The BEST episodes of Holiday Baking Championship

#1 - Gingerbread House Party

Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/16/2024

In the season finale, host Jesse Palmer is throwing a gingerbread house party with all the trimmings! In the preheat, the bakers create faux candy desserts, traditional candy decorations that are actually desserts on the inside. Then, the competitors must take inspiration from holiday eggnog flavors to create the most impressive eggnog desserts for judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller, and one baker will be eliminated. For the final challenge, the bakers construct gingerbread house cakes in unique architectural styles like modern, Tudor, cozy cottage or castle. In the end, only one baker will be named Holiday Baking Champion and take home $25,000!

#2 - Ultimate Holiday Party

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/20/2021

Host Jesse Palmer kicks things off with a swanky Christmas open house for judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall and asks the bakers to create dessert charcuterie boards. Then, the bottom two bakers face off in a sudden elimination challenge of dueling holiday pinata desserts. In the final main heat, the competitors take on holiday party theme cakes and incorporate lights into their designs. The most successful cake maker becomes the Holiday Baking Champion and walks away with $25,000!

#3 - Season's Best

Season 10 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/6/2023

Mmm … can you smell it? The sweet aroma of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, or is it the pumpkin-spiced latte you're sipping? For the preheat, host Jesse Palmer asks the bakers to combine two of the fall season's best treats and make seasonal coffee drink cinnamon rolls. Then, the bakers roll right into the main heat with a fall-themed yule log that Jesse calls Thanksgiving Swiss Rolls. In the end, judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide which baker is rolling home.

#4 - Dining Out for the Holidays

Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/2022

The holidays are a season for indulgence, so some families splurge on their festive celebrations at a steakhouse. In the Preheat, host Jesse Palmer asks the bakers to transform classic steakhouse desserts into holiday treats. For the Main Heat, the competitors turn one of the most-iconic steakhouse desserts into a baked Alaska Christmas tree. In the end, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall will send one baker home.

#5 - Holiday Pajama Party

Season 11 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/9/2024

Get cozy for the holiday pajama party! Host Jesse Palmer tasks the bakers with making footie pajama macarons in the preheat. Then, it's time to decorate the tree as the bakers team up to make cream puff garlands. Finally, the competitors must make white elephant desserts consisting of either a Charlotte royale, entremets cake or a dacquoise cake and decorate it with a holiday stuffed cuddle toy. The stakes are high as judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide who will advance to the finale.

#6 - Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/6/2021

For the exclusive holiday desserts preheat, the six remaining bakers try to impress judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall by making tasty treats for guests with a dietary restriction. In the main heat, host Jesse Palmer challenges the competitors to update an assigned vintage holiday dessert to create a new Christmas delight.

#7 - It's the Inside That Counts

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/30/2020

Host Jesse Palmer gives the seven bakers advent calendars filled with different types of chocolate to inspire them to make desserts with a surprise inside. Then, for the main heat, the competitors must bake one delicious cheesecake with three different flavors for judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

#8 - Gettin' Gifty with It

Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/2/2019

Jesse Palmer teaches the six bakers a lesson in repurposing holiday gifts in the first round, when they must turn panettone, the classic holiday Italian sweet bread, into an entirely new dessert. Then they're challenged to create a beautifully decorated cupcake mosaic inspired by a pair of holiday pajamas. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale send one baker packing.

#9 - North Pole Vaulting

Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/9/2019

Jesse Palmer challenges the five bakers to create assigned desserts that are inspired by and look like Santa Claus. To secure their place in the final four, the bakers are tasked with creating impressive cakes made to look like another icy North Pole staple: an igloo. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale decide which bakers move on to the next round and which one goes home.

#10 - Holiday Style

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/2/2020

The competition kicks off for 12 bakers with holiday decorated quick bread wreaths. In the main heat, the competitors must make a winter hat cake to charm the judges.

#11 - Christmas Windows in Time

Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/21/2020

Dressed as a Christmas tree, host Jesse Palmer kicks things off by asking the final four competitors to honor the holiday tree in the form of a beautifully decorated macaron tower. In the Christmas past, present and future main heat, the bakers must feature an assigned icing style in a stunning cake that evokes their assigned time period -- marzipan from the past, buttercream from the present or mirror glaze from the future. In the end, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall will decide the one baker who will be crowned Holiday Baking Champion and walk away $25,000 richer!

#12 - Cookie Exchange Party

Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/25/2024

Host Jesse Palmer throws a holiday cookie exchange party, and the bakers must create flavor-forward seasonal cookies -- but no decorated sugar cookies or gingerbread allowed! Judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide the winner of the preheat in a blind tasting, and the bakers get to vote for their favorite cookie as well! Then, the bakers must rise to the occasion by making holiday cookie cakes that feature two different types of cookies, a minimum of four layers and a flavor twist to help wash it all down.

#13 - Twelve Days of Christmas

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/2017

The final three bakers grab two last minute holiday gifts and combine them into one impressive dessert. Then in the main heat, bakers must create a show-stopping 12 Days of Christmas dessert that illustrates a line from the famous song. The winning baker walks away with $50,000 and the title of Holiday Baking Champion!

#14 - Holiday Goodie Games

Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/9/2020

Host Jesse Palmer asks the 10 bakers to highlight a nut or seed in a holiday dessert. Then, the competitors spin a wheel to determine which fundamental holiday ingredient -- holiday spice, dried fruit or holiday spirits -- they must add to unseasonable desserts, like icebox cakes or fruit tarts. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall make the call on which bakers pull it off.

#15 - Filling Grateful

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/11/2019

The popularity of holiday spiced nuts inspires Jesse Palmer's challenge to the nine bakers: Use the crowd-pleasing holiday gift to create holiday spiced nut desserts. In the main heat, each baker must make three pies using an assigned harvest ingredient and decorate each pie crust differently. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale send one baker packing.

#16 - Gifts That Keep on Giving

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/29/2021

In honor of the Hanukkah oil that kept burning, host Jesse Palmer asks the seven remaining bakers to create festive Hanukkah olive oil cakes. In the main heat, it's all about gift exchange desserts as the competitors randomly choose a dreaded holiday dessert and attempt to spin it into holiday happiness to please judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

#17 - Holiday Movie Magic

Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/5/2022

With the popularity of English period dramas at an all-time high, host Jesse Palmer dons a Regency-era waistcoat and challenges the bakers to create a splendid holiday high tea. In the Main Heat, it's all about the rom-com as bakers use an ingredient inspired by a holiday movie trope to create a dessert that's dripping with festive decorations. After all the desserts are tasted by judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall, one baker will be sent out the door as the credits roll.

#18 - Turkey Day Delights

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/19/2018

#19 - Plenty of Gratitude

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/12/2018

For the pre-heat, the eight bakers work in teams to make four different kinds of pies on the same sheet pan; in the main heat, the bakers embrace the stuffed feeling after the Thanksgiving meal by making stuffed cakes featuring seasonal ingredients.

#20 - Topsy-Turvy Holidays

Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/7/2020

Host Jesse Palmer is turning things on their heads as he challenges the six competitors to work in teams to create jelly doughnut-inspired desserts, a twist on traditional Hanukkah jelly doughnuts. Then, the bakers get creative with the yummiest, gooiest holiday decorated upside-down cakes to satisfy judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

#21 - Old-Fashioned Christmas Party

Season 11 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/18/2024

Host Jesse Palmer steps back in time to the Victorian era for an old-fashioned Christmas party. In the preheat, the remaining nine bakers are tasked with making fruitcake-blend desserts with a marinated mix of dried fruit, spices and liquor. Then, the bakers must make Lambeth cakes featuring intricate piping, strong color schemes and an unexpected twist featuring an old-timey ingredient. Judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide which baker will be eliminated.

#22 - Yule Be Merry

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/8/2021

The bakers team up to take on boozy desserts and are challenged with five different styles of yule log cakes in 10 different flavor combinations.

#23 - Feeling Sweet and Thankful

Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/21/2022

These days, holiday turkeys can be smoked, fried, brined, roasted and bacon-wrapped, so host Jesse Palmer uses the five-way turkey as inspiration for the bakers' Preheat challenge. Then, the competitors divide into teams to create a flight of pies that takes judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall on a flavor progression journey, just like a flight of bourbon. Bottom crusts up, everyone! In the end, one baker goes home.

#24 - Trendsetting Turkey Day

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/25/2019

In the first challenge, Jesse Palmer tasks the seven bakers with taking a beloved holiday appetizer to a whole new level with baked Brie and jam mini pies. The main heat is all about being prepared for greatness as the bakers take a prepared ingredient and use it to make a crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving dessert. In the end, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale send one competitor home.

#25 - Take Holiday Pies by Surprise

Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/16/2020

Host Jesse Palmer loves both cookies and pies, so he asks the nine bakers to make holiday cookie-topped mini pies. Then, Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall judge the pie pandemonium as the competitors celebrate fall with flavor combos such as pumpkin-cider and chestnut-chocolate in double crust, cream pies, slab pies, lattice pies and custard pies.