‘Lazarakia’ are traditional small lenten/vegan sweet and mildly spiced bread stuffed with walnuts and raisins for “Saturday of Lazarus” and made only once a year. Here I’m giving you a gluten free option.
Greek Orthodox Easter is full of beautiful traditions. One of them is making lazarakia on Lazarus Saturday.
The Saturday before Easter Sunday is “Saturday of Lazarus” and on this day it is a tradition to make “Lazarakia” (literally meaning“Little Lazaruses”).
They represent the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Each region of Greece has a variation of how they make them, however, most have a similar sweet tasting flavour. They are of course Lenten meaning they do not contain any dairy or egg products, they are vegan.
Lazarakia is shaped like a man wrapped in a shroud with cloves for eyes. This theoretically imitates Lazarus and symbolizes life overcoming death.
It is a Greek Orthodox tradition that has almost disappeared nowadays. To tell you the truth, I heard about it for the first time last year.
Lazarakia are offered together with no-boiled eggs so to be dyed on Holy Thursday to the “Lazarines”. “Lazarines” are little girls who hold fresh flower-decorated baskets and go from house to house singing carols, for spring, for the first resurrection, that is, the resurrection of Lazarus.
In Greece we dye eggs for Easter on Holly Thursday and also bake Tsoureki (Greek Sweet Bread) for Gluten Free Tsoureki see recipe here. Kids are giving red dyed eggs and tsoureki at god-mothers/ god-fathers and they give to kids the candle for Holly Saturday night at the resurrection of Christ.
Tip: Check off the ingredients you have used in the recipe or note the ingredients you have and add the rest to you shopping list to buy them. - Attention: All ingredients must be checked that are Gluten-Free and without traces of gluten.
Abbreviations: g=grams • kg= kilograms • cup=250 ml • tsp= teaspoon=5 ml • tbsp= tablespoon=3 tsp=15 ml • ml= millilitre= (1ml=0.034 fl oz / 1fl oz=29.6 ml) • l=litre/liter=1000ml
In a small bowl, sift the gluten-free flour with the xanthan gum and psyllium. Add the instant yeast, sugar, spices, salt and mix.
Add the soda water/club soda and oil and mix to form a nice dough.
Cover the bowl with the dough and set it aside to activate the yeast for about 1-2 hours. I had turned on the oven at 50°C/120°F and when I put the dough in, I turned it off.
While you are letting the dough rise, put the raisins to soak in hot water along with the spices.
When the dough is ready, first prepare the filling. Drain the raisins, remove the anise and cinnamon stick and mix them with the chopped walnuts.
Preheat the oven at 180°C/350°F.
Grease your hands with oil and divide the dough into 12 pieces. Divide each piece into a large ball and a smaller one that will be used for the shroud design.
Press the dough ball lightly and roll it out into an oblong oval shape. Then, fill it with two teaspoons of filling (raisins - walnuts), close it by gently pressing the dough to cover the filling and round the edges as much as possible. Shape the smaller ball into a thin string, pass it through the back, where we closed the dough, and bring it to the front in a crisscross, in the shape of an X. For eyes and nose, add cloves and transfer the ‘lazaraki’ to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Repeat the same process for the remaining dough and filling.
Brush the surface of each ‘lazaraki’ with oil. This will help to give them a goldenbrown color.
Bake at 180°C/350°F (conventional mode) for 30 Minutes, until golden-brown.
I brushed them with oil again and left them in the turned off oven for another 15 Minutes to get a better golden-brown color. (It’s my way to reduce energy consumption)
Ingredients
Directions
In a small bowl, sift the gluten-free flour with the xanthan gum and psyllium. Add the instant yeast, sugar, spices, salt and mix.
Add the soda water/club soda and oil and mix to form a nice dough.
Cover the bowl with the dough and set it aside to activate the yeast for about 1-2 hours. I had turned on the oven at 50°C/120°F and when I put the dough in, I turned it off.
While you are letting the dough rise, put the raisins to soak in hot water along with the spices.
When the dough is ready, first prepare the filling. Drain the raisins, remove the anise and cinnamon stick and mix them with the chopped walnuts.
Preheat the oven at 180°C/350°F.
Grease your hands with oil and divide the dough into 12 pieces. Divide each piece into a large ball and a smaller one that will be used for the shroud design.
Press the dough ball lightly and roll it out into an oblong oval shape. Then, fill it with two teaspoons of filling (raisins - walnuts), close it by gently pressing the dough to cover the filling and round the edges as much as possible. Shape the smaller ball into a thin string, pass it through the back, where we closed the dough, and bring it to the front in a crisscross, in the shape of an X. For eyes and nose, add cloves and transfer the ‘lazaraki’ to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Repeat the same process for the remaining dough and filling.
Brush the surface of each ‘lazaraki’ with oil. This will help to give them a goldenbrown color.
Bake at 180°C/350°F (conventional mode) for 30 Minutes, until golden-brown.
I brushed them with oil again and left them in the turned off oven for another 15 Minutes to get a better golden-brown color. (It’s my way to reduce energy consumption)
See the following video to found out how easy this recipe is:
- I used a total of 350 gr. from gluten-free flour:
– 200 g Mix B by Schär
– 200 g White Mix by Semper
– 150 g Fioreglut by Caputto
But you can use whatever gluten-free bread mix flour you want. Be careful the ones with large amount flour of corn, buns may come out a little tighter.
- The flour mixes I used have xanthan, psyllium, bamboo fiber so I didn’t add extra xanthan & psyllium
- Every oven heats different. My new oven is slower than the old one. The time I’m giving in every recipe is approximately. Watch them as they baking and adapt the time.
- To preserve these (in case they don’t finish immediately 😀 ) place it either in an airtight container with a lid or to plastic food bag.
Good Luck and Bon Appétit!!!
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