This delicious cherry-filled candy cane braided bread is drizzled with sweet vanilla icing! This sweet bread is the perfect treat for the holidays. The best part? It’s a 90-minute recipe!
This is just one of many recipes that I make using this same sweet dough recipe. If you like this one, you might also like these homemade bread recipes: quick-rise pumpkin cinnamon rolls, lemon sweet rolls, or quick-rise cinnamon rolls.
Watch our step by step video!
I have a slight problem with baking an insane amount of goodies during December. And yes, I’ve already started! Here is a sneak peek into my busy kitchen!
Years ago a friend gave us a beautifully braided tree pastry as a Christmas gift. It was made out of sweet dough, filled with cinnamon and sugar, braided to look like a tree, then drizzled in vanilla glaze. She added maraschino cherries after baking to look like ornaments. It was so fun and delicious too.
Inspired by her creativity, I made a cherry-filled candy cane braided bread for our family to enjoy!
How To Make a Braided Candy Cane Loaf
Cherry Candy Cane Braided Bread Recipe
(scroll down for printable version)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove it from the heat. Mix in butter; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. (Note: You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook, or use a danish dough hook (my favorite kitchen tool) to make your dough. Either way works, it’s a pretty simple dough to make.)
- When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
Cherry Christmas Loaf
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 large egg
- 1 can cherry pie filling
Vanilla Glaze
- 2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 Tbsp. hot water
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in butter; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk/yeast mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll out dough into a 15×10 inch rectangle.
- Transfer dough to a greased baking sheet (or parchment paper lined baking sheet) and spoon pie filling down the center, about 3″ wide.
- Cut strips down each side of the dough, just to the filling. 3/4″-1″ wide.
- Begin folding sides over each other, alternating left to right. Press down to seal ends.
- (You can leave it as is, or shape into a candy cane.)
- Stretch loaf out to about 20″ long and fold down to form candy cane shape.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then drizzle with vanilla glaze.
- Vanilla Glaze: Mix powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir in water, 1 T. at a time until smooth.
- Drizzle over warm loaf of bread.
Notes
Nutrition
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
This was the first time I have tried to make a braided bread like this. Directions were easy to follow and it was delicious!
Awesome! So glad to hear! 🙂
Will be making this again this year! It’s a go to for Christmas, Easter in shape of a wreath dotting the top with berries. Also, make it during the year with different homemade fillings. This year I may add a sweetened cream cheese bottom layer.
My family L❤️VES IT!! THANK YOU FOR MAKING ONE ASPECT OF THE SEASON OR 1 OF MY BAD TBI HEAD DAYS EASIER!!
Now to see what of your new cookie recipes to add this year..Gideon’s dup…Definitely!
Michele, I love hearing this! Merry Christmas!
Can this dough be started in a bread machine?
Sure!
Could you put cream cheese in this with the pie filling?
I don’t see why not! I bet it’d be yummy!
I remember making these braided candy canes for Christmas every year in Home Ec in High school w/ our Teacher Mrs. Linda Bennett. She was awesome. We always ate most of it before we made it home lol.
Brandy, Thanks so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it. I am planning to pick cherries sometime next week and I will make some into pie filling to use in your recipe which sounds wonderful. I love cherries and they are healthy for you too. I love to bake so this should be fun.
Judy
Congratulations! Your post was my feature pick at #ThursdayFavoriteThings this week. Visit me at https://www.marilynstreats.com on thursday morning to see your feature! All hosts choose their own features from the comments left on their blog so be sure to return to my blog to see your feature. I invite you to leave more links to be shared and commented upon. Please don’t forget to add your link numbers or post title so we can be sure to visit!
Your Candy Cane Braided Bread looks fabulous! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipes with us at Full Plate Thursday!
Miz Helen
This candy cane braided bread turned out so cute. Found you at Best of the Weekend.
This was amazing! Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome! I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
Hello,
Is the instant yeast you use considered the rapid rise kind or regular instant yeast?
Thank you,
Renee
I just use the regular instant yeast.
I’ve seen regular yeast and rapid rise yeast, but never heard of or seen instant yeast.
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/yeast-the-basics/
I buy it at Sam’s Club in a 2-pack and it lasts forever. I attached a link that explains the differences in active, instant and fresh yeast.
Bonsoir,
Que signifie “1 peut remplir de tarte aux cerises”? Est-ce simplement des cerises?
Merci
Lavande
Hello!
Cherry filling is a cooked cherry pie filling that you can buy in a can here in the United States. I’m not sure what it would be called internationally! Here is what it looks like: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Comstock-Original-Country-Cherry-Pie-Filling-Or-Topping-21-oz/10307753?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1841&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-51320962143&wl5=9008492&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=10307753&wl13=1841&veh=sem
The vanilla glaze is unclear….how much of each ingredient is needed? Thanks so much
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons to 4 hot water
Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Come to next weeks Thanksgiving party on Tuesday at 8:00 am, CST, see you then!
Miz Helen
This looks so festive and delicious. I must share.
Pinned! This sounds amazing! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Brandy, This looks absolutey heavenly!
Thank you, Theresa!
Could I am it the day before and then cook it Christmas morning ?
Hi Joleen! I would think that you could put it together the night before and leave it in the refrigerator until Christmas morning then bake it, but I’ve honestly never tried that before.
I’m assuming it would be ok, but I don’t like cherries and was going to use strawberries instead. Do you think it would still turn out ok? I am not really a baker but this is really cute for Christmas!
Hi Katie! I haven’t made many recipes with baked strawberries so I’m not sure how they would hold up or change. Cherries work well and are sturdy. But it would be worth a try! Or use apple pie filling, or pretty much any kind of pie filling…except for cherry 🙂
This looks great! I’m wondering if i could use some pre-made dough instead? I am not a great baker so starting easy would be great! Thank you!
I think you totally could! Maybe even a puff pastry or pre-made frozen bread dough. Good luck!
So cute and yummy looking! I wonder how it would be with a cream cheese/powdered sugar mixture under the cherry pie filling? I must try it!
This looks great! What are your thoughts about making this ahead of Christmas morning?
I think making it the night before would be just fine! 🙂
This looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing your braid tutorial. You made it look easy. Happy Holidays!
This is gorgeous — almost too pretty to eat! Thanks for sharing at merry monday! 🙂
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us. Enjoy your new Red Plate and come back real soon!
Miz Helen
I love anything cherry and this is so pretty! I can’t wait to try this over the holidays! You’re our most popular link last week and we’re featuring this post at our Best of the Weekend party tonight! Thanks for sharing your yummy post with us!
Looks delish! Thanks for joining the #InspirationSpotlight party. Shared
Visiting from Dishing It & Digging It.
This looks delicious!!
Hi there do I have to store in it fridge or can it be stored in a tight container on counter? Thanks
Hi! I usually store it on the counter, but it’s never lasted more than a day or two before being eaten. Any longer and you might want to refrigerate it.
I made this for Christmas morning last year!!
It was Fabulous, everyone loved it!!
Is there an easy way to print the recipe on the iPhone without all the ads?
Hi Michele! I’m so glad to hear that! Unfortunately I don’t think there is a way to print from the iPhone and take off the ads. If you click the “print & pdf” icon from a computer/laptop you have the option to print without images and ads, just text. I wish I could be of more help!
Cherry pie filling is my favorite! I can’t wait to make this with my 6 year old granddaughter!
I so pinned this! YUM!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
I also started to try some new christmas recipies for the family 🙂 I think I will try yours too, looks soooo delicious!
Cheers,
Emese
This recipe sounds scrumptious and looks so pretty. I imagine you can easily shape it into a ring or leave it long like a streusel. We’re definitely going to want to try this recipe out. Thanks for sharing.
This look soooo yummy ! Love the idea !
What a cute idea! I literally just made something similar but yours are way cuter in design! I can’t wait to try this out!
This looks delicious! Love that you shaped it into a candy cane. This is a must try!
What is tinstant yeast? Never heard of it
1 T. instant yeast
Hi there, does this mean 1 tablespoon or 1 teaspoon. I’m from Australia and we don’t abbreviate it this way.
Hi Monica! 1 T= Tablespoon 1 tsp.= teaspoon 🙂