Step-by-step method

At a glance

This fragrant Easter bread comes together with a yeast starter, a rich dough loaded with almonds and raisins, and a long, gentle bake that requires a temperature adjustment midway through. The trickiest part is monitoring the baking carefully since ovens vary and you'll want to avoid burning this special bread.

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Yeast starter

Warm the milk until just slightly lukewarm. Stir in 1 tablespoon of sugar and crumble in the yeast. Let it sit in a warm spot until bubbles start forming on the surface. This means the yeast is ready to use.

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350 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

15 gram
Powdered Sugar

40 gram
Fresh Yeast
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Dough

Mix the flour with a pinch of salt, lemon zest, and caster sugar. Pour in the milk with the yeast, add the melted and cooled butter, crack in the eggs, and add the almonds and raisins. Mix by hand or with a stand mixer until the dough is smooth, soft, and no longer sticky.

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750 gram
Medium-Fine Wheat Flour

3 gram
Salt

1 piece
Lemon

150 gram
Granulated Sugar

125 gram
Vegetable Fat, Butter Flavor

2 piece
Chicken Eggs

30 gram
Sliced Almonds

30 gram
Sultana raisins
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Let it rise

Cover the bowl of dough with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place to rise for about an hour.

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Brush with egg and sprinkle with almonds

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Shape the dough into a neat round loaf and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with almond flakes. Place in the preheated oven.

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1 piece
Chicken Eggs

20 gram
Sliced Almonds
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Lower the temperature

After ten minutes of baking, lower the temperature to 150°C and continue baking for about an hour. Keep an eye on your mazanec, as ovens vary, and make sure it doesn't burn. It's done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, with no raw dough sticking to it.
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Let it cool

Let it cool completely before slicing.

Easter Classic: Fragrant Mazanec Bread

Name: Traditional Fragrant Mazanec Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 220 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Czech
Ingredients: 750 gram Medium-Fine Wheat Flour; 125 gram Vegetable Fat, Butter Flavor; 50 gram Sliced Almonds; 30 gram Sultana raisins; 1 piece Lemon; 40 gram Fresh Yeast; 350 milliliter Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat); 3 gram Salt; 150 gram Granulated Sugar; 3 piece Chicken Eggs; 15 gram Powdered Sugar

bohynekuchyne

Prep 10 min Cook 1 h 10 min

Plus 2 h 10 min of resting (not counted in active time)

11 Ingredients

6 Steps

Medium Difficulty

What's in it?

654 kcal

Calories

97 g

Carbohydrates

23 g

Fats

18 g

Proteins

The nutritional information is an estimate and may vary based on the specific ingredients used.

About this recipe

Mazanec belongs to Easter just as vánočka belongs to Christmas. Do you bake your own at home? Well, we've got a fantastic recipe! I've been using it for several years now. I did try other recipes, but I humbly went right back to my tried-and-true one. It's simply wonderful. This year will be no different. I'll probably practice-bake it again (likely this coming weekend), and it'll disappear just as quickly as it does every year. Some things just never change…

Vegetarian Bread & Rolls Easter Czech

Step-by-step method

At a glance

Yeast starter

For this step

Dough

For this step

Let it rise

Brush with egg and sprinkle with almonds

For this step

Lower the temperature

Let it cool

Easter Classic: Fragrant Mazanec Bread

Ingredients — what you'll need

What's in it?

About this recipe

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