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This wreath bread has a crispy crackly crust and super soft, spongy center. It will rival the taste and texture of your favorite fancy restaurant rolls.
We used our favorite Crusty French bread as the base (super easy with very little active time). Forming it into a Christmas Wreath Bread is beautiful and so special for the holidays. It not only looks amazing, but tastes like it came out of a high end French bakery – holiday worthy!
TIP: Serve it as an edible centerpiece on your holiday table and your guests will be so impressed.
P.S. It’s easy!! Watch the video tutorial and you will quickly realize YOU CAN DO THIS!!
Watch How to Make Wreath Bread:
Did you hear that crunch? This isn’t just a show-stopping “pretty” bread, but really tastes incredible!
Ingredients for Wreath Bread:
1 3/4 cups (14 oz) warm water (100˚F)
1/2 tsp molasses
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
2 1/3 cups (290 grams) unbleached bread flour* plus more for dusting
2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (quick rise)
*To measure flour correctly, spoon into a dry ingredients measuring cup and level the top with the blunt edge of a knife.
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
P.S. I have included Amazon affiliate links to our favorite tools below.
How to Make Wreath Bread:
1. In a large measuring cup, stir together 1 3/4 cups warm water (100˚F) and 1/2 tsp molasses and stir until dissolved.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 1/3 cups bread flour, 2 tsp salt, and 1 1/4 tsp yeast, whisking until combined. Add water-molasses mixture and stir with a spatula until it comes together. Knead by hand 4 minutes. Dough should be soft and sticky to the touch but won’t stick to clean fingertips. If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time (I usually add 2-3 Tbsp extra flour while kneading).
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp (69˚F – 75˚F) for 4 hours. Every hour, punch down dough with a wet hand and fold it over onto itself a few times.
Note: a wet hand will keep the dough from sticking to your hands without adding unnecessary flour.
4. After the 4 hours of rising time, punch down the dough one last time and pinch it in the center to divide into two even pieces. Generously dust 2 pieces of parchment paper with flour. Place each dough piece on it’s own sheet of parchment, turning it to coat in flour. Poke a hole in the center of the dough piece and stretch the dough into a ring about 5-6″ diameter in the center and 9-10″ diameter on the outside. Let the rings rest on parchment at room temperature 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, place an upside-down large baking sheet in the center of your oven with a cast iron or broiler pan on to one side of the bottom rack. With pans in place, preheat oven to 450˚F.
CAUTION: Do not use glass on the bottom rack – you will add ice cubes once the pan is fully preheated which can cause glass to shatter.
6. Sprinkle the top of dough ring with flour. Holding kitchen scissors at a 45˚ angle to the parchment paper, cut deep slits into the dough about 1 1/2″ apart, pulling the points away from the ring as you cut them. Rotate the parchment paper as you slice to maintain the correct cutting angle.
7. Transfer your bread (with the parchment paper) to the preheated oven onto the hot baking sheet and immediately pour 1 cup of ice cubes into the hot cast iron pan on the bottom rack (be careful not to drip on glass surfaces!). Bake at 450˚F for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Repeat step 7 with the second ring.
Print-Friendly Christmas Bread Wreath Recipe:
DIY Wreath Bread (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (14 oz) warm water (100˚F)
- 1/2 tsp molasses
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
- 2 1/3 cups unbleached bread flour, measured correctly,* plus more for dusting
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast, quick rise
Instructions
- In a large measuring cup, combine 1 3/4 cups warm water (100˚F) and 1/2 tsp molasses and stir to dissolve.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 1/3 cups bread flour, 2 tsp salt, and 1 1/4 tsp yeast, whisking until combined. Add water-molasses mixture and stir with spatula until it comes together. Knead by hand 4 min. Dough should be soft and sticky to the touch but won't stick to clean fingertips. If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time (I usually add 2-3 Tbsp extra flour while kneading).
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp (69˚F - 75˚F) 4 hours. Every hour, punch down dough with wet hand and fold it onto itself a few times.
- After the 4 hours of rising time, punch down dough one last time and pinch it in the center to divide into two even pieces. Generously dust 2 pieces of parchment paper with flour. Place dough on parchment, turning it to coat in flour. Poke a hole in the center of each the dough piece and stretch dough into a ring 5-6" diameter in the center and 9-10" diameter on the outside. Let the rings rest on parchment at room temp 30 min.
- Meanwhile, place an upside-down large baking sheet in the center of your oven with a cast iron or broiler pan** set to one side of the bottom rack. With pans in place, preheat oven to 450˚F.
- Sprinkle the top of dough ring with flour. Holding scissors at a 45˚ angle to the parchment paper, cut deep slits into the dough about 1 1/2" apart, pulling the points away from the ring as you cut them. Rotate the parchment paper as you slice to maintain correct cutting angle.
- Transfer 1 ring (with the parchment paper) to the preheated oven onto the hot baking sheet and immediately pour 1 cup ice cubes into the hot cast iron pan below (be careful not to drip on glass surfaces!). Bake at 450˚F for 20 min or until top is golden brown. Repeat step 7 with second ring.
Notes
**CAUTION: Do not use glass or ceramic on the bottom rack - you will add ice cubes once the pan is fully preheated which can cause glass to shatter.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Are you surprised how easy it is to make a bread wreath?!
I hope you all have a beautiful and Merry Christmas!! If you make this wreath bread and share a picture, let me know about it!! If you need more ideas for your holiday menu, check out our Christmas recipes here.
Christmas Blessings to you!
Love,
-Natasha, Vadim and the littles 🙂
Hi Natasha! I am making this beautiful loaf of bread for Thanksgiving. I am going to make, raise, shape and refrigerate, taking it out to raise again before baking. Do you see any issues with doing this? Thank you so much!
I haven’t tested making that version but I think that should be fine. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Natasha,
Excited to try this for Christmas… could I prove it overnight?
Thanks
Nat
Hi! I have refrigerated the dough overnight and then let it get to room temperature and rise before baking the following day and that worked out well.
Hey Natasha, i plan on making this for Christmas and will have to use the oven to make and heat other dishes. Any tips on this? Can I bake both wreaths at once for the sake of time?thanks
Hi Sara, if your oven is large enough to fit both, I bet that could work! I hope you love this recipe!
This looks wonderful! Just wondering if it might work starting off with an overnight poolish (using 1/4 the amount of flour with equal amount of water and 1/8 tsp yeast). I’m sure it’s delicious as written; just trying to increase flavor with a preferment. Thanks!
Hi there, I haven’t tried that version to advise. If you do that experiment, we’d love to know how it turns out!
I made this tonight and it came out delicious. I do need to work on my wreath shaping and cutting using the scissor. It also came out very light in color, not dark and crispy like in your picture. Any tips? Thanks again!
Hi Sara, I’m so glad you thought it was delicious! I wonder if it needed a few more minutes in the oven? If your oven is calibrated in temp, it should be golden by the time the timer runs out, but since ovens vary, it may take slightly longer.
Hey Natasha,
Can I use the hook attachment on a stand mixer to knead? I’ve never kneaded dough before and I’ve had such great success making your clover rolls with the mixer that hand kneading makes me nervous LOL
Hi Rosaria! Yes, it would work in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
I have made this amazing wreath many times – its my go-to for every party (not even just Christmas😊) – in the middle of the wreath I do charcuterie and or spreads/dips – it looks beautiful and I always get a lot of compliments (also have to share the recipe every time! 😉)
What a great idea! Thanks so much for the feedback.
Hi Natasha! What is the best way to recrisp the wreath bread?
Hi Agata! You can re-crisp bread in the oven at 350 for 5-15 mins.
Such a delicious and beautiful bread! This year I’d like to make it ahead of time. After freezing and thawing the fully baked bread, how would I recrisp it?
Thank you!
Hi Kelly, I recrisp it in the oven. I found that if I freeze the bread shortly after it’s baked (once it’s fully cooled to room temperature ofcourse), it will be just like a fresh loaf once it’s thawed and recrisped in the oven.
Hello Natasha , I made this bread and it turned out delicious but much darker. The dough was much darker like almost brown from molasses is that normal?
Hi Olga, did you add just 1/2 teaspoon of Molasses? It should not discolor the bread. Also, make sure you aren’t doing convection oven mode which could burn the bread without an adjustment in temperature or timing.
I finally made it… for Christmas for the first time and will do it again for The New Year Eve… On Christmas, the result was great… I will try better with shaping for New Year… Thank you, Natasha! All 5 stares recipe..
That’s wonderful, Theodora! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you loved my recipe.
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it for Christmas Eve and it was a big hit!
I just have a quick question – after shaping the bread, and while it proofs on the counter – should we cover it with plastic or a dishcloth? Or do you leave it uncovered?
Thanks again,
Ines
P.S. I love ALL your recipes ❤️
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my recipes, Ines! We did not cover the bread after it was shaped. I hope that helps! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hi NATASHA! I have been planing to try this recipe for a long time and finally, I did it… and the result was amazing… I skewed a little bit with the final shaping, but taste result was great… I am so happy! Thank you very much! Appreciated. Have a great Christmas! Blessings!
That’s wonderful, Theodora! Thank you for trying my recipe. I hope you had a lovely Christmas! Be blessed!
I made this using the Red Star Platinum Instant Sourdough yeast. I used 4t. The water has to be between 120°-1300 for this type of yeast. It came out as a fabulous sourdough bread! Thank you so much for your recipes!
I meant the water has to be between 120°-130° with the sourdough yeast.
So glad you loved it! Thank you.