Learn how to make a quick and easy Panettone! Indulge in the rich flavors of this traditional Italian sweet bread, perfect for festive gatherings and holiday celebrations.
Panettone is an Italian sweet bread that is traditionally enjoyed at Christmas time. It is a delightfully delicious bread speckled with yummy bites of candied fruit and raisins.
This yummy sweet bread is normally made in a dome shape and rises with the help of yeast.
It reminds me a bit of a fruit cake but NOT your typical hard and yucky kind. This Panettone recipe comes out light and fluffy with a buttery richness and a hint of sweetness from the dried fruit.
If the thought of using yeast and rising bread scares you a bit, don’t let it! With this easy Panettone Christmas Bread recipe, you will be making bread like a pro.
And, did I mention the oh so delicious aroma of homemade panettone wafting through your home? Oh, my! It is enough to make your mouth water!
One piece of equipment you’ll need is a panettone mold. There are two options. You can use a paper panettone mold, which is probably your best option if you’re only making it once a year.
If you plan to make panettone more often, then you might want to invest in a steel panettone mold. If you use it to bake your pannettone dough it will come out with the classic shape.
The one we linked below is a high quality version made in Spain, but it’s still pretty inexpensive.
Paper Panettone Mold
Steel Panettone Mold
If you love yummy baked bread with fruits, be sure and take a look at our Japanese Condensed Milk Bread! It is a mouthwatering bread made with the goodness of sweetened condensed milk, maraschino cherries, raisins, and sliced almonds! It is another easy bread recipe your family is sure to love.
Don’t forget to try our delicious Gingerbread Fudge! It is a must for the holidays as it combines two Christmas classics into one delicious treat perfect for gift giving or holiday cookie trays!
But now, let’s get back to our delicious Panettone Christmas Bread recipe!
Easy Panettone Recipe
Starter ingredients:
¾ cup all purpose flour
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast
⅓ cup cool water
Dough ingredients:
All of the starter
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup lukewarm water (110 degrees)
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup raisins
½ cup diced candied lemon
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup diced candied oranges
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
How to make the starter:
1. Combine the starter ingredients in a medium-size bowl.
2. Cover and allow to rest on the counter overnight (8 to 10 hours.)
How to make the panettone dough:
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
2. Combine all of the ingredients, except the fruits and zest. Mix together by hand or with a dough hook on a stand mixer until you have a soft, smooth dough.
3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise until it is puffy, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
4. Prepare a panettone bread mold with nonstick cooking spray.
5. Gently deflate the dough. Then, knead in the fruits and zest by hand or with a dough hook on a stand mixer.
6. Shape the dough into a ball. Place into the prepared panettone mold. Cover and allow the dough to rise until it has just crested over the rim of the baking mold, about 1 hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bread for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Finally, reduce the oven to 350 degrees and finish baking for 25 to 30 minutes. If you notice the crust beginning to brown, tent tin foil over the loaf. When done, the internal temperature would be 190 degrees.
8. Cool the loaf completely before storing in an airtight container for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
How to mix the dough with a bread machine:
1. Place the water, eggs, vanilla and orange zest into the bread machine. Next, add the sugar, salt, and flour. Dot the butter around the flour. Make an indentation into the flour and add the yeast.
2. Start the bread machine using the “dough” setting.
3. Before the final kneading cycle, add the remaining ingredients to the dough and allow the kneading cycle to finish.
4. Remove the dough and place in a prepared panettone baking mold.
5. Allow to rise and bake as previously directed.
Print this yummy homemade Panettone Christmas Bread recipe!
Easy Panettone Recipe – A Christmas Favorite!
Ingredients
Starter ingredients:
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1/16 teaspoon instant yeast
- ⅓ cup cool water
Dough ingredients:
- All of the starter
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup lukewarm water 110 degrees
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup diced candied lemon
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup diced candied oranges
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
Instructions
How to make the starter:
- Combine the starter ingredients in a medium-size bowl.
- Cover and allow to rest on the counter overnight (8 to 10 hours.)
How to make the dough:
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
- Combine all of the ingredients, except the fruits and zest. Mix together by hand or with a dough hook on a stand mixer until you have a soft, smooth dough.
- Cover the dough and allow to rise until it is puffy, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Prepare a panettone bread mold with nonstick cooking spray.
- Gently deflate the dough. Then, knead in the fruits and zest by hand or with a dough hook on a stand mixer.
- Shape the dough into a ball. Place into the prepared panettone mold. Cover and allow the dough to rise until it has just crested over the rim of the baking mold, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bread for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Finally, reduce the oven to 350 degrees and finish baking for 25 to 30 minutes. If you notice the crust beginning to brown, tent tin foil over the loaf. When done, the internal temperature would be 190 degrees.
- Cool the loaf completely before storing in an airtight container for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
How to mix the dough with a bread machine:
- Place the water, eggs, vanilla and orange zest into the bread machine. Next, add the sugar, salt, and flour. Dot the butter around the flour. Make an indentation into the flour and add the yeast.
- Start the bread machine using the “dough” setting.
- Before the final kneading cycle, add the remaining ingredients to the dough and allow the kneading cycle to finish.
- Remove the dough and place in a prepared panettone baking mold.
- Allow to rise and bake as previously directed.
Nutrition
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Yvonne Holmes says
Just the recipe I have been looking for! Panettone is so yummy –even toasted it is great and with a slatther of cheese whiz OH MY!!!! Heavenly. I will try it in the bread machine next.
Thank you so much for this great tasting recipe.
Yvonne
Donna says
I’ve never tried Panettone before, but it sounds delicious! As you mentioned, it seems a bit like fruit cake, which I really love!