Holiday Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The best thing about holidays, or really any celebration, is gathering with family and community to share time and great food together. Every culture in the world has its traditional, festive holiday recipes, and we set out to find them. Some were shared by our readers—one asked how to adapt her grandmother’s Christmas stollen—or from people we met in the most unlikely places, like the airport limo driver in Denver who told us about Moroccan meloui. There is so much love and joy connected to these breads and the memories they evoke.

 

 

This is a book devoted to the sweeter side of bread—sweet-tasting, of course, but sweet for the soul, too. We’ve always struck a balance in our books between our love of carbs and sweets and our desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We are, after all, a pastry chef and a physician, writing books about bread, so there’s bound to be a push and pull. Creating a book about holiday breads that are mostly full of sugar and butter can pose a philosophical dilemma. Even Zoë, a pastry chef by training, is as conscientious about what she eats and as careful to bake healthfully for her family as Jeff, who’s a physician. And what we’ve discovered in our twelve-year collaboration comes down to this: moderation. Enjoy life, enjoy bread, enjoy sweets; just do it all in moderation, and even the most decadent treats can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

 

We’ve included recipes that are made with whole grains and alternative sweeteners, but we don’t use artificial sweeteners or synthetic fats, since we don’t love the way they taste. If you have specific dietary needs, you may want to consider our book The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which uses whole grains and focuses on a healthy list of ingredients, or for non-wheat eaters, our Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. These books include delicious, indulgent holiday breads too. Most importantly, enjoy all the bread you bake!

Pumpkin Pie Bread 

Autumn is the start of what we Minnesotans call the baking season, when the leaves start to change, the air is crisp, and all we want to do is pour a cup of tea as the kitchen fills up with the smell of baking bread. Pumpkin is one of the most classic fall flavors and is really the heart of the holiday meals to come. This bread is one of our favorite ways to showcase pumpkin: the orange gourd’s subtle flavor blends beautifully with warm spices and is marvelous all on its own, swirled with Nutella or cinnamon, and topped with cream cheese icing. 

 

Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

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