Pitka (Bulgarian Christmas Bread)

Baking Bulgarian Pitka Bread (Koledna Pitka) is a tradition in Bulgaria during the festive Christmas period.

Just like Homemade Sourdough Dinner Rolls, it is a pull-apart, tear, and share type of bread and it's a great treat for every special occasion.

Every family has its own Pitka Bread recipe and way of shaping it.

Scroll down for the full recipe ingredients&instructions that are available in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

However, this blog post contains some detailed information and important tips&tricks!

The first time I tried this cheesy, buttery, and fluffy bread was a few years ago when my Bulgarian friend invited us for dinner.

It wasn’t Christmas time but a special enough occasion for her to bake this Bulgarian bread for us.

It was deliciously soft inside and crispy on the outside. I lost count of how many of them I'd had that night but I made sure to take the recipe from her at the end of the dinner.

We love freshly baked homemade bread recipes, from Homemade Sandwich Bread to Homemade Wheat Tortilla Bread, Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread, and Banana Bread.

And there is nothing more satisfying than the aroma of freshly made Bulgarian Pitka Bread, totally addictive!

Why This Recipe Works?

• Pitka Christmas Bread is a very simple recipe to follow with step-by-step pictures and instructions.

• You can freeze the leftovers and keep them for up to three months.

• Pitka Bread is versatile, you can serve them for breakfast or you can serve them with soup, stews, or pasta as a side dish. They also make a great snack when you feel peckish!

• You can turn them into garlic bread. Simply add some garlic paste or wild garlic pesto to the butter before spreading it on the dough. Scroll down for the details on how to turn Pitka Bread into delicious garlic bread.

Ingredients and Substitutes

• Plain flour - It is also known as all-purpose flour and is perfect for making cakes, cookies, pastries, and thickening sauces.

• Milk - I use semi-skimmed milk in this recipe but full-fat milk would work as well. It gives the Pitka bread a soft texture.

• Eggs - They add color, structure, and flavor to the dough. Keep one egg yolk for egg washing the bread before baking them.

• Yeast - I use fast-action dry yeast for this recipe. The recipe also works with standard active/dry yeast or fresh yeast. Although you don't normally need to dissolve the fast-action yeast in warm water and then leave it to become foamy, the Pitka bread becomes fluffier if dissolved in warm water first. 

• Sugar - I use caster sugar or granulated sugar. It feeds the yeast and helps the dough rise.

• Salt - It increases the strength of the dough as well as the flavor.

• Feta cheese - I use creamy feta cheese for this recipe. You can substitute it with mozzarella, halloumi, or cheddar as well as use a mixture of a few types of cheeses.

• Kasar cheese - It is a semi-hard yellow cheese similar to cheddar but much milder and is made from sheep milk. It is widely used in Turkey and Balkan Countries for pastries and general cooking. You can replace kasar with mozzarella, gouda, cheddar, or any other semi-hard cheese you like. You can find Kasar cheese from Turkish or Middle Eastern shops as well as from Amazon.

• Butter - Make sure the butter is soft enough to spread it on the dough. Butter prevents the dough layers from interacting with each other. When you put the pastry in the oven, the butter in between the layers melts and creates air pockets. You can use hard margarine instead of butter.

• Sesame or nigella seeds - They give extra crunch to borek and pastries.

How to Make Pitka Bread?

Although this is a very simple recipe, you need to follow a few simple steps to achieve the best results:

Preparing the Dough

Before starting the dough, bring the eggs and butter to room temperature.

Warm the milk up gently in a pan then add the sugar and the yeast.

Mix them well and wait for 10 minutes to get the yeast working its magic.

Add the eggs, salt, and flour gradually until you get a soft and slightly sticky dough.

Pitka dough doesn’t need much kneading.

I usually knead it for a few minutes and start shaping it straight after.

Shaping the Pitka Bread

There are many ways of shaping Pitka bread. I prefer shaping them very similarly to cinnamon buns.

This way of shaping keeps the inside of the buns soft and fluffy while the outside is still golden and crispy.

To shape the buns, cut the dough into 2 equal pieces, form them into balls, cover them with a clean kitchen towel, and let them rest for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first ball into a rectangular shape, size of 45cm x 25cm (18" x 10").

Spread half of the soft butter and then sprinkle half of the cheese on the dough.

Tightly roll the dough from the long side to the long side to turn it into a log.

Using a serrated knife, divide the log into 10 equal pieces.

Repeat the same procedure for the other dough ball.

Alternatively, you can add some garlic paste or Wild Garlic Pesto to butter and make garlic bread with the other dough ball.

Place the buns on a lightly oiled baking tray size of 30cm x 21cm (12" x 8").

If you use a smaller tray, you will overload the tray, and the buns in the middle will stay undercooked.

When placing the buns on the baking tray, try to leave some space in between them.

They will double the size during the rising and cooking period.

Eggwash them with one egg yolk using a brush.

Proofing

Allow the buns to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the temperature and the humidity of the room.

I usually use a warmed-up oven for rising the dough in cold weather.

If you want to use the oven for rising, place the tray in the warm oven and then leave them in for 30 mins or until the buns double the size.

Sprinkle some sesame seeds and nigella seeds on.

Baking the Pitka Bread

When the buns double the size, preheat the oven to 180° C (356° F) fan oven, and cook them for about 35 - 40 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Top Tips From the Chef

• Make sure the butter is soft enough to spread on the dough.

• When placing the buns on the baking tray, try to leave some space in between them. They will double the size during the rising and cooking period.

• You can spread on your favorite filling such as tahini, Nutella, homemade jam, or peanut butter, and sprinkle on some nuts to make different variations of this soft and fluffy bread.

What to Serve with Bulgarian Christmas Bread?

This incredibly delicious & buttery bread is versatile and you can serve it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
I usually serve these scrumptious bread rolls with Tavuk Sote (Turkish Chicken Sauté), Bamya - Turkish Okra Stew, Sulu Kofte - Turkish Meatball Soup, Ali Nazik, and Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmas).

The garlicky versions are perfect for serving along with pasta dishes such as Chorizo and Prawn Pasta and Pasta with Green Sauce.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious savory baked goods why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this soft and buttery Pitka Bread as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂 

Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!

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