Fill your home with the aromas of this 'Sweet Bread' - a traditional Portuguese bread known as 'Folar' or 'Folar da Páscoa'. This bread is generally made for enjoying at home with family or for gifting to loved ones around Easter. This is our spin on this traditional bread - great for making any time of the year and a perfect pairing with a cup of coffee or tea!
This is a wonderful bread to make on the weekend when you have that extra time and want to unwind with baking. It's a great option when you're looking for something a bit sweeter than the typical bread, but much lighter than cake.
Listed below are the ingredients we used, some of these can be easily substituted with your preferred ingredients. The instructions here are simply a guide. We encourage you to add your own spin on it, just as we did.
Tips:
Butter may be used instead of yogurt.
Regular milk may be used instead of coconut milk.
If using dry fruit, and want to take this bread to the next level - blend the dry fruit right into the dough of the bread - it will add sweetness and texture!
Dry fruit may be substituted with raisin and/or nuts.
Main ingredients (for 1 loaf of sweet bread):
Flour (2 cups)
Sugar (1/2 cup) (we used 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup raw sugar)
Cinnamon (1 tsp) (if cinnamon is your thing - add a bit more)
Salt (1/4 tsp) (we kept it light on the salt, but add to taste)
Orange zest (1 small orange)
Instant dry yeast (6 grams)
Warm water (1/8 cup)
Eggs (3)
Warm milk (1/2 cup) (we used coconut milk)
Yogurt (1/4 cup) (we used Greek 2% no sugar added)
Vanilla extract (1/4 tsp)
Optional: Dry fruit (1/4 cup)
Instructions/guide:
In a small bowl mix together the following dry ingredients (shown in picture 1 - right bowl):
1 and a 1/2 cup of flour
Sugar
Cinnamon
Salt
Orange zest
In a separate larger bowl mix together:
Remaining 1/2 cup of flour
Instant dry yeast
Warm water
2 Eggs (the 3rd egg is for coating the bread before going into the oven)
Warm milk
Yogurt
Vanilla extract
Whisk together the ingredients in each of the bowls.
Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients while mixing. Once all ingredients are mixed together - knead with hands or use a hand mixer with a dough hook.
Continue kneading until you've formed a soft bread-like consistency. Keep an additional 1/3 cup of flour handy. If needed, add additional flour until desired consistency, or until dough no longer sticks to hands.
Cover bowl with saran wrap and add a kitchen cloth over it to create warmth, let it sit for about 2-3 hours.
Dough will double in size (at least).
Set oven to bake at 375°F. When ready to finalize, spread a bit of flour on the area where bread will be prepared. Add more flour as needed.
In this recipe, we created a braided look. To do this, separate dough into 3 roughly equal parts. Shape each of the 3 parts into long thin pieces and braid (for braiding instructions see this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4NWC9SNBY ).
Alternatively, leave dough as a single round bread.
If adding dry fruit (optional), spread them on top of the bread and coat the bread with a whisked egg before placing in the oven (shown in picture 2).
Bake for 30 minutes on the middle rack.
In the meantime, feel free to make yourself a cup of coffee or tea to enjoy with your soon-to-come-out-of-the-oven sweet bread : ) Enjoy!
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