Last Updated on April 8, 2020 by Britt Ervin
Choereg – Armenian Easter Bread is a sweet, egg-rich bread similar to challah. It’s a braided loaf that also has a twist of including Mahleb, and wonderful Middle Eastern spice. This homemade bread is not only delicious for Easter, but maybe you want to switch out the challah and try something new for your Shabbat meal!
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Spring means Easter and a sweet egg-rich bread would make the holiday complete.
Very similar to challah, but with a twist. This Armenian Easter bread recipe includes mahleb spice – also known as mahlab – for a lightly floral and sweet flavor.
Ingredients You Need to Make Choereg – Armenian Easter Bread
- warm milk
- sugar
- dry active yeast
- eggs
- melted butter
- vanilla extract
- ground mahleb (or mahlab)
- salt
- bread flour
- egg wash – an egg beaten with water
What is mahleb?
Mahleb, also sometimes spelled mahlab, is a spice used in Near Eastern and Middle Eastern cuisines. Greece, Turkey, Cypress, Iran, Armenia and beyond…
It is made from a local breed of cherries, and has a pleasantly sweet and slightly bitter taste. A bit of ground mahleb makes the Choereg have an extra special bit of flavor. Although it is not necessary to make this Armenian Easter Bread recipe, I highly recommend you try to include the spice if you can!
How To Make Choereg – Armenian Easter Bread
Do you ever multi task and then make mistakes? Well the first time I made this bread, I was chatting on the phone while making it and completely forgot to add the butter. Surprisingly, it still came out delicious.
Although it did start to dry out after just 1 day and tasted a tad yeasty, I still enjoyed it. When toasted, the dryness became moot. But I knew I had to update this post for you with the way it is supposed to be made,
So now here is the traditional version rich in butter and eggs and oh so delicious to add to the table for all of your celebrations!
Now this bread is an all day affair, with a 5 hour waiting time. But I promise you it is so worth the wait when you bite into the sweet, tender, rich bread!
Step #1 – Make the Choereg Dough
- In a shallow bowl combine the milk with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix and sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave the mixture to set and become frothy for about 5-10 minutes.
- Next, in the bowl of a standing mixer or with an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the butter, sugar, vanilla, and ground mahleb, and beat until creamed. Then add the salt and flour, and knead into a smooth, elastic dough. The Armenian Easter bread dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, and cover with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick spray. Then cover with a kitchen towel, and place the bowl in a warm, dry place for about 5 hours until the dough has doubled in size.
Step #2 – Shape the Armenian Easter Bread
Once the dough has doubled, tip it out of the bowl and onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
Roll each section into a long log. Then pinch and roll the three sections together at the top. Braid the pieces into a loaf as shown. Pinch the bottom sections together and gently tuck under the loaf.
Cover the loaf with another piece of plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray, and let rest and rise for one more hour.
Step #3 – Bake!
Brush the Choereg loaf with the egg wash, and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40-45 minutes.
This bread is so soft and tender, but with a nice golden crust.
It’s so easy to slice!
Serving and Storage Suggestions
Who can resist? Enjoy generous slices of homemade Choereg – Armenian Easter Bread plain, with butter or your favorite toppings.
Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also wrap in plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
A lot of people are doing a lot more bread baking than they normally do, so check out some of these other bread recipes to add to your table.
Bread Recipes
- Houska – Czech Sweet Bread
- No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
- Semolina Bread
- Chalka – Polish Crumble Easter Bread
- Spice & Herb French Bread
- Pita Bread
- Gubana – Italian Sweet Bread
- Walnut Wheat Bread
Choereg – Armenian Easter Bread
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, combine milk with the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix and sprinkle yeast on top.
- Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, until foamy.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs well until frothy.
- Add butter, sugar, vanilla and mahleb. Mix well until thoroughly combined. SEE NOTE
- Add salt and flour.
- Knead for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth, soft and elastic. Dough should be soft, but not sticky.
- Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non stick spray.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to dry in a warm place for about 5 hours, until doubled in volume.
- Divide dough into 3 equal portions, each weighing approximately 1 lb. 3 oz.
- Roll each portion into a long rope, about 17".
- Braid the 3 ropes into one long braid.
- Place diagonally on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non stick spray. SEE NOTE #2
- Cover and let dough rise again for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Brush loaf with egg wash.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crusty on top.
Notes
- Make sure melted butter is cool. If the butter is not, it may cause the eggs to scramble.
- Alternately, you can divide the dough in half and make 2 smaller loaves.
Nutrition
You can also have your breakfast Armenian style – with Choereg, honey, yogurt and a fresh white cheese (Mannouri in the photo below)
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I need to find mahleb and see what it tastes like. I haven't used it before and very interested especially since it is made from cherries.
If you have a Middle Eastern market where you live, they should have the mahleb
I have never heard of Mahleb. Your bread looks moist and delicious.
mahleb is available at Middle Eastern markets and it is also sold via Amazon. I am sure you will like it if you try it
What a beautiful loaf of bread….guess we don't need all that butter after all.
so great that I managed to make it without the fat…even if it was by accident. Easier to indulge in a low fat sweet bread
Another beautiful loaf! I have never heard of mahleb either, I'll look forward to hunting some down and trying it out!
it's on Amazon if you cant find it at a local store
Look at the soft crumb on your bread, Mireille! Who would ever know that it was supposed to have THAT much butter? Beautiful!
It just shows how much unnecessary butter we are using
How gorgeous, even without the butter. A beautiful bread indeed, Mireille! And let's hear it for the five hour rise! =)
yes – slower rises do yield more flavor
My 11-year-old Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf picked up some mahleb on one of our field trips to a spice store in the Bay Area. I had no idea what to do with it. Now I do! Thanks for sharing with #BreadBakers.
Look at Greek, Turkish and Cypriot recipes which use this spice a lot, as well as Armenian. I am sure you will find lots of ideas to use the mahleb
It will probably last longer without the butter anyway! So cool that you had that ingredient on hand!!
It does look moist… Added to my to-do list… thanx for sharing..
yes despite no butter it was very soft and light
Sometimes missed ingredients lead to great results!
yes – I love when accidents turn into something wonderful
Your bread came out beautifully! I envy the job on your braid! How long was each strand? Do you remember? The bread that I made also required braiding but the 20 inch strands were to long for my pan so I circled the braid. That worked too.
I think about 14 inches..maybe 16 max.
I also don't know about mahleb……I love the braid and your presentation……….
Now you have a good excuse to try and locate it…just to try this bread 😉
Gorgeous easter bread!
thanks so much
Butter or no butter, this is a lovely bread Mireille. So glad you shared this, now I've got another good recipe to try with the mahleb that's sitting in my spice cabinet.
I know the feeling. My mahleb was sitting in the cabinet for over a year before it finally got used
What a beautiful, flavourful bread! Even without the butter the crumb looks awesome! I need to grab some Mahleb soon – I have heard a lot about it but never used it!
The inside of this bread looks amazing. I want to slather it in butter and devour it!
Yes it was great toasted with soft butter
That is such a lovely bread Mir. It looks amazing even without butter.
Mir, the texture looks awesome and I don't think the butter was missed..:)..do send it for breakfast event as well!
Sure. I added it. Thx
Love when a dough is forgiving. A whole cup of butter though? I can't imagine what that crumb would have been like. This already looks so soft.