Massa Souvada Portuguese Sweet Bread has been part of my Easter for as long as I can remember. Every year I post this recipe, and every year so many of you bake it with me — and that fills my heart. This dough is not for the impatient, but I promise you, the moment you pull those golden loaves out of the oven, it is absolutely worth it.
What is Massa Souvada Portuguese Sweet Bread?
Massa Souvada is a traditional Portuguese sweet bread made from a rich, slightly sweet yeast dough. The name literally means “kneaded dough,” which tells you right away what this bread demands — patience and good old-fashioned elbow grease. It is most commonly made for Easter and is a staple at Holy Ghost Feasts throughout New England’s Portuguese communities. You will find it on tables from the Azores to Fall River, and it is one of those foods that immediately takes you home, no matter how far away home might be.
How to Make This Portugese Sweet Bread
The key to this bread is the first rise — give it the full six to eight hours it needs. The dough will be wet and sticky, and I know it is tempting to add more flour, but resist that urge. More flour means a denser loaf, and Massa Souvada should be soft and pillowy. Knead it well, at least 20 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic. After the second rise, the loaves are ready to brush with egg wash and bake low and slow at 325 degrees.
Tips for the Best Massa Souvada Portuguese Sweet Bread
Use whole milk, not low-fat. The richness matters.
Make sure your yeast water doubles before adding it to the dough — if it doesn’t foam, your yeast may be old.
Bring your eggs to room temperature before mixing; cold eggs can slow the dough.
Butter your pans generously. This dough will stick if you give it the chance.
Only fill pans halfway — the dough needs room to rise and fill the pan.
Cover the dough loosely during rising so it can breathe but doesn’t dry out.
If the tops brown before the inside is done, tent with foil and keep baking.
Note: Every oven is different, so please know that the baking time can more or less depending how hot your oven may run. Also if the loaves look golden and after testing with a cake tester and they are not baked, please cover the top with foil and place back in the oven.. If you don’t do that, the tops could turn too dark and maybe even burn.
Serving and Storing Massa Souvada
Massa Souvada is best the day it is made, still slightly warm with a little butter. It keeps well wrapped at room temperature for two to three days. You can also freeze a loaf tightly wrapped for up to a month — just thaw overnight and warm briefly in the oven.
What You’ll Need for This Recipe: A stand mixer with a dough hook makes the kneading much easier — KitchenAid Stand Mixer. You’ll also want good-quality non-stick loaf pans or this tube cake pan so the bread releases cleanly. This recipe makes 6–8 loaves, so having extras on hand is a good idea.
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I think I’ve posted this recipe every Easter and over the years many of you have baked this in the past with such amazing results. If this is your first attempt please be ok with it not looking like you purchased it from the bakery. It took me several fails until I got it just right. Some of you may just get it right the first time, so hats off to you!. My point is that this dough was the hardest for me to work with so please don’t give up if it fails the first time… xoxox
Note: It’s funny, but I have a few family members that would prefer not to have the sweetbread with the egg on top. They feel the egg is just taking up space for more sweetbread!! lol 
But traditionally you will see in homes as well as bakeries the egg baked on top of the sweetbread. Here’s how to adjust the recipe:
- Easter Sweetbread with the eggs on top is called a Folar… the only adjustment to the standard sweetbread recipe is that you would set aside a large grapefruit-size piece of dough after the first rising to create strips of dough. Then later, instead of slashing a cross design, you would insert the raw egg or eggs (wash them first, of course. And they’ll cook in the oven!) on top of the dough, pressing in, and with the extra dough place 2 small strips over the egg forming a cross design. Then you would brush the egg wash over the top of the loaf before placing in the oven.
Here’s a recipe from my friend Ann’s family, thank you for sharing this with us!
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 loaves (depending on the size of baking pans) 1x
- Category: Baked Goods
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients
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1/2 cup of shortening (or lard)
3 pkg ( 1/4 oz envelopes) dry active yeast
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
2 cups of whole milk
2 cups of granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 tsp salt
10 cups of all purpose flour
8 eggs * at room temperature
Egg Wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water
Instructions
1 In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water and let rise to double in size.
2 In a larger bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
3. In saucepan, melt butter and shortening in milk and cool to lukewarm.
4. In a medium bowl, Beat eggs and sugar together.
5. Create a well in the large bowl of dry ingredients, Add the eggs and sugar, melted butter and milk and last add the yeast. Mix all ingredients together and knead until dough is nice and smooth (at least 20 min). Dough tends to be wet, so resist the urge to add more flour. Let rise until double in size, usually six to eight hours.
6. Punch down, deflating the dough. Form individual breads and put in buttered and floured pans (any shape or size will do).
The dough should fill only half the pan. Let rise again until dough doubles in size, filling the pan.
7. Brush top of dough with beaten egg.
8. Bake at 325 degrees-preheated oven for 40 to 60 minutes (adjust longer cook time for larger loaves). See note below!
The bread should be golden brown, the tester (long tooth pick, for example) should come out dry.
Love Portuguese baking? Try my Bolo Lêvedo next. And if you are looking for another Easter favorite, my Arroz Doce is always on the table.
