Tsoureki (pronounced: tsou-REH-key) is a sweet braided bread that is made every year for the celebration & remembrance of Passover & the Resurrection of Christ, also known as Pascha in Greek. Flavored with mastiha (mastic tree resin from the Greek island of Chios) and mahlepi (a.k.a mahlab), a highly aromatic spice made from the seeds of wild cherry trees, tsoureki is one of the things we look most forward to each year. Because tsoureki is such a special bread, I wanted to be able to create a gluten free version so that even those who cannot eat wheat would have the opportunity to experience this bread that means so much to us and the Greek culture. After working on this recipe for several years, I am happy to present to you all, a beautiful gluten free tsoureki!
If you have ever tried baking gluten free bread, then you understand the challenges that come with baking without gluten. In general, in order for gluten free bread to be soft and airy, you have to use a much wetter dough, that is more of a batter than a dough. A batter-like consistency does not work for making a bread that you can braid, so you have to use some special techniques to create a braid-able gluten free loaf of bread. Thanks to Nicole Hunn of Gluten Free on a Shoestring and her genius method for creating gluten free bread that can be shaped, I was able to adapt her gluten free challah recipe into Greek tsoureki and the result was incredible!
In an effort to make this gluten free tsoureki recipe as accessible as possible, I have worked out a combination of gluten-free flours that are pretty basic and easily acquirable. The only two ingredients that may be more difficult to find are the mastiha and mahlepi, but once you taste the unique flavor they infuse into the tsoureki, you will understand how they are what makes this bread truly special (you should be able to find mastiha & mahlepi at Middle Eastern or Mediterranean markets, or you can always order them online here & here).
One of the keys to having a gluten free bread that can be handled and shaped is a refrigerator rise. The time the dough spends in the refrigerator allows the flours time to absorb the moisture and, therefore, develop a much better texture. Not to mention, handling cold dough, when it comes time to shaping, is imperative for a successfully shaped loaf of gluten free bread. After lots of recipe developing, we could not be happier with the result of this gluten free tsoureki. Thinly sliced, toasted and slathered with whipped butter, we have found there is no better way to eat a loaf of tsoureki.
And speaking of eating the tsoureki, you will always find it paired with kokkina avga (red eggs). We dye our eggs with yellow onion skins, for an all natural look that is absolutely beautiful to behold. In the Greek culture, these red eggs are associated with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eggs symbolize the empty rock tomb from which Jesus arose after his crucifixion and the color red symbolizes his blood which represents life and victory.
Tsoureki is also known as lambropsomo: lambri, which means bright light, and psomi which means bread; referring to the light given to us through Christ’s resurrection. Not only does this bread withhold so many precious family memories, but most of all, I love that its significance is intertwined with the most important event in the history of our faith.
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GLUTEN FREE TSOUREKI
- Total Time: 13 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Ingredients
FOR THE ROUX
- 25g gluten free flour*
- 4 oz (1/2 cup) water
FOR THE DOUGH
- 3 cups (420 g) gluten free flour*, plus more for sprinkling
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup (48 g) sugar
- 2 tsp (7 g) instant yeast
- 1 tsp (6 g) kosher salt
- 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature, cut into tbsp pieces
- 5 tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp ground mahlepi
- 4 drops mastiha, crushed with 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- zest of 1 small orange, about 1 tsp orange zest
- water roux (see above)
- egg wash (1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten with 1 tbsp water)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
*GF FREE FLOUR (yields 4 cups)
- 340g superfine white rice flour
- 120g potato starch
- 60g tapioca starch
- 20g non fat dry milk powder
- 16 grams xanthan gum
Instructions
FOR THE ROUX:
- Whisk together the flour & water in a small saucepan – cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened (it is ready when the whisk leaves a visible trail as it moves through the roux)
- Remove from the heat & allow to cool until no longer hot to the touch
FOR THE DOUGH:
- Place the flour, cream of tartar, sugar, instant yeast & salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and use a handheld whisk to combine
- Heat the milk with the mahlepi and ground mastiha & sugar mixture until milk is hot but not boiling.
- Allow the milk to cool and then add the eggs, honey, orange zest & roux to the saucepan, whisking well to combine
- Add liquid to the flour in the bowl of the stand mixer and mix on low speed with the dough hook until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet.
- Slowly add in the butter, one piece at a time, letting each piece mix into the dough before adding the next piece
- Raise the mixer speed to high and mix for another 5 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky but relatively smooth & stretchy.
- Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size, and cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or the oiled top to your proofing bucket) Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days
- On baking day, line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper & set it aside.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface – knead the dough until it is smooth
- To make braided bread, divide the dough into three equally sized pieces (I use a scale to get them identical). Shape each piece into an 18″ long rope & braid the three pieces together (see gif above for reference)
- Once the loaf is braided, carefully transfer the braided dough, already on parchment paper, to a rimmed baking sheet.
- Brush the top of the dough carefully but liberally with the egg wash.
- Cover the braided bread with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free location for 40 minutes
- Brush the loaf again with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and allow to continue to rise uncovered until nearly doubled in size (about another 20 minutes).
- Place the bread in the center of a cold oven and turn the heat to 350° F. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn down the oven temperature to 325° F and bake until the internal temperature of the bread is 185° F on an instant-read thermometer, about another 15 minutes.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing, toasting & serving with butter (slice the bread about 3/8″ thick for best results)
Notes
*adapted from Nicole Hunn’s Gluten Free Challah
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Cuisine: Greek
This looks so deliciously appealing. Love the story and symbolism of this bread and the Easter celebration. Happy Easter!
Thank you so much! You as well!
WOW!!! this is THE BEST tsoureki recipe on the net!!!
Thank you so much!
and THE BEST pics of tsureki too!!! turned out AMAZING!!!
:D
brought back ALOT of AMAZING memories!!! thank you SSOOO MUCH!!! we’ll be eating this recipe ALOT this week. hilia efharisto!!
That makes me so happy! Kalo Pascha!
Each photo is more gorgeous than the previous! This bread and those eggs! Gah! Stunning! And I love reading about the roux method. That is such a clever idea, and smart of you to adapt it for this use. Happy Easter!
Thank you so much Katie! I appreciate your feedback! Happy Easter to you as well!
I hadn’t heard of tsoureki before, but it looks wonderful! Stunning photos as well – I love your stop-motion braid <3
Thank you so much Claudia! I figured the stop motion would explain the braid much better than trying to explain it with words!
Oh what a beautiful write-up and recipe. I watched how you made these eggs on Insta stories. I had no idea onion skin would release that much color.
And this bread.. So beautiful. Your hard work shows through these beautiful photos.
Happy Easter my friend. <3
Thank you so much Aysegul! It is really amazing how deep of a dye onion skins can produce! I appreciate your comments so much, thank you my friend <3
I love everything about this post!! <3
Thank you Todd!
GLUTEN FREE TSUREKI ?!?!?!!? AMAZING!!!
Thank you so much Niko!
The bread looks divine – your pictures are stunning. Not sure about how to cut eggs into tbsp pieces, though. Might this line be meant for the butter?
Thanks for sharing such a lovely, timely recipe.
HAHAHAHA! You caught my mistake! OMG, how funny! Thanks for the heads up ;) I will fix it now!
I have my mixture proofing in the refrigerator, I’m up to day 2 and it hasn’t risen as much as I thought it would. Is this to be expected?
I love your site and this is the closest to traditional I’ve ever seen. I hope I’m on the right track.
Hi Tina! Sorry for the late response! We just arrived in Greece, so I am just now seeing your message! You should be on the right track! Gluten-free dough does not rise as aggressively as wheat dough…I hope your bread turned out well! Let me know how it went! Kalo Pascha kai Kali Anastasi!
Hi Bella,
Χριστός Ανέστη. I hope you enjoy beautiful Greece. The dough is still in the refrigerator and has only increased in size by half. I put it in the refrigerator on Saturday morning at 1:00am. Texture seems ok it’s just not rising. Should I leave it in there for another day or so?
Was your yeast fresh? At this point you may want to just move forward and see how it rises when you shape it & proof it! I hope it turns out well for you!
No it was instant but the same yeast took longer to rise than anticipated with my wheaten tsourekia also, so maybe it’s just the brand of yeast. I’ll move forward as you suggest. Thank you !
Hope it went ok! :)
So far my tsoureki turn really good soon I will bake it I want to post a photo when it’s ready
Oh yay! I am SO excited!
Absolutely wonderful flavor and texture of regular tsoureki, no one knew it was gluten free. My son was extremely thankful. Awesome recipe. I did have a question with my bread cracking/splitting on the 1st and 2nd rise. Any answers that may come to mind with this? And, is the 2nd rise placed in a warm place as the 1st rise? Thank you. So looking forward to your recipes now. Donna
I am SO happy that the tsoureki was a success & that everyone loved it! The idea is that the bread rises in a warm place both times, but as far as the cracks go, your dough may have risen faster than mine, so maybe rise at a slightly cooler temperature next time!
I grew up on and learned how to bake and cook Greek food from my Yiayia(grandmother). When our family became gluten free years ago, tsourekia Is one of the foods I have missed the most! We have ordered gluten free from a local Mediterranean deli for several years. The problem is that it is expensive and it never quite taste like the bread Yiayia made and taught me.
I was THRILLED to find this recipe and made two loaves. OMG! the taste and even texture was exactly like what I grew up on! I really love the dough and how easy it was for me to work with. The “feel” was fulfilling! haha….
There was one problem. Both loaves split open like it exploded. The dough rose perfectly and the loaf was perfect. I followed the baking instructions to the letter. Do you have any insight as to what could cause them to “explode”? Any suggestions on what to try next time? I might have missed it in the comments but didn’t see any post about this problem. Do you think it could be my oven? I have to use a toaster oven to bake.
Thank you! I will keep using this recipe and hope eventually I can figure out how to bake so It stays together like the one in your photos! Penelope
Hello Penelope! First of all, I am SO happy that you discovered my recipe and that it could bring back the treasured memories you have surrounding tsoureki :) I think that your loaves were most likely underproofed, meaning the loaves were not done rising before you baked them.
If your loaves were underproofed, then when the loaves hit the heat of the oven, the rising process got accelerated and there was too much pressure built up in the bread from the gasses released by the yeast. This pressure will release anywhere it can find space and the loaves will split open.
It is worth emphasizing that circumstances like temperature where you bake (if you are in a cold winter or humid summer), type of oven you use, etc.. will force you to make adjustments to your proofing time. The bottom line is you have to “feel” the dough and know what to look for when its time to get it in the oven. You can perform a simple poke test next time you make these loaves. Poke your finger into the bread. If the bread bounces back right away it is under-proofed, if the dough does not bounce back at all it is over-proofed and if the dough bounces back about halfway in the hole you poked it’s just right. I hope this helps!
I was curious to know if I could use a regular all purpose GF flour like Bob’s 1:1 (blue package) and if so did anyone have good results? I also have a cake and Pasteur ready made flour from a local GF bakery. Was wondering if that could work?
Do GF breads like/need a humid environment?
Thanks for reading! Happy Orthodox Easter!
Hello Nia! The specific blend of GF flours in this recipe is vital to achieving the proper texture. To answer your question, I have not tried using regular all-purpose GF flour. But what I would suggest is taking note of the ingredients in each of the GF flours that you have and try using the one that is most similar to the blend I suggest in this recipe. When you ask if GF bread likes/needs a humid environment…what exactly do you mean? Are you asking about when you are proofing the dough?
Looks amazing ! I was wondering if I could either use Gluten free All purpose flour? Or Gluten free 1-1 flour? They are both by Bob’s red mill.
Hello Lina! You can definitely give it a try, but I have not tested this recipe with a gluten-free AP mix. I would look at the ingredients lists of each GF flour blend and choose the one that most closely resembles the flours that I call for in this recipe if you want to experiment. Happy baking!
Hi there!
This has me super excited because my family is also Greek and yet gluten free and the loss of Tsoureki is just so saddening.
Quick question:
We also avoid milk products (except butter) and I see that this recipe calls for non fat dry milk powder for the gluten free flour. I’ve seen this many times in other gf flour blends as I know the milk helps it react more like a traditional dough.
Is there any way to substitute the milk powder for coconut milk powder, or some other form of dairy free milk powder?
Hello Charissa, I understand that milk allergies can be an issue so the best substitute in my opinion would be soy milk powder. Hope this helps :)