @ OneCreativeMommy says
Thanks, Jeanine. I just checked out the other rolls, and I may just give them a try Sunday. Thanks!
Jeanine Friesen says
Interesting, Beth. Where I live it’s a bread, but no cheese involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paska_%28bread%29
Audrey @ Unconventional Baker says
Wow, these bring back total childhood memories, Jeanine. I used to impatiently wait to be permitted to lick off the frosting and sprinkles from mine 🙂 Haven’t seen those around in ages!
I have a question for you — I noticed you use gelatin in your breads. I imagine it adds moisture, elasticity, etc. but do you mind explaining what benefits you find in using it? Just curious.
Jeanine says
That’s how I’d eat them too, Audrey! That’s why I preferred buns over bread – better icing to bun ratio. 😉 A lot of my older recipes use gelatin, because I was learning from others (like Bette Hagman). Now, I mostly add dry milk powder to put the protein in the dough, and seldom use gelatin. 🙂
Audrey @ Unconventional Baker says
Hehe — totally agree on the frosting to bread ratio 😉
Thanks for explaining!
Natalie says
I am interested in knowing the reason for the gelatin as well. We have made paska for years and no gelatin in the recipe… so wondering if this is just an ingredient for gf recipes?
Jeanine Friesen says
Natalie, this is an OLD recipe, and I have included a link to the updated recipe up top. You can find it here –> https://www.faithfullyglutenfree.com/gluten-free-easter-bread/
Laurie says
Have you substituted coconut creme instead of heavy whipping cream? I am dairy free. I read the comments above, but the gal didn’t follow your recipe, so I can’t tell if the substitute works.
Oksana says
I am making this recipe right now and so far it looks amazing and the dough tastes wonderful. I added a little bit of raisins and a tiny bit more water because the orange I used was not so big and so there was not much juice but overall I cannot wait to pop this into an pven and see the final product. Thank you so much for this recipe, I am so glad I found this web site!
Alice Gallatin says
I’m wondering if you could use a cup for cup flour blend? Would I just add the total flours? I’ve been GF now for about 20 years and used the different flours in the beginning. Now there are so many good blends, I’ve switched to that for convenience and storage sake. I miss Pascha Bread and Cheeze Pascha soooo much when everyone around me is eating theirs, so I decided to make my own GF loaf and DF cheese to share this year. This recipe looks relatively easy so thank you.
Gayle says
This light, citrus infused, slightly sweet bread has been a favorite of mine for several Easters. It is so easy to prepare and it freezes well (without the frosting). I usually end up baking several batches so I can enjoy them during spring and into summer. I like to eat them without frosting or with a light lemon glaze. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!