Tsoureki Recipe and Lazarakia photos!

Here are the pictures of the finished Lazarakia. We had so much fun making them! I'm also posting a pic of the coloring page we colored. I'm not sure if you can print it out from here or not, Potamitis Publishing also has some great coloring pages in their Kid's corner, but I'm posting it anyway. Ace didn't want to use cloves this year so we used chocolate sprinkles for the eyes instead. I just poked 2 holes with a knife and stuck the sprinkles in. I was hoping to post it earlier, but we got off to a late start after church this morning. If anyone did make them please let me know and post pics!One recipe made 13 6-7" pieces.This pic shows them in the different stages.Here they are baking:This one is one of the biggest ones!This is all of them, except for the one Ace ate!

 Lauren asked for a tsoureki or Pascha Bread recipe. Here it is! Enjoy and don't forget to post pics!

Tsourekia (Sweet Pascha Bread) Recipe

 12 cups flour3 T yeast1 cup butter, melted1 cup + 1 T. sugar6 eggs1/2 T mahlepi (or crushed aniseed, or vanilla extract)2-3 pieces of masticha, crushed with 1/4 t. sugar (or grated peel of 1 orange)3/4 cup of milk, lukewarm3/4 t. salt1 egg, beatensesame seeds or blanched almondsdyed red eggs (optional) Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk. Add a few spoonfuls of flour to make a paste. Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise.In a bowl, combine flour and salt, and add melted butter.Boil mahlepi in a little water, strain and add the liquid to the flour. (Alternatively add 1 tsp. mahlepi flavoring. Add eggs, masticha, sugar and risen yeast. On a floured surface, knead the mixture well until it becomes a medium dough, about 15-20 minutes. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.Punch down and create shapes. We usually either braid them and wrap it into a circle as shown. Then we place an egg in the center. Or we shape the braid into baskets and we place an egg "in" the basket. You can also just braid it straight down and place the egg in the top of the braid.Place loaves on greased cookie sheets or baking pans, cover and allow to rise until doubled. Brush with beaten egg.Sprinkle with sesame seeds, sugar or blanched almond slices.Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.Yields: 6 2 lb. loaves Kalo Pascha!Here is the coloring sheet: