Eastern European Easter Bread Recipes

This recipe for Slovak Easter bread or paska (PAH-skah) is made into round loaves decorated with religious symbols made of dough. it also makes paska peeps -- small, chick-shaped rolls.

Slovenian Easter bread dough is formed into individual balls similar in appearance to hot cross buns, except there are no eggs in the dough and no icing cross on the top. They are blessed on Holy Saturday in the zegen basket and eaten on Easter morning. Slovenians and Croatians also feature pinca or sirnica.

Ukrainian Easter bread or paska is also served by Slovaks at Easter time. It's similar to other slightly sweet yeast breads of its type mentioned here but this recipe doesn't contain fruit. This paska recipe shouldn't be confused with the Ukrainian molded cheese dessert known as paska, paskha or pasca or pascha in Russia, Lithuania, Poland and other Eastern European countries.

This paska bread recipe sports a yellow interior which represents the risen Christ, while the white dough represents the Holy Spirit. It is common among Slovaks, Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns.