Bulgarian bread has strong cultural symbolism and is an important part of rituals and holidays. Special festive breads are baked for all celebrations, with varying shapes and decorations depending on the occasion. A common type is a round loaf that is broken and shared among family members on Christmas Eve, with a coin hidden inside for prosperity. Traditional recipes are described for several types of special Bulgarian breads made for holidays like Christmas, Easter and general celebrations.

1. Typical Bulgarian Feast Bread

2. Bread bears strong symbolism in Bulgarian folklore and the culinary
tradition. It is present in various rituals and customs, and it is a
symbol of hospitality, family and home.
Special feast bread is baked for every holiday in Bulgaria. The
Ritual bread has various shapes and decorations, depending on the
season, the established celebrated holiday traditions or the
imagination of the hostess.
Making round loaves is still a widespread practice throughout the
country.

3. Ingredients
500 g flour
10 g yeast
1 tea cupful fresh milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful sugar
1 spoonful vegetable oil
salt to taste
Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of tepid water
and let it rise. Mix the flour, the milk, the egg
whites, the vegetable oil, the sugar and the salt and
then add the yeast. Shape a ball of the soft dough
thus produced. Wrap it in a cheese-cloth and soak
it in a large vessel full of water.
Take it out when it comes to float. Spread it in a
baking dish buttered beforehand. Punch the loaf
with a fork several times and spread the egg yolk
on top.
Bake it on a medium oven. After taking the bread
out, cover it with a moist cloth in order to prevent its
crust from getting too hard.

4.  Christmas in Bulgaria wouldn't be the same
without koledna pitka, a round loaf of bread
that is broken into pieces by the head of the
house.
 Each family member is given a piece. A coin
is hidden inside the round bread and
whoever gets it will have luck, health and
prosperity in the coming year.
 The pita for Christmas Eve is made without
eggs and often with baking soda instead of
yeast.
 The pita is often elaborately decorated with
religious and family symbols made of dough
on top of the bread.

5. BULGARIAN SODA BREAD (Sodena Pitka)
Ingredients:
3 medium sized eggs
1 ½ cups yoghurt
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
2-3 tbsp. sunflower oil
800 gr. flour
½ egg yolk
Directions:
o Mix the eggs with the yoghurt
o Add the salt and baking soda
o Add the oil
o Pour the flour in a baking pan
o Make a well in the middle of the flour and start pouring
the egg mix in the well while mixing thoroughly with the
flour to make the dough (if the dough is too tough, add
some lukewarm water / if dough is too sticky, add some
flour
o Knead the dough for about 15 min. and form into a flat
circle
o Brush the top with the egg yolk and prick the top
evenly with a fork
o Bake for 10 min in a pre-heated oven -180C
o Lower to 150C and bake for another 30-40 min
o Take out, sprinkle the top with cool water and wrap in a
clean cotton cloth
o Leave it wrapped for 15 min before serving

6. Bulgarian Easter Bread - KOZUNAK
It's a slightly sweet
yeast-raised bread
with raisins or nuts
that crosses the line
between bread and
coffee cake.
Ingredients for the dough
dry ingredients
7 or 8 cups (depends how big the eggs are) sifted
flour
1/8 tsp. salt
liquid ingredients
6 large eggs
1 and 1/3 cup white sugar
yeast mixture
4 tsp. dry yeast
1 and 1/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 tsp. sugar
additional
2/3 cup melted butter
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 extra egg for brushing the crust before baking
optional:
2-3 tbsp. lemon zest ( if you like it) or lemon
flavour.

7.  Blend the flour with the salt and 1 tbsp. vanilla. Make a well and add the eggs. Warm up
the milk. Melt down the yeast in part of the lukewarm milk. Add the sugar in the rest of
the milk and stir to dissolve it.
 Start making the sweet bread dough gradually adding the yeast, milk and sugar. Mix well
until you get thick and sticky dough. Twist and knead the dough, as you slowly add the
vegetable oil. The process requires some physical effort. Add the lemon zest and
knead again until it is well blended. Place the dough in a large, coated with oil pot to rest
and rise. Cover it with clean cloth.
 Once the dough has doubled its volume, turn it onto an oiled working surface and knead
again. The purpose of it is to remove all the air bubbles from the dough, to assure nice
and smooth bread texture.
 In the past, the women used to "beat" the dough 100 times, to make sure the kozunak
bread bakes well.
 Once the dough is ready, split it into halves. Divide each half into 3 equally large dough
balls. Knead in raisins, than twist and form long dough ribbons. Braid the dough ribbons
and place them in coated with oil baking pan. Glaze the bread with egg yolk mixed with
milk. Sprinkle it with sugar and let it rest and rise again. When it doubles its size, bake it
at 180 C. After about 20 min. lower the temperature to 150C and bake for another 20
min. To make sure the bread is baked, gently poke it with a wooden stick. If it comes out
dry, the sweet bread is done.
 You can add not only raisins, but also nuts, jams and anything else you like.

8. "Mekici" are favorite and traditional snack for every Bulgarian. We love them
filled with cheese, but they’re very yummy with powdered sugar as well.
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 egg
15g yeast
0.2 l milk
50 g sugar
1g salt
oil for frying
You mix the yeast with a little bit of warm water,
1/4 flour and the sugar and leave the mixture for
10 minutes. After that you add the egg, the milk,
the salt and the rest of the flour. Make a thin
sheet from the dough and cut circles, semi-circles
or just different shapes form it with a
glass. After that you deeply fry your "mekitsi" in
a pan. Serve sprinkled with sugar!