28 Sweet & Savory Christmas Breads To Make This Holiday Season

Looking for a holiday baking project that will look stunning and taste even better? Meet this cranberry-orange star bread. Filled with homemade cranberry sauce and effortlessly twisted into a visually intricate shape, this soft, fragrant, sweet bread will delight friends and family everywhere.

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Fruitcake is an iconic holiday dessert, and most of the time it isn't getting the love it deserves. This is the one you should take the risk on though. Freshly baked, fruitcake is delicious and studded with dry fruit and pecans and warmly spiced. The glaze can be optional, but is a helpful sweet addition.

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Large domed boxes of Italian panettone line grocery and bakery shelves during the holiday season. Have you ever wondered what it could be all about? Inside those boxes lies the magic of panettone, which is a nostalgic Christmas bread we've come to love over the years. It’s a rich, fruity, bread-like cake studded with citrusy essence. For this recipe, we’ve minimized the prep time without sacrificing the quality. Bits of chocolate melt in your mouth and orange peel brightens the bite.

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Fresh out of the oven, each of these rolls has a crispy bottom, buttery top, and unbelievably soft center. The secret? Starch from potatoes.

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These rolls are a great alternative to regular rolls during Christmas. This dough is a bit on the sweeter side, so it lends beautifully for a pre-dinner roll or for pulling apart and eating on its own too. These rolls also taste phenomenal when toasted!

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Looking for an easy appetizer that doubles as a centerpiece? This cheesy, savory crescent ring is perfect for your holiday gathering. If it's a vegetarian app you're after, we'd suggest subbing in sautéed mushrooms.

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Popovers are likely the cutest thing you can bake to accompany any meal. Watching them rise in the oven is a thrill for any cook. When they emerge, they stand tall and smell amazing. They're the sweet version of savory Yorkshire puddings, perfect for impressing your guests at Christmas brunch. Pair with oven-cooked bacon, a big batch of scrambled eggs, and a pitcher of mimosas for the ideal spread.

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Bursting with chunks of cinnamon apples, this bread is a MAJOR hit come fall. Gone apple picking? It's the perfect baking project to use up some of those goodies. Don't worry, you'll still have enough for apple pie, too. 😉

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Spinach artichoke dip + flaky puff pastry + festive design = a Christmas masterpiece. We love spinach dip in every form, but this creative app is totally versatile: Feel free to swap in whichever cheesy dip you desire.

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Our focaccia is totally classic, topped with fresh rosemary leaves and crunchy sea salt. Learn how to conquer this Italian bread with our few easy-to-follow tips—once you've mastered the basics, you can top it with whatever you like. It’ll always be perfectly crispy-toasty on the outside and super soft-fluffy inside.

Get the Best-Ever Focaccia recipe.

The beer pulls double-duty here, serving both as a boost to the leaveners and the flavor of the bread. Beer bread can be a delicious accompaniment to any hearty soup, makes for a killer lunch or dinner sandwich, and is delicious enough to stand on its own with a simple slather of butter.

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If you love butter, you'll live for this brioche bread. This recipe produces two loaves, each containing a whole stick of butter—so you can imagine how rich each fluffy bite will be.

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Thanksgiving is all about the turkey and potatoes; December is the time for cheese and bread. If you agree, you need this pull-apart Christmas tree. Not only is it freaking beautiful (look at that buttery golden star!), it's insanely delicious too. One mozzarella-stuffed pizza dough ball in, and you, along with everyone else at the party, will be hooked.

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Did you know that the American version of monkey bread has roots in Hungary? The dessert, Arany Galuska, which translates to "golden dumpling," was brought to America by Hungarians and was originally referred to as a Hungarian coffee cake before it eventually evolved into the monkey bread we know and love today. It's the softest, fluffiest version of monkey bread, which makes it nearly impossible to stop eating. Each piece of dough is generously coated in melted butter and cinnamon sugar, making the whole thing taste like a cinnamon roll.

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In England, where these very savory little bakes hail from, the word “pudding” has a very different meaning than it does stateside. Yorkshire puddings are almost identical to popovers. The recipe is the same except instead of using melted butter, these are traditionally made with beef drippings or rendered beef fat. That beef fat is usually the result of cooking a big Sunday beef roast, to which Yorkshire puddings are a traditional accompaniment, but if you aren't making a beef roast, you can buy beef fat (aka tallow), lard, or just use butter. Not planning on a roast beef? Yorkshire puddings also go nicely with other large-format dishes like roast chicken or prime rib.

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Santa is gifting us with carbs this year. Clearly, we've been extra good this year.

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The flavor squad is here to provide standard corn muffins with a mega boost. The result is pimiento cheese corn muffins, which take their cues from the classic Southern cheese dip. Packed with shredded cheddar, diced pimiento peppers, garlic powder, and a generous amount of cayenne, the result is a savory delight.

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A Jewish sweet braided bread loved by all, babka is stuffed, rolled, then baked with a variety of fillings. Chocolate babka tends to dominate the flavor popularity contest, but there's a certain appeal to a cinnamon babka that just can't be denied—which is why this recipe snuck both into the mix.

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When it comes to biscuits and other bread products, sweet potatoes are magical. Adding them to dough results yields softer and fluffier results. This recipe benefit from minimal handling (perfect for a busy holiday!) and is just as easy as preparing traditional buttermilk biscuits.

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Though the dough for this recipe is rather traditional, how we serve it (with chocolate 😅) is not. We messed with tradition and replaced the currants with mini chocolate chips. This upset a lot of our fans on Facebook. Because apparently, not even currants are authentic. Traditional Irish soda bread has no mix-ins, so feel free to go that route if you like!

Get the Irish Soda Bread recipe.