‘Lazarakia’ are traditional small lenten/vegan sweet and mildly spiced bread stuffed with wal-nuts and raisins for “Saturday of Lazarus”. Here in a gluten free option.
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)
Servings 0