Description
This festive Christmas Bread is a delightful sweet loaf studded with colorful Christmas sprinkles and topped with a creamy vanilla icing. Perfect for holiday celebrations, this bread is soft, moist, and bursting with festive flavor and colors, making it a cheerful treat to share with family and friends.
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 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: Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract until just combined. Then incorporate the sour cream and whole milk, blending until fully mixed.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon until well combined.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring just until no flour streaks remain. Avoid overmixing to keep the bread tender.
- Fold in Sprinkles: Gently fold in the Christmas sprinkles without overmixing to prevent the colors from bleeding into the batter.
- Transfer to Pan 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 lightly golden brown.
- Cool the Bread: Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the Icing: While the bread cools, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until smooth and pourable.
- Decorate and Serve: Spread the icing evenly over the cooled bread using a rubber spatula. Sprinkle extra Christmas sprinkles on top if desired. Allow the icing to set before slicing and serving.
Notes
- If the bread is browning too quickly during baking, tent it loosely with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Do not overmix the batter after adding sprinkles to maintain the vibrant colors and avoid color bleed.
- For a slightly lighter texture, you can substitute half the all-purpose flour with cake flour.
- Make sure the bread is completely cool before icing to prevent the glaze from melting.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 220 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
