Bake a Bread Recipe for the Holidays

Christmas Stollen — Photo:
Jordan Provost / Food Styling by Thu Buser

Braided, spiced, studded, and banana-wrapped breads have become holiday traditions across America with influences from around the world. Savor time for a baking project and celebrate the season with Italian panettone, German stollen, Filipino bibingka, and Jewish babka or challah. Serve warm loaves and slices at your holiday gatherings to break special bread with your loved ones.

01 of 12

Challah Bread

Scented with honey and baked to a golden brown, this tender challah bread from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen is ideal for a big meal. The recipe gives you one large or two small loaves, and you can stash an extra challah in the freezer for up to three months.

Get the Recipe

02 of 12

Panettone

Toasted hazelnuts and softened chocolate make Publican baker Greg Wade's rich, buttery Italian panettone a favorite during the holidays.

Get the Recipe

03 of 12

Stollen

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas bread filled with dried fruit, including raisins and orange peel, that has been soaked in brandy or rum. The Great American Baking Show winner Martin Sorge based this recipe on a traditional Dresdner Stollen — the pinnacle of the yeasted fruitcake-like bread.

Get the Recipe

04 of 12

Bibingka Banana Bread

Bibingka is traditionally made for holiday gatherings in the Philippines. Baked in a banana leaf, chef and caterer Woldy Kusina's dessert is both sweet and salty because of the salted duck egg inside and a sharp cheddar cheese topping.

Get the Recipe

05 of 12

Cinnamon-Apple Babka

This utterly decadent babka from the F&W Test Kitchen combines a gooey, buttery cinnamon bun with the flavors of apple pie.

Get the Recipe

06 of 12

Jessamyn's Sephardic Challah

Unlike the eggy challahs of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, this version comes from the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean, who flavored their challahs with caraway and anise. Hot Bread Kitchen founder Jessamyn Waldman twists hers into a round, turban-shaped loaf.

Get the Recipe

07 of 12

Halvah-Stuffed Challah

Blogger Molly Yeh fills this braided bread with a mix of halvah (the confection made with crushed sesame seeds and honey) and tahini, and then sprinkles on sesame seeds.

Get the Recipe

08 of 12

Pain d'Épices

This hearty, deeply spiced gingerbread loaf from French cook and writer Mimi Thorisson has a wonderful honey-buckwheat flavor.

Get the Recipe

09 of 12

Cranberry Gingerbread

With plenty of tart and tangy fresh cranberries, former F&W Test Kitchen senior editor Kay Chun's loaf is perfect sliced, spread with sweet butter, and served alongside a cup of hot tea.

Get the Recipe

10 of 12

Gingerbread with Pears

Former test kitchen editor Diana Sturgis folds dices of a Bartlett pear into the batter before baking a loaf of gingerbread.

Get the Recipe

11 of 12

Chocolate Babka

Pastry chef Melissa Weller's sweet yeasted dough enriched with eggs and pure butter puts this babka in the brioche category. The treat gets extra flavor from cookie crumbs and a thick, luscious chocolate glaze.

Get the Recipe

12 of 12

Raisin-Walnut Babka

Melissa Weller swirls this light and buttery babka with a golden raisin puree, studs it with dark raisins and walnuts, and tops it with a luscious cinnamon glaze.

Get the Recipe

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

Tell us why!