From Vicki Melies, the colorful Golden Santa Bread is sure to be the talk of your Christmas table. "A friend of mine shared this fun idea," Vicki relates from Glenwood, Iowa. "She made it with purchased frozen dough, and I use a family recipe." (To use frozen dough, see the tip below.)
After shaping the dough into a cute Kris Kringle, Vicki brushes on a tinted egg wash for the red coloring and adds raisin eyes. "The finished loaf looks complicated, but it's actually simple to create," she assures.
Tender and golden, the Golden Santa Bread is also entirely edible. But it's so adorable, you'll want to display it a while first!

For dough recipe and baking instructions:


Shaping Santa Step-by-Step


Step 1
On a lightly floured surface, shape the larger portion of bread dough into an elongated triangle with rounded corners for Santa's head and hat.
Step 2
Shape and flatten half of the smaller portion of dough into a beard. Using a scissors or pizza cutter, cut the beard into strips to within 1 in. of the top of the beard.
Step 3
Carefully pick up the cut beard piece with both hands and position the beard on the bottom of Santa's face.
Step 4
If desired, twist the cut strips in the beard and slightly curl up the ends of the strips to shape the beard.
Step 5
Add red food coloring to one beaten egg yolk and carefully brush the tinted red yolk over the hat, nose and cheeks.


Make Santa Even Speedier


Want to save time when making the Golden Santa Bread? Instead of stirring up homemade dough, start with 2 loaves of purchased frozen bread dough and turn them onto a lightly floured surface. Take a small portion of one loaf and add it to the other loaf, making it slightly larger. Then begin shaping the Santa with the dough following the instructions above.