- Yield: 3 loafs
- Prep Time: 20 min to make, 2 x 30 to rise dough. minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Serving: For Family
Christmas Fruit Bread-Traditional Newfoundland
Hi and welcome to our website!
If you are looking for a delicious recipe for a Christmas Fruit Bread look no further.
I have a recipe here that is so good you will be making enough bread to freeze for all year around. When I think of dried fruit, I think fruit cake and hot cross buns, but having more recipes that you can make with dried fruit is lovely.
I love braiding and braiding dough is no different it is so lovely, and when this dough is baked the bread is festive and ever so delicious.
How delicious is this Christmas Fruit Bread, and the inside is so beautiful. This recipe and method is super easy to make, just give it a try you will love it.
When I have left over dough I love to make extra things with it like, bread buns and touton.
Traditional Newfoundland Toutons and Frozies
I'm going to share a link to my cookbooks link, one got a few recipes of our Traditional Newfoundland Meals, bread, cakes, dessert. The other got over 50 baking recipes for all occasions.
https://www.bonitaskitchen.com/cookbook
Please continue on with the recipe in question, Traditional Newfoundland Christmas Fruit Bread. Enjoy
Ingredients
- Flour - 7 to 8 Cups
- Yeast - 2 Tbsp
- White Sugar - 3/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp for Yeast
- Vanilla - 1 Tbsp
- Unsalted Butter - ½ Cup
- Sea Salt - ½ Tsp
- Eggs - 2 Large
- Mixed Dried Fruit - 2 Cups
- Water - 1 Cup
- Milk - 2 Cups Fresh or Evaporated
Instructions
- In a measuring cup add 1 cup warm water and 2 tbsp of yeast, 1 tbsp sugar stir together and set aside to rise for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl add 7 cups of sifted flour, 3/4 cup of sugar or less, 1/2 tsp sea salt and 2 cups of dried mixed fruit and peels, mix together until all blended, then make a whole in the middle of mixture.
- In a medium glass bowl add 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 cups warm milk, 2 beaten eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla, mix together until all combined, making sure you don’t cook the eggs then pour in the middle of the flour mixture.
- Then add the risen yeast in the middle of the flour and start mixing with a wooden spoon, mix the liquid and flour all around until everything starts to come together, using the 1 cup flour to work the dough together.
- After it starts to get hard to move with the wooden spoon around in the bowl discard spoon and work the dough with your hand leaving one hand on the bowl and one for the dough, pulling the dough towards you and pushing it down into the bowl adding extra flour as needed. Use kitchen aid if needed.
- When dough becomes a round ball flip it over, make the sign of a cross on top dough, then cut the dough with a knife, cover with a lid or a sheet of parchment paper and a towel, put on the counter in the sun or warm place in your kitchen.
- Let rise until the dough is half the size or around 30 minutes, then knead it down with your hand and rolling the bowl around to equally form the dough into a ball again. Cover put in a warm place again for another 30 minutes.
- Prepare 3 small bread pans or two bread pans and one bunt pan with a hole in the middle to make a christmas wreath with the dough, grease your pans first.
- Cut small pieces of dough off rolling it out wards and in under until you form a ball, place in the pan. continue doing this until you have pans full with three round dough balls each.
- If you would like to make a wreath you will need three pieces of dough, then sprinkle flour over the counter, roll with your hands on the counter top the dough to make three long pieces of dough strings.
- Place the three of them down and pinch the top then make a braid out of the dough by folding each piece over the other until you are at the end.
- Cover the dough and let rise until its half the size or at less more then you started with, let rise for 30 to 40 minutes, when risen pre-heat oven to 350ºf bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown depending on your oven.
- When baked place on a cooling rack, glaze with butter over top and place a piece of parchment paper over with a towel to soften bread and to cool it down.
BAKING TIPS:
- Please Note: Anytime you are working with dough you may need to add more flour or water to have that dough elasticity texture, don’t be afraid to work the dough by kneading it a few extra times for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Using the oven with the LIGHT ON only is a good warm place to rise your dough, set the timer.
Allergens
I love making bread anytime of the year, but making sweet breads always get me excited for christmas season. It don’t matter if its fruit bread or sweet molasses raisin bread, it always remind me of christmas. I will share with you a link to my Sweet Molasses Raisin Bread for you to make, this recipe is so delicious. Traditional Newfoundland Sweet Molasses Raisin Bread
I have another delicious recipe for homemade white bread I can share with you as well, this recipe is one I make every week and my Mom loves to get a bun of the dough to make toutons.
Traditional Newfoundland Homemade White Bread
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our website and for reading my blog, I’m so excited to share my recipes with you and your family. Every recipe got a video tutorial to a step by step cooking class that will help you from start to finish.
Plus if I don’t have the recipe you are looking for send me a message and I would love to help you find that recipe and maybe I will add it to my list and make your recipe on Bonita’s Kitchen for you.
SO HOW GOOD IS THAT! 🙂
I am so glad to share with you my love of cooking and maybe you to will love cooking after you watch our videos.
Before I leave you I would like to thank you once again, From our kitchen to yours, have a lovely day.
Please leave me a message before you go!
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Really enjoyed watching down home cooking style. Hope to see more of your wonderful recipes. Thank you.
You are very welcome and we have many available here for you to enjoy. Stay safe 🙂 Bonita
Thank you for simplifying the mystery of bread making. You have inspired me. I have made your whole wheat bread and am gathering ingredients for the traditional Christmas bread and the molasses raisin bread. I love your videos and feel like I am visiting a friend as I watch you cook. My new dream is to visit Newfoundland someday. Take care during this pandemic . I wish God’s blessings for you and your family.
Hi Gerrie: Thank you for your lovely message and for enjoying our channel and recipes we post. We have many tasty and easy to make recipes here and on youtube. I’m so glad you enjoyed our whole wheat bread recipe and I hope you enjoy our sweet molasses as well. You and your family stay safe and God Bless you as well. 🙂 Bonita
I looked everywhere for my copy of my mother’s Christmas bread recipe. She was from Codroy Valley. I decided to search for it online and came across your recipe and it is exactly as I remember except Mom had some spices in her recipe along with the fruit. Would you have a similar recipe? Maybe I could add some to this recipe. Thank you so much and God Bless!
Hi Evelyn: Thank you for your message and for stopping by, I’m glad you found our recipe and I’m sure I can help you our with the amount of spices you would need to make this like your moms recipe. When you add the flour all you need to do is a 1 tsp all-spice, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg mix it the same way my video shows you. Enjoy to the fullest and please follow up with me and let me know what you think. Merry Christmas and welcome to our website. 🙂 Bonita
Hi Bonita. It is a cold wet day here in Eastern Ontario and i thought i would try your recipe for your Christmas bread. I just took it out of the oven and it is absolutely wonderful. Needless to say i will not need to eat supper. Thank you for your wonderful recipes and your lovely ingredients that we can get most of here. I love watching your videos and look forward to enjoying more with the long cold winter coming. Have a lovely day and tell your husband i think he is a wonderful guitar player.
Hi Cynthia: Thank you for your lovely message and for making our Christmas Bread recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed to and I will share your comment with Raymond and his guitar playing. Thank you for enjoying our channel and we have a NEW recipe and video posted every Sunday. 🙂 Enjoy Bonita