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Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls

April 3, 2025 by Marilena Leavitt 4 Comments

Baked tsoureki rolls

These Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls (tsourekakia), are the smaller versions of the traditional Greek Easter bread (tsoureki), a bread that everyone makes during the week leading to Easter in Greece.  It is a brioche-like, sweet, yeast bread made using eggs, milk, and butter.  This is a breakfast bread and it makes the perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or tea!

The soft and highly aromatic dough for this bread gets its distinctive flavor and smell from a wonderful spice called mahlepi, which is ground cherry seeds.  The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seeds, which are then ground to a powder.  This spice is used for baking extensively in Greece and in the Middle East, especially during the Easter and Christmas seasons.  All Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets carry it and it is worth sourcing it.

The dough for the Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls

For this recipe I am using the same dough I use for my traditional Greek Easter bread (tsoureki), one of the very first recipes I posted on this blog, way back in 2015.  I usually do two regular long braids and then I use the rest of the dough to make 16 of these cute braided mini rolls. They are perfect to grab for a snack or to enjoy at breakfast time, the way you would a brioche, with some butter and jam!

The dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated it for up to 5 days.  To make these mini braided rolls I simply cut a third of the dough and divide it into about 16 balls (each one weighing roughly 45 grams or 1.5 ounces).  I then roll each ball out to form a 15-inch-long rope, shape it the way I show below and after a short rest, bake in a preheated oven.

How to make the Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls

  1.  Take about 1/3 of the dough the recipe makes and divide it into 16 little pieces of dough, each piece should be about 45gr.  Roll each piece into a long 15″ rope.  Working with one piece at a time, make a loose loop at one end, and double the dough back on itself to the halfway point of the dough rope, like in the photo:

forming mini tsoureki rolls

2.  Take the long end of the rope and pass it through the dough loop, as shown here:

tsoureki rolls twisting

3.  Now, twist the top of the loop to the left, as in the photo below:

shaping mini tsoureki braids

4.  Take the loose end of the rope and pass it through that opening:

mini tsoureki braid forming

5.  Tuck the end underneath and the bread rolls are ready:

mini tsoureki braid ready

6.  Brush the top of the rolls with some egg wash and sprinkle with some sesame seeds:

tsoureki rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds

7.  Bake until the rolls are golden brown (and the kitchen smells incredible)!

tsoureki rolls

Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls
 
Save Print
Prep time
40 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
1 hour 10 mins
 
A soft and highly aromatic dough makes these mini sweet rolls incredibly tasty. The traditional Greek tsoureki that is enjoyed during Easter, is turned into individual small rolls that are perfect to enjoy for breakfast
Author: Marilena Leavitt
Recipe type: Breakfast Bread Rolls
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 16 rolls
Ingredients
  • 4 oz. butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1¼ cups whole milk
  • ---- zests of a lemon & an orange
  • 3 TBSP. fresh orange juice (from half an orange)
  • ½ cup lukewarm/tepid water
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 1½ TBSP. active dry yeast
  • 3 large eggs
  • 7½ cups bread flour (preferable) or, All Purpose flour
  • 1 TBSP. freshly ground mahlepi
  • ¼ tsp. ground mastic (optional)
  • ½ TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 TBSP. milk
  • ¼ cup sesame seeds or sliced almonds
Instructions
  1. In a medium pot over medium low heat, add the butter, the sugar and the milk. Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the butter is melted. Add the zests, then remove from heat and let the mixture cool slightly. Stir in the orange juice.
  2. In a glass measuring cup, mix the lukewarm water, the sugar and the yeast. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes, until it bubbles and the yeast is activated.
  3. Beat the three eggs and add them to the reserved butter/milk mixture.
  4. Sift the flour, ground mahlepi and mastic and place in the bowl of a stand mixer. To the dry ingredients, add the reserved butter/milk mixture and the yeast mixture. Mix to form a soft and pliable dough, which will be a little sticky. Rub the surface with the olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise at room temperature for two hours.
  5. Punch the dough down and divide it into three equal portions. You will need only ⅓ of the recipe to make these bread rolls. Cover and refrigerate the remaining ⅔ of the dough, to make two whole braided loaves another time following the original recipe.
  6. Divide the dough into 16 little pieces, each piece about 45 gr. (1.5 oz). Roll each piece into long 15" ropes. Working with one piece at a time, shape it like a small braid, the way it is shown in the photos above. Place each one on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and let the bread rolls rise at room temperature for at least half an hour.
  7. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg and milk. Brush the tops of the mini sweet rolls with the egg/milk mixture and sprinkle with some sesame seeds. Bake them for about 12 minutes, or until they get a light brown color - be careful to not over bake! Place the bread rolls on a rack to cool slightly and enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes 3 large braided loaves of tsoureki. As I explain in step 5, we only need ⅓ of this delicious dough to make 16 mini Greek sweet rolls!
I refrigerate the rest of the dough and use it later in the week, to either make 2 large braid loaves or more of the mini sweet rolls! It is a delicious dough and the baked loaves freeze very well!
3.5.3240

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Filed Under: Bread, Greek Tagged With: Greek cuisine, greek easter bread, greek recipe, how to braid bread rolls, mini tsoureki braids, mini tsoureki rolls, Tsoureki

Previous Post: « Spiral Filo Pie with Spinach and Artichoke
Next Post: Mini Custard Filo Tarts with Berries and Sliced Almonds »

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Comments

  1. Dorothy says

    April 4, 2025 at 11:26 AM

    Do I understand you to mean we have to reduce each ingredient to 1/3 third of the ingredients listed in the above recipe?

    Also would help if your font was a little bigger for those of us even with glasses.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Marilena Leavitt says

      April 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM

      Hi Dorothy,

      In step 5 of the recipe, I explain that we only need 1/3 of the dough the recipe makes, for the 16 mini rolls.

      In the note of the recipe, I suggest to make all the recipe and then use part of it for the mini rolls and the rest to make larger loaves of braided bread. The reason is that it keeps well in the refrigerator and it is good to have enough dough to make more later in the week or to give as a gift!

      Having said that, if you only want to make the mini rolls, then you only need 1/3 of the listed ingredients.

      About the size of the font I am using, I am sorry but unfortunately I do not have any input on that – I use the standard size my WordPress site allows me.

      Thank you for your note!

      Reply
  2. Kiki says

    April 7, 2025 at 7:16 AM

    Learned something new today with the way this braided, or rather looped!

    Reply
    • Marilena Leavitt says

      April 7, 2025 at 11:16 AM

      You are so right, Kiki! Because of their small size, this twisting and looping technique is necessarry to create a little braid!

      Reply

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