Christmas Bread

Christmas Morning would not be complete without the Yummy Dickinson Christmas Bread! Honestly I cannot remember a Christmas morning without it! So today I pulled out the recipe, gathered the supplies, called in Scott my husband to help, and started making our Christmas tradition. Today I used my bread mixer, but most times I knead the bread by hand in honor of my mother and her amazing biceps!  

Below is the recipe I wrote down as my mom walked me through the process 40 plus years ago. The picture below is the day I wanted to make sure that the recipe and tradition lived on as my daughter Lyndsey and I baked the bread together a few years ago.

Dickinson Christmas Bread

Add 3 T. (or 1 pkg.) yeast to 1 cup lukewarm water. Stir and let sit to make a sponge.

• Scald 1 cup milk on medium heat. Remove milk from heat and add 1 stick butter, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 sugar. Let milk mixture cool to room temperature.

• Mix yeast, milk mixture and 1 egg together.

• Mix in approximately 5 1/2 cups flour (1 cup at a time) until the dough pulls from the edges. (You want the dough to be slightly sticky).

• Knead the dough. Let rise covered in a buttered, covered bowl in a warm area for about an hour.

• Punch the dough down.

• Melt 1 stick of butter in a small bowl. Mix sugar and cinnamon in another and set aside.

• Coat the inside of two bunt pans with butter and then generously sprinkle brown sugar in the bottom. Place red and green pineapple and cherry candies in the bottom forming holly.

• Roll the dough into small 1” balls. Roll each ball in the melted butter and then the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place in the pans. Making one row of tightly fitted balls. (If dough remains after filling two pans, simply use the remaining dough to make rolls).

• Cover the filled bunt pans and let rise for 30 minutes.

• Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

• Remove from oven, dump carefully on a plate and let cool.

• Drizzle powder sugar glaze over the bread, and you are ready for Christmas Morning.