• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
  • Browse Categories
  • Work With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Give Recipe logo

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Browse Categories
  • Turkish
  • Desserts
  • About
  • Start Here
×

Home » Breads » Turkish Paskalya Corek

Published: Mar 16, 2014 · Modified: Oct 2, 2019 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Turkish Paskalya Corek

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

You might be puzzled with the title and wonder whether Turkish people celebrate Easter. Well, we don’t. You already know it’s not an official holiday celebrated in Turkey as a high percentage of its population consists of muslims. So how come we have a bread with that special name? It has a secret ingredient that makes it Turkish Easter Bread aka Paskalya Corek.

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab

We most probably learnt Easter bread thanks to the large Christian community that used to live on this land years ago. We’ve exchanged several recipes for years and this Turkish Easter bread, also known as paskalya corek or çörek is one of those recipes that could survive. We call it paskalya coregi and you can easily find it at almost all bakeries or pastry shops at any time. There is still a small Christian community in the country and they celebrate Easter for sure, but you don’t have to wait for Easter to enjoy this pillowy bread in Turkey.

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab

The secret ingredient in this bread is mahlab, which is an aromatic spice and made from the seeds of a particular sour cherry. It is also called mahaleb or mahlep. We use this special spice in small amounts in sweet or savory baked pastries to give them a nice nutty flavor, which I think is slightly similar to cinnamon as well. A typical savory pastry in which we use mahlab is these Sesame Ring Cookies, which are mostly baked to celebrate Kandil, which is the name used for five Islamic holy nights.

I guess Italian Easter Bread is the most common one among all easter breads around the world since I saw it numerous times on the web. This bread is as fluffy as a typical Italian Easter Bread, with that special flavor addition.

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab

Besides mahlab, I added a little orange zest to give it a fresher flavor. We loved the combination of these flavors so much that 2 loaves were gone in no time! I made these overnight and it was really so hard to wait until next day for the shooting process.

Turkish Paskalya corek is mostly topped with hazelnuts, so I topped three of them with raw hazelnuts. I roughly chopped raw hazelnuts for topping, you can chop them finer or just ground them if you like.

I saw on the web that Italian Easter bread is topped with colorful sprinkles too, I do love to use these sweet beads in baking, so I topped the other three loaves with these. I brushed the loaves with a sweet water after they are baked and cooled and then toss sprinkles on each. On the other hand, you can use hazelnut pieces right before you put the loaves in oven.

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab

As for the shape, paskalya corek is made in small long braids, so I had 6 braided bread loaves in total. You can definitely make 2 big braids too if you want things to finish quicker.

This slightly sweet pillow soft easter bread will definitely be a winner at your holiday table and I’m afraid your guests will fill their stomach just with it. I promise it’s as good as our classic homemade dinner roll recipe.

If you are looking for a quick bread recipe without yeast, go check out our No Yeast Bread Rolls!

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab

As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

Sign up for the FREE GiveRecipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox! And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.

Print

Turkish Paskalya Corek

Easter bread | giverecipe.com | €aster #bread #baking #turkish #mahlab
Print Recipe

Cotton soft easter bread with mahlab and orange zest.

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 17 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 2 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 and ½ teaspoon instant yeast
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp mahlab
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp orange zest
  • 1 and ¼ cup lukewarm milk
  • ⅓ cup butter (100g)
  • 4 and ¾ cups all purpose flour
  • Egg wash:
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • Sweet glaze:
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Topping:
  • Chopped hazelnuts
  • Colorful sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Heat milk and butter in a pot until butter melts. Wait it until it reaches room temperature.
  2. Mix yeast, sugar, mahlab and beaten eggs in a large bowl.
  3. Add in salt, orange zest and butter-milk mixture. Mix well.
  4. Beat in flour, one cup each time until a soft dough forms.
  5. Knead a few minutes until it doesn’t stick to your fingers. Dust the counter with little flour if needed.
  6. Transfer the dough into a slightly buttered large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or wet kitchen towel. Let it rise for 1 hour.
  7. Line two oven pans with parchment paper. You will place 3 loaves on each.
  8. Divide the dough in half and then divide eash half into 3 equal balls.
  9. Divide each ball into three and shape each ball into about 25-30cm long rope.
  10. Pinch the ends of the ropes, transfer them on a baking sheet and braid them together.
  11. Repeat the same until you finish all the balls.
  12. Cover the dough loaves with parchment paper and a large table cloth over it to prevent air in it.
  13. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
  14. Meanwhile heat oven to 190C.
  15. Whish one egg with 1 tablespoon milk and brush each loaf with it right before baking.
  16. Top three of them with chopped nuts and leave them the rest plain for a later glaze.
  17. Bake for 17 minutes or until golden.
  18. Leave to cool completely.
  19. Mix sugar and warm water and brush the other three with this sweet water.
  20. Top with sprinkles without waiting.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 624
  • Sugar: 20.6 g
  • Sodium: 450.9 mg
  • Fat: 18.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 97.9 g
  • Protein: 16.6 g
  • Cholesterol: 125.2 mg

Keywords: paskalya coregi

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @give_recipe on Instagram and hashtag it #giverecipe

« Oven Roasted Corn Kernels
Triple Chocolate Muffins »

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. what what! says

    April 06, 2020 at 2:50 am

    Turks don't celebrate Easter......

    Reply
  2. Stamatia says

    March 17, 2014 at 4:13 am

    Hi Zerrin, this is what we Greek call "tsoureki", the bread we eat for Easter (Paska). We sprinkle it with sesame seeds or almond slivers, and tuck red-dyed hard boiled eggs into it before we bake it. Peter Minaki has some good posts about tsoureki and the traditions around it. 🙂

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Zerrin & Yusuf

Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

More about us→

POPULAR

  • Traditional Turkish Breakfast Foods
  • Air Fryer Chicken Wings Baking Powder
  • Baking Powder Chicken Wings Baked In The Oven
  • Adana Kebab (Turkish Ground Lamb Kebab)
  • Healthy Greek Yogurt Coleslaw with Low Fat Dressing
  • Turkish Chicken Kebab Recipe (Tavuk Şiş)

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

All content, recipes and photographs are copyrighted and the property of Give Recipe. They may not be republished in part or whole without proper credit and permission.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 GIVE RECIPE

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Privacy PolicyACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT