Easy Christmas Funfetti Bread (Using Cake Mix)
This festive Christmas bread is made with colorful sprinkles and cake mix, so it's an easy quick bread to serve as a delicious dessert or breakfast.
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- 14.25 ounce white cake mix
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup red and green jimmies sprinkles
For the Icing Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar (whisked or sifted to break up any clumps)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream (or milk)
- 1-2 pinches salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 8x4" loaf pans liberally with baking spray, such as Baker's Joy. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer), beat together cream cheese and eggs until incorporated. There may still be some small pieces of cream cheese not combined with the liquid--that's okay!
- To this mixture, add the dry cake mix and vegetable oil. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, allowing the batter to start coming together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then turn the mixer to the medium-high setting and beat for about 2 minutes more. The batter should be smooth and creamy.
- Add the red and green sprinkles to the batter, then use a spatula or spoon to gently fold them into the batter by hand. Stir the batter just until the sprinkles are incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans, smoothing out the tops. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn the loaves out onto a wire rack or serving plate to cool completely.
- Once the loaves are completely cool, prepare the glaze. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons of heavy cream (or milk), and a pinch or two of salt in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth. If needed, add more heavy cream to thin the glaze, or a bit more powdered sugar to thicken it.
- Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the loaves, letting it run down the sides of the loaves a bit. Allow the icing to set up for about 10-15 minutes--it will harden to a satiny finish over that time. Then slice and serve!
Notes
- The glaze is technically optional, but we love adding it because it's both pretty and tasty. If you decide to skip the glaze, you could always just dust the loaves with powdered sugar.
- I recommend using baking-safe jimmies sprinkles (these are the slender rod-shaped sprinkles) rather than sanding sugar or non-pareils, as the jimmies are less likely to bleed their dye into the bread when stirring the batter. I used Baker's Choice sprinkles from Amazon.
- Unglazed loaves freeze well--simply wrap cooled loaves well with plastic wrap and freeze. You can make the icing after the loaves have thawed out.
- Heavy cream will yield a slightly thicker texture and richer flavor in the icing, so I prefer it in this recipe. However, if you don't have any on hand, milk will work fine!
- You can bake these loaves in regular loaf pans or change it up and bake in fluted loaf pans for a little something special.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 241kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 205mgPotassium: 40mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 232IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!