Inside: A modern take on a classic family recipe for old fashioned holiday pull apart bread; perfect for Christmas morning breakfast or for lazy winter weekend mornings.
Well, here it goes! My first ever recipe post on DIY Passion. I needed some serious courage to foray into the realm of baking, but I feel drawn to it this year and so I’m going to follow my gut. My plan is inspired by my Gramma and a collection of her old recipes I have in a spiral bound book. My intention is to pick a recipe, maybe once a month, and attempt it, adapt it and then document the outcome for you in a neat little recipe and baking post.
My hope is that doing so inspires you to be creative and helps to inspire me too! I mean, there are some seriously cool recipes in that book. Most of them are lacking in the details and instructions category though – so this will certainly be an adventure and I wholly anticipate a few fails.

Speaking of which – this old fashioned pull apart bread recipe was handed down generationally in my family. It was a total challenge for me to do because I’d only ever eaten these buns on Christmas morning and I’d never seen them being made before! I had to constantly text my Mom as I was going through the few instructions I had in order to get clarification on a few of the key steps.
My first attempt was a total flop – the buns were too big and glutenous and they didn’t brown the right way. After crowdsourcing with my family over email and text, I had it figured out and was able to try again. My second attempt was nearly perfect and I think my Gramma would be very proud of me!
A couple of things before we get to the actual baking situation: these buns don’t need a butter wash, but you can add butter to get them to brown faster. Also, my Great Aunt Mardi made a note on one of the versions of the recipe about doing a cinnamon dip, which I think would be absolutely divine. Expect that to be one of the things I try next month! I cannot resist a good cinnamon loaf or sprinkle, can you??
Lastly, my best attempt was with the traditional pull apart bread recipe HALVED. I found my standard KitchenAid mixer just couldn’t hold up to the double batch. If you want to double this recipe, I’d literally do it in two batches instead of one double. It will make clean up and managing the dough much simpler.
Fun and festive sweet bread that is pull apart and perfect for Christmas morning breakfast; adapted from an old family recipe. This dough can be frozen before baking and kept for a couple of weeks. Once baked, wrap in plastic and foil tightly and consume within a week.
Old Fashioned Holiday Pull Apart Bread
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Reg
Friday 28th of December 2018
This is adorable and looks delicious! I like that it’s a simple recipe, few ingredients to work with.