Description
This festive Christmas Bread is a colorful and delicious holiday treat featuring a moist, vanilla-scented loaf studded with bright Christmas sprinkles and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze. Perfect for serving as a breakfast treat, dessert, or holiday snack, it's easy to make and sure to bring cheer to your celebrations.
Ingredients
Scale
Bread
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup Christmas sprinkles plus more for topping
Icing
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add wet ingredients: Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract just until combined, then add the sour cream and milk and mix until incorporated evenly. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon to distribute evenly.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients: Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir gently until just combined with no streaks of flour remaining.
- Fold in sprinkles: Carefully fold in the Christmas sprinkles, taking care not to overmix to prevent the colors from bleeding into the batter.
- Pour and bake: Spread the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden.
- Cool the bread: Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing: While the bread cools, whisk together powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Glaze and decorate: Spread the icing over the cooled bread evenly using a rubber spatula. Sprinkle extra Christmas sprinkles on top if desired. Let the glaze set before slicing and serving.
Notes
- If the bread browns too quickly, place a foil tent over it during the last part of baking to prevent burning.
- Do not overmix sprinkles to avoid bleeding colors into the batter.
- Use a toothpick to check doneness - it should come out clean.
- Room temperature ingredients help in achieving a smooth batter.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 22 g
- Sodium: 200 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 75 mg
