40 Quick and Easy Holiday Breads

October 23, 2019
Annie Campbell
Keep holiday baking simple with these easy bread recipes including biscuits, muffins, and sweet rolls.
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Sweet Potato-Hazelnut Scones with Nutella Glaze

Photo: Daniel Agee, Food Styling: Julia Levy, Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Sweet Potato-Hazelnut Scones with Nutella Glaze Recipe

Just sweet enough, these tender, nutty scones are an ideal (not to mention, deceptively simple-to-make) addition to any fall brunch or coffee hour. In addition to contributing to these scones’ delightfully tender, fluffy texture, the sweet potato delivers delicate flavor that perfectly compliments the toastiness provided by the hazelnut meal and the rich chocolate-hazelnut drizzle. For the mashed sweet potato, you can roast 1 large, skin-on sweet potato wrapped in foil at 425° for about 1 hour (or until tender), and chill in the fridge until cool. Alternatively, for an easy shortcut, simply grab a package of prepared mashed sweet potatoes, such as Simply Potatoes brand, from the grocery store; these will typically be found in the lunchmeat section. While we opted for a light drizzle of the Nutella mixture, you could easily double this mixture and completely glaze the top of each scone for a more decadent treat.  

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Easy Bread Recipes

Photo: John O'Hagan; Styling: Buffy Hargett
Easy Bread Recipes Recipe
Holiday meals can get a bit hectic, so make your baking a little easier with our bread recipes. For breakast or brunch, take a shortcut and use refrigerated French bread dough for these Easy Orange Rolls.

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Pink Lemonade Rolls

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Emily Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Pink Lemonade Rolls Recipe

This playful take on the classic orange roll makes for a perfect treat for Mother’s Day, a bridal brunch, baby showers, or the next time you wanna bring a little extra cheer to you weekend breakfast spread.

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Spiced Pumpkin Biscuits

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr, Jan Gautro, Leigh Ann Ross
Spiced Pumpkin Biscuits Recipe
Transform plain biscuits into special holiday biscuits with the addition of pumpkin. These tender biscuits are wonderful topped with butter and honey for breakfast, or filled with a slice of ham for a cocktail buffet dinner.

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Fresh Cranberry Muffins

Becky Luigart-Stayner
Fresh Cranberry Muffins Recipe
Make the most of seasonal cranberries by stirring them into a muffin batter. These festive muffins will be a welcome addition to your holiday table.

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Sticky Cinnamon Roll Babka Buns 

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Blakeslee Giles; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Sticky Cinnamon Roll Babka Buns  Recipe

If you're looking for decadence, you're in the right place. Though the dough requires multiple steps, the result is a bun that is sweeter, stickier, and more gooey than any bun you've had before. Our chefs joke about wanting to take a nap after experiencing the richness of this dessert. Saigon cinnamon is recommended for a stronger spicy-sweet flavor, but regular cinnamon can be easily substituted. Serve with coffee at brunch or as an afternoon treat. 

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Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontazs; Styling: Amy Burke
Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls Recipe
This recipe uses a package of hot roll mix and is a great recipe for a beginning baker.

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Easy Cinnamon Bread

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
Easy Cinnamon Bread Recipe
Make a sweet breakfast bread starting with 2 (1-pouncd) packages of refrigerated pizza dough and adding cinnamon, sugar and butter.

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Sticky Bun Pumpkin Muffins

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett
Sticky Bun Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
The mixture of butter, brown sugar and corn syrup spooned into the bottom of the muffin pans makes these spiced pumpkin muffins extra rich and gooey.
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Blue Cheese Biscuits

Blue Cheese Biscuits Recipe
Pair these easy 4-ingredient biscuits with slices of beef tenderloin for a flavorful appetizer to serve at a cocktail buffet.

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Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins

Photo: Wendell Webber
Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins Recipe
The combination of whole wheat flour and cornmeal makes these sweet pumpkin muffins hearty, satisfying, and ideal for serving with a holiday brunch or dinner.

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Sweet Potato Biscuits

Sweet Potato Biscuits Recipe
Add flavor to basic buttermilk biscuits with mashed pumpkin. It adds a rich, hearty flavor and golden color to the biscuits and makes them ideal for serving with ham at your holiday meal.
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Holiday Saffron Cake

Charles E. Walton IV
Holiday Saffron Cake Recipe
This cake is a cross between a bread and a cake, and is a much easier version of traditional Swedish saffron buns. It's not overly sweet, but it is topped with pearl sugar, which you can sometimes find among the icing and cake decorating items in the grocery store.

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Chocolate Breakfast Wreath

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Chocolate Breakfast Wreath Recipe
Be sure to soften butter until it's spreadable. The silky dough is a dream to work with, so even beginning bakers can make this beautiful wreath. Try this chocolate version or Citrus-Cranberry.

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Bananas Foster Coffee Cake with Vanilla-Rum Sauce

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Bananas Foster Coffee Cake with Vanilla-Rum Sauce Recipe
Substitute extra cream for rum in the sauce, if you prefer.
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Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy Seed Streusel

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy Seed Streusel Recipe
Keep these orange-scented muffins around during the holidays for a quick breakfast or sweet snack.

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Spicy Pumpkin Bread

BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER
Spicy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Let the holiday aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves fill your kitchen while you bake loaves of this spiced pumpkin bread.

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Tiny Cinnamon Rolls

Photo: Ralph Anderson; Styling: Trinda Gage
Tiny Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
If you need a holiday breakfast in a hurry, these 6-ingredient mini cinnamon rolls are the perfect choice. The secret shortcut is using refrigerated crescent rolls.
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Cranberry-Orange Bread

Jennifer Davick
Cranberry-Orange Bread Recipe
Sweetened dried cranberries, grated orange rind and orange marmalade add festive flavor to this hearty quick bread. And if you prefer muffins, you can spoon this same batter into muffin pans instead of a loaf pan.

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Cranberry-Orange Muffins

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Cranberry-Orange Muffins Recipe
Sprinkle the tops of the glazed muffins with coarse sugar to add texture and a little sparkle.

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Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Photo: Sheri Giblin; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Amy Stone  
Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake Recipe

This is the perfect coffee cake. The lightly tangy raspberry gives a pop of flavor and the decadent cream cheese filling provides texture for a rich, moist cake. Be sure to use raspberry preserves; jam or jelly will sink to the bottom of the pan during cooking. A springform pan allows this cake to rise for a beautiful presentation. Enjoy with family and friends in the morning with coffee or as a snack in the afternoon.

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Whole-Grain Spelt and Cornmeal Biscuits

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Whole-Grain Spelt and Cornmeal Biscuits Recipe

Gently pat the dough flat instead of rolling with a rolling pin. Patting preserves all the pockets of fat needed for flaky biscuits, whereas rolling pancakes them into small, dense pucks. Cut the biscuits into squares to avoid any leftover scraps. Spelt flour adds a deep nutty flavor, but you can use white whole-wheat flour if you can't find spelt.

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Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread

Annie Campbell
Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread Recipe

For a special breakfast that’s sure to impress, this easy Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread is a must. Not only is it a looker, but every fluffy crevice and golden fold of this loaf is smattered with irresistibly buttery, apple and cinnamon-brown sugar goodness. Using canned biscuits keeps this pull-apart bread recipe simple enough for bakers of all skill levels; however, it’s what you bring to the convenience dough product that yields a treat that tastes completely homemade. If you find that your melted butter begins to re-solidify slightly after you’ve stirred in the vanilla extract, no worries—just pop it back into the microwave for a few seconds and proceed with brushing the biscuit dough rounds. When arranging the stacks of dough into your pan, keep in mind that the dough will need space to rise and expand a bit as it bakes. A tangy cream cheese drizzle over the warm cinnamon-apple bread is certainly a welcome finishing touch, but it’s not essential if you’d rather dig in immediately. 

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Orange-Walnut Coffee Cake

Victor Protasio
Orange-Walnut Coffee Cake Recipe

A tall cup of joe knows no better match than a wedge of coffee cake. But standard coffee cake can be a lot first thing in the morning. To build a better breakfast cake that won’t send you into midmorning nap mode, we start by building a whole-grain base bolstered with warm spices and brightened up with citrus juice and zest. The savory notes of olive oil lend complexity, while the oil’s characteristic fruitiness is accentuated by the citrus zest. The finished product: a bakery-quality coffee cake that won't make you sleepy.

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Pumpkin-Maple Loaf

Greg DuPree
Pumpkin-Maple Loaf Recipe

For breakfast on the go, spin this recipe into individually portioned muffins by dividing the batter among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray and baking at 375°F for 22 minutes. To freeze muffins, let cool completely, and place in ziplock plastic bags. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds.

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Sandkaka

Photo: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey and Elise Mayfield; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke and Laura Evans
Sandkaka Recipe

Potato flour serves as the backbone for this delightfully simple Swedish classic. Though gluten-free, sandkaka is similar in texture to a dense, buttery pound cake and, thanks to the starchiness of the potato flour, will retain its moisture for days. 

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Chocolate-Pear Muffins

Linda Pugliese
Chocolate-Pear Muffins Recipe

Looking for a delicious muffin that everyone will love? This easy recipe will be on every bake sale wish list. Anjou pears are best for this recipe because they have a nice amount of sweetness and aren’t overly soft in texture. Look for pears that are ripe but still fairly firm; it doesn’t matter if they are red or green.

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Raspberry, Sumac, and Almond Snack Cake

Annie Campbell
Raspberry, Sumac, and Almond Snack Cake Recipe

Featuring a delightfully crunchy almond topping along with the delicate sunny brightness of sumac, this cake is effortlessly impressive. And given how easy it is to whip up, it’s a perfect go-to recipe for any occasion that calls for a special treat. Lightly toasting the almond flour before incorporating it into the batter imbues the cake with a delicious toasty depth; however, if you’re in a hurry, rest assured, the overall success of the recipe is not incumbent on this step. Serve as-is or with lightly sweetened whipped cream. 

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Braided Lemon Bread

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Braided Lemon Bread Recipe

The perfect recipe for spring. This slightly sweet, lemony, and tender braided bread lands somewhere between brioche and challah. Serve the impressive poppy seed-studded loaf with dinner, use it to for sandwiches, or make an unconventional French toast. 

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Miso Walnut Sticky Buns

Annie Campbell
Miso Walnut Sticky Buns Recipe

Incorporating instant mashed potato flakes into this foolproof sticky bun dough is the secret behind their incredibly moist, tender texture. Meanwhile, using a bit of bread flour, in addition to all-purpose, helps provide structure and height. White miso paste, also known as sweet miso, adds a dynamic element of salt-sweet depth to both the filling and caramel topping—making these a most impressive addition to any brunch spread. Pro-tip: Don’t let the buns rest in the pan for too long after baking as the sticky topping will begin to solidify as it cools, making it difficult to turn them out.  

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Classic Banana Bread

Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Zapalowski
Classic Banana Bread Recipe

This healthier take on banana bread uses yogurt instead of butter, but it's just as moist and indulgent as classic recipes. This banana bread recipe isn't just easy. It's also highly customizable and can adapt to a number of flavors and substitute ingredients. Banana bread should form a crack down the center as it bakes--a sign the baking soda is doing its job. Serve toasted with a smear of cream cheese, Greek yogurt, or peanut and top with mixed nuts, if desired. You can even customize your bread with a crunchy streusal topping that the kids will love.

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Blueberry Scones

Annie Campbell
Blueberry Scones Recipe

When we set out to create the best basic blueberry scone recipe, we knew it needed to be buttery and tender, but not cakey or overtly sweet—dense for sure, but not dry. These deliver on every front. While these blueberry scones are divine as-is, you can customize the recipe with whatever flavor add-ins you like. Try mixing in some spices—we found that ground ginger and ground cardamom (about 1/4 teaspoon each) to be great aromatic flavor compliments to the blueberries—or you could add a little fresh citrus zest to the dough. If you like your scones on the sweeter side, we’ve also included a simple citrus glaze recipe to drizzle over top. You can use fresh lemon or orange here; we actually used a combination of both with very tasty results. In order to prevent soggy blueberry scones, wait to glaze them until you’re ready to serve. 

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Pistachio Tahini Cinnamon Rolls 

Meredith Food Studios 
Pistachio Tahini Cinnamon Rolls  Recipe

Delicious and not too sweet, the flavors of tahini, pistachios, and cardamom combine beautifully in a fluffy, light roll. These cinnamon rolls take a little extra time, but they’re so worth the effort—especially since most of the work is hands-off. Working with yeast is nothing to be afraid of. If you’re worried about your water being too warm or cool, use a thermometer to keep the temperature in check. These rolls would be fantastic at breakfast or brunch, but they’re also perfect for a snack or treat with a cup of coffee or hot tea. 

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Mini Apple Cider Pound Cakes

Mini Apple Cider Pound Cakes Recipe

Finish the cakes with one of the three toppings. Toss together the Streusel Topping before you start baking. Both glazes can be prepped while the cakes cool.

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Gingerbread Loaf

Photo: Jan Smith
Gingerbread Loaf Recipe
This aromatic, spice-filled gingerbread loaf cake is even more moist the next day, so it's well suited to make ahead for a bake sale.

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Blueberry Pound Cake Muffins

Jen Causey; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling Kay Clarke
Blueberry Pound Cake Muffins Recipe

What’s better than blueberry muffins? Blueberry pound cake muffins. These are sweet, fluffy, and rich, with a crispy caramelized top. The blueberries add color and flavor, and the lemon zest adds just enough tartness. 

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