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Perfect Italian Panettone Made in a Bread Machine and Baked in the Oven

Make perfect Italian panettone dough in your bread machine, then bake it in the oven for professional results in your own kitchen!

Perfect Italian Panettone

What is Panettone?

Panettone is a traditional Italian yeast cake which is made and eaten primarily at Christmastime.

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It’s a cross between a cake and bread, and isn’t very sweet at all. There are different kinds, but they are always lightly sweetened, and usually, dotted with candied fruit, raisins, and sometimes nuts, soft fillings, and more recently, chocolate. 

top of panettone

Purchased panettoni are always baked in a special paper case, and you can buy them to make your own professional looking cakes at home. However, there’s no need to buy anything as long as you have a brown paper lunch bag. (If you want to make them look fancy, you can buy these on Amazon.)

A recent review (Dec 2022) “I followed Christina’s recipe to the “T” and the result was a wonderful panettone that tasted much better than anything I could find in stores. Thank you, Christina!”   – Brenda

Perfect Italian Panettone

Years ago, I wanted to make my own panettone and adapted a recipe from my Fresh Ways with Italian Cooking cookbook and made it in my bread machine. I only made the dough in the machine though, as I didn’t want a “bread-machine-shaped panettone”! Now you can follow my directions below for perfect Italian panettone like the one in the photos!

More Italian Christmas recipes can be found here.

authentic italian christmas recipes pin

How are you Supposed to Eat Panettone? (Like Italians Do)

The most popular way to eat panettone (and how you should eat it) is to slice it and enjoy it like a regular piece of cake, except you don’t have to eat it with a fork. Seeing some tips (online) on how to eat panettone has me shaking my head. PLEASE DO NOT PUT PANETTONE ON A CHEESE BOARD to dunk into dips! This cake/bread is so delicious, there’s not need to cover up the flavor by dipping it into something. I can guarantee, no Italians are doing this.

When panettone begins to get stale, and this will take quite a long time, you can toast it, serve it for breakfast with jam, or another spread. Panettone makes excellent bread and butter puddings! It’s also desirable to cut into cubes and use for a sweet fondue, like chocolate (this is an acceptable way to “dip” panettone). Do enjoy a slice with a cup of tea or coffee, or even better, some Prosecco! (I love La Marca!) 

What Type of Panettone is this Recipe?

unbaked panettone in pan

The recipe is for a Venetian-style panettone, which are taller and more thin than other panettoni. It includes directions for using a brown paper lunch bag for the panettone to rise and bake in–if you don’t have a panettone pan or paper case. I’m over the moon with this Silverwood pan which I was gifted by the Bee’s Knees British Imports! They have so many interesting pans, especially for British baking, since they are made in England!

silverwood panettone pan

I don’t like candied peel or almonds in my panettone, so I omitted them and used raisins and sultanas, instead. Incidentally, this election cake is something along the same lines as a panettone given that it’s made with yeast, but is a sweet cake.

Perfect Italian Panettone with poinsettia and candelabra

You can choose to add whatever you like, as I said, chocolate pieces or chips have made their way into panettoni nowadays. If you don’t finish it off in a few days, perfect Italian panettone makes the best bread and butter pudding! Cut it into chunks and dry it off in the oven (or even in the toaster, before you cut it up into pieces). 

panettone piccoli
Panettone make beautiful gifts, especially when made in miniature pans.

If you want to learn more about Venetian food, and Venice, in general, be sure to follow Luca at Luca’s Italy. You’ll love him and his site, especially because he’s British Italian, like me! :) So, he’s English Italian and not Scottish Italian, but we can’t all be perfect–just kidding! 

As always, I highly recommend using a scale when baking for best results.

November 2020: I’ve been asked for directions without using a bread machine so I’m adding that option, too.

Panettone baked in a Silverwood pan
Panettone baked in a Silverwood pan

Perfect Italian Panettone

Adapted from Fresh Ways with Italian Cooking                                     serves 16

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

  • egg yolks
  • vanilla
  • sugar
  • lemon rind
  • orange rind
  • salt
  • unsalted butter
  • organic, unbleached flour
  • dry yeast 
  • sultanas
  • raisins

Topping

  • egg white
  • sugar cubes or Swedish pearl sugar

Special equipment needed: parchment paper, a 6″ panettone baking pan OR a brown paper lunch bag and 6″ round baking pan

Prepare the dough in the bread machine.

Place the water, egg yolks, vanilla, and grated peel into the bread machine first. Next add the sugar, salt, flour and pieces of butter around the outside of the metal pan on top of the flour (see photo below). Make an indentation in the flour and add the yeast. Start the bread machine on “dough” setting.

ingredients in a bread machine

When the machine beeps to add additional ingredients to the dough, toss in the sultanas and raisins, and allow the cycle to finish. Keep an eye on the dough after it’s finished and allow to rise until doubled in size. (Alternatively, you can remove the dough and put it in a large sealed container and allow to rise in the refrigerator overnight.)

Prepare the dough in a mixer.

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water (helps if the bowl is warm, too) and let stand for a few minutes. Add the sugar, salt, 1/2 cup butter, yolks, vanilla, citrus peel and about half of the flour. Set on low speed with a dough hook until flour is moistened, then increase to high for about 5 to 10 minutes untill the dough is shiny and smooth. Add the remaining flour and continue to knead until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

panettone dough in bread machine

Prepare the dough by hand.

Follow the mixer directions above until it’s time to turn on the mixer. Stir the ingredients with a heavy spoon. Place on a board, add the rest of the flour and  knead the dough until it is smooth and springy (about 5 to 10 minutes). It will be soft and slightly sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

You can make these cinnamon rolls in the bread machine, too!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

How to Make a Baking Case for Perfect Italian Panettone Using a Lunch Bag 

  1. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the 6″ pan; butter or spray the circle of paper and place it in the bottom of the pan.
  2. Cut another piece of parchment to line the inside of the brown paper bag (so the bread will bake inside parchment without touching the brown paper) after you have cut the bottom out of the bag.
  3. Fold the top edge down to form a cuff then butter or spray (I used a coconut oil spray as it’s much easier than using butter) the inside of the parchment. It should be about 6.5″ tall when finished.
  4. Place the paper case in the pan.

Paper case for Perfect Italian Panettone made in bread machine and cooked in the oven.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and knead into a ball.

dough out of machine

Place it into the pan/paper case.

dough going into pan

Allow to rise until almost doubled. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.

panettone dough

While the oven is heating, brush the top of the panettone dough with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with the crushed sugar cubes.

sprinkling sugar on panettone

Bake for 30 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325°F/160°C and continue to bake until a long, thin skewer comes out clean (about another half an hour). If the top browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Remove the perfect Italian panettone from the oven and allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes.

Perfect Italian Panettone made in bread machine

After 15 minutes, remove the panettone from the pan (my bag slipped right off). Place on rack until completely cool.

Perfect Italian Panettone made in bread machine
Baked in a paper lunch bag.

Finally, you can cut your perfect Italian panettone into tall slices and serve.

Perfect Italian Panettone made in bread machine

Now you can add perfect Italian panettone to your list of “things I’ve baked”! Isn’t it impressive?

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Perfect Italian Panettone Made in a Bread Machine and Baked in the Oven

Perfect Italian Panettone Made in a Bread Machine and Baked in the Oven

Yield: 16
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

A traditional Italian cake made with yeast that's popular during the Christmas holidays!

Ingredients

  • 6 oz (175 ml) warm water (about 110°F/43°C)
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 c (100 g) sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon rind
  • 1 tsp orange rind
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c (115 g) good quality unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
  • 3 1/4 cups (454 g) organic, unbleached flour
  • 1/4 oz (7 g) or 1 pkg dry yeast (preferably for bread machines, but any type will work-I used regular)
  • 1/2 c (70 g) sultanas
  • 1/2 c (70 g) raisins

Topping

  • 1 egg white, slightly beaten
  • 4 crushed sugar cubes or Swedish pearl sugar

Instructions

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: parchment paper, a brown paper lunch bag and 6" round baking pan.

Make the dough.

  1. Place the water, egg yolks, vanilla, and grated peel into the bread machine first. Next add the sugar, salt, flour and pieces of butter around the outside of the metal pan on top of the flour (see photo below). Make an indentation in the flour and add the yeast. Start the bread machine on "dough" setting.
  2. When the machine beeps to add additional ingredients to the dough, toss in the sultanas and raisins, and allow the cycle to finish. Keep an eye on the dough after it's finished and allow to rise until doubled in size. (Alternatively, you can remove the dough and put it in a large sealed container and allow to rise in the refrigerator overnight.)


NOTE: BY REQUEST, I'M ADDING ALTERNATE DIRECTIONS

Prepare the dough in a mixer.

  1. In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water (helps if the bowl is warm, too) and let stand for a few minutes.
  2. Add the sugar, salt, 1/2 cup butter, yolks, vanilla, citrus peel and about half of the flour. Set on low speed with a dough hook until flour is moistened, then increase to high for about 5 to 10 minutes untill the dough is shiny and smooth.
  3. Add the remaining flour and continue to knead until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Prepare the dough by hand.

  1. Follow the mixer directions above until it's time to turn on the mixer. Stir the ingredients with a heavy spoon.
  2. Place on a board, add the rest of the flour and  knead the dough until it is smooth and springy (about 5 to 10 minutes). It will be soft and slightly sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Prepare the pan/baking case:

  1. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the 6" pan; butter or spray the circle of paper and place it in the bottom of the pan.
  2. Cut another piece of parchment to line the inside of the brown paper bag after you have cut the bottom out of the bag.
  3. Fold the top edge down to form a cuff then butter or spray (I used a coconut oil spray as it's much easier than using butter) the inside of the parchment. It should be about 6.5" tall when finished. Place the paper case in the pan.
  4. Or else use a panettone pan like this one.Shape the dough
  1. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and knead into a ball then place it into the pan/paper case and allow to rise until almost doubled. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
  2. While the oven is heating, brush the top of the panettone dough with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with the crushed sugar cubes.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F/160°C and continue to bake until a long, thin skewer comes out clean (about another half an hour). If the top browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes.
  4. After 15 minutes, remove the panettone from the pan (my bag slipped right off). Place on rack until completely cool. Cut into tall slices and serve.

Notes

Stale panettone makes excellent bread and butter puddings!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 153Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 97mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is only estimated.

Did you make this recipe?

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100 Comments

  1. Hi, Christina,

    We lived in Australia for a time, and found that sultanas there were pretty much the same as American raisins. Australian raisins were a larger dried fruit.
    When your recipe asks for sultanas and raisins, I’m confused. What do you mean in terms of dried fruits readily available in the U.S.?
    Thank you for clearing up my confusion.

      1. I’ve baked these the past few years successfully and really loved them. This year I’ve had 3 failures. Just realised it’s down the the sugar! 170g is way too much – half a cup should be 100g!

        1. Hi Russell, you are so right! I don’t know how that happened, but I also noticed the fruit measurement was off in weight so I have fixed them all. Sorry about that, maybe you used cups in the past and weighed the ingredients this year? I always advise weighing so I apologize for that! Thanks for letting me know!

          1. Thanks for sorting Christina, have enjoyed making these for the past few years now, they make an amazing gift. Did a couple after spotting the weight problem and they worked out perfectly. Last one a nice tall one with cherry and sultanas in, went down well on New Years Eve! Thanks for publishing this recipe.

  2. In the post, you show a picture of small loaf pans with panettone. Was wonder if there are any special instructions for doing this instead of a tall pan?

  3. I’m not sure if this panettone is “perfect” because it’s the first one I’ve made and therefore have nothing to compare it to, but it’s excellent. The crumb is open, soft, moist and tender and the flavour is wonderful. Instead of the paper bag, I used a round 7″ x 3″ cake pan and lined it with a parchment collar that extended about 2″ above the top rim of the pan. I used a stand mixer and would change the prep the next time because the dough took forever to rise. I’ve made many enriched doughs and typically the butter is added in small portions after the dough has passed the windowpane test, not at the beginning with the rest of the ingredients. as this recipe instructs. I will also reduce the amount of sugar the next time since sugar can slow the rise, or add a bit more yeast. I made a few subtle changes to the recipe but none that would have altered the structure of the dough. Instead of raisins I used currants and glace cherries, added 1/2 cup shaved almonds, a rounded teaspoon of anise and 1/2 tsp almond extract. I macerated the currants and cherries in rum for 24 hours then drained them before adding to the dough. As with brioche, I bulk fermented the dough overnight in the fridge, but for the first time, the dough didn’t rise. After 8 hours at room temperature it was puffed but hadn’t doubled. The final rise was 4 hours. and again the dough wasn’t doubled. I was concerned that the bread would be heavy and dense, but the oven spring was amazing and the baked bread was over 6″ tall. Before baking I brushed the top with a beaten egg white, sprinkled it with turbinado sugar, cut a small shallow X in the centre and placed a pat of cold butter on the X to melt into the bread as it baked. Delicious!!

    1. Hi Sadie, I’m sooo sorry I am seeing this almost 11 months later! Sounds like you had a great success with this panettone! The rising depends on so many factors, but sounds like you nailed it! Good job and hope you continue to make more panettone! :)