Panettone is famously tricky to master—but this Panettone Sourdough Bread gives you all the flavor of this classic Italian dessert in a much simpler, sourdough-friendly bake. It has the same rich, festive taste you expect from traditional panettone, without the intensive technique.
After spending years trying (and struggling!) to perfect traditional panettone, I finally thought: why not start with my viral buttery Sourdough Croissant Bread, enrich it with an egg yolk and a bit more sugar, and let sourdough do the rest? The result is an incredible holiday treat that’s soft, airy, and richly flavored with a beautiful Italian-inspired sweetness. It pulls apart like a dream and is absolutely delicious. Enjoy during the Christmas and Easter seasons, or any time you want a slice of this sweet, enriched sourdough panettone bread.
What is Sourdough Panettone?
Sourdough panettone is a naturally leavened Italian-style holiday bread made with sweet, enriched dough. Traditional panettone uses a stiff starter (lievito madre) and a multi-day process, while this easier sourdough version delivers the same buttery, citrus-vanilla flavor using a standard sourdough starter.
Traditional Panettone vs. Easier Sourdough Panettone
I didn’t grow up eating panettone, but I’ve been so inspired watching bakers—especially on social media—share the three-day process from start to finish. Traditional sourdough panettone is an art form. It’s made with a lievito madre (or pasta madre), a stiff Italian-style starter that requires frequent feedings before you even begin mixing the dough. Then comes the heavy mixing, the ultra-enriched dough, the second dough, the precise temperature control… all to create that incredibly light, cake-like bread full of eggs, butter, and sugar.
Homemade sourdough panettone is absolutely delicious—but I had a different idea. What if I could make it even easier and get a similar product? I wondered if I could take my enriched sourdough croissant bread and create something with a similar flavor and richness without the intensive process, without a mixer, and without maintaining a special starter. And guess what? It worked.
This recipe is what I’m calling a Sourdough Bread Panettone—rich, flavorful, and absolutely incredible. While it’s not a traditional panettone, it gives you that same luxurious, buttery holiday experience in a way that’s accessible for home bakers. No pasta madre, no hours of mixing… just a naturally leavened, celebration-worthy loaf.
You can bake it in a classic panettone mold for that iconic tall shape or simply bake it as a sourdough loaf in a Dutch oven. Both versions are beautiful and delicious.
Why You’ll Love Panettone Sourdough Bread
- Festive Bake – Panettone is a special treat during the holiday season. This homemade sourdough variety is worth the extra effort and makes the perfect addition to your holiday celebrations. For another sweet holiday bake, try this Sourdough Star Bread too.
- Buttery and Soft – This recipe incorporates cold butter during the stretch and folds, which results in buttery soft layers. If you love this recipe, try another enriched sourdough recipe like my Sourdough Brioche or make my Almond Croissant Sourdough Bread.
- Inclusions – Traditional panettone is made with citrus and raisins. If you love the raisins, you’ll also want to try my Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread!
Important Ingredients
- Levain – This recipe uses a levain that combines ripe and active sourdough starter, flour, and room temperature water, and is left to rise before using.
- Unsalted Butter – The key to the flaky layers that give this loaf its croissant-like texture is unsalted butter. I prefer to bake with unsalted butter, but you can also use salted butter if you prefer. This recipe works for both American-style butter, which has more water content, and European-style butter. The American-style will have more chunks/flakes throughout the dough, but both bake up delicious.
- Egg yolk – Including an egg yolk adds richness to the dough. Panettone is an enriched dough, and the egg helps achieve this.
- Sugar – A little bit of sugar adds sweetness to this loaf, making it the perfect sweet holiday bread.
- Fiori di Sicilia (EXTRACT) – Fiori di Sicilia is a fragrant Italian flavoring blend traditionally used in panettone—it tastes like a mix of citrus and vanilla and gives this bread its signature aroma. After making this loaf 20–30 times to get it just right (yes – it’s been a true labor of love!), I’ve found that extract works best. If you use the essential oil version, use only 2–4 grams, as it’s extremely strong and can even slow your dough’s rise.
- Golden Raisins – Golden raisins are naturally sweeter and fruitier than regular brown raisins, which makes them the perfect addition to this panettone-inspired sourdough bread.
- White Chocolate – Adds the perfect sweetness to this panettone-style bread. Substitute milk, dark, or any preferred chocolate if desired.
- Pearl Sugar – This isn’t pictured, because it’s optional, but I do love adding a sprinkle of pearl sugar on top of the risen dough for a little crunch.
Substitutions
- Fiori Di Sicilia: No Fiori di Sicilia on hand? Use 10 grams of vanilla extract plus the zest of one orange. It won’t be quite the same, but it will still give your loaf a bright, citrusy flavor.
- Panettone Mold: If you don’t have a panettone mold, you can bake this loaf in a Dutch oven according to the same baking instructions as the Sourdough Croissant Bread.
- Golden Raisins: If you’d prefer a more traditional citrus profile, you can swap the golden raisins for candied orange peel (60 grams) and candied lemon peel (40 grams). Because candied peel contains sugar that can pull moisture from the dough, the best method is to laminate the inclusions in after the dough has risen.
- Chocolate: I really love some chocolate in my panettone, so I often use a combination of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and even dark chocolate.
- Topping: This is optional, but I do love adding a sprinkle of pearl sugar on top of the dough. You could also add an almond or chocolate glaze or anything traditional that you want!
Tools You’ll Need
- Panettone Mold – For this recipe, I use a P155 panettone mold (6.12″ D x 6.12″ W x 4.25″ H). This size fits one full batch of dough perfectly and allows the loaf to rise up and over the top—exactly the look I was going for.
- Thermometer – Dough temperature is critical for this loaf.
- Sourdough Tools – All the traditional tools I like to use for sourdough bread
- Grater – I like a traditional triangular stand grater for grating frozen and chilled butter
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Mixing Bowl
Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. Sourdough takes much longer to rise than commercial yeast bread. This schedule helps me plan my bake.
A few notes: I typically keep my dough in the 78-80ºF temperature range. This does not work well for this dough because you want the butter to stay relatively chilled and not melt. Instead, for this loaf, the dough temperature is 70-72°F throughout the process, which is reflected in the baking timeline.
| Day 1 | Mix Levain |
| 9:00 PM – 9:00 AM | Mix the Levain. Let sit at 78°F for about 10-12 hours until doubled/bubbly and ripe. |
| Day 2 | Mix Dough Bulk Fermentation Shaping |
| 9:00 AM | Mix Dough and Begin Bulk Fermentation |
| 9:30 AM 10:00 AM 10:30 AM 11:00 AM | Stretch and Fold #1 Stretch and Fold #2 Add half butter Stretch and Fold #3 Add half butter Stretch and Fold #4 Add raisins and chocolate chips |
| 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Bulk Fermentation Continued (70-72ºF) |
| 6:00 PM | Shape and put in the panettone mold |
| 6:30 PM | Overnight fermentation at about 68-70ºF |
| Day 3 | Score and Bake |
| 8:00 AM | Preheat oven |
| 8:20 AM | Score and Bake |
If you are new to sourdough, learn how to make a sourdough starter from scratch and how a sourdough starter works in my Free Sourdough Beginner Guide. Using naturally fermented sourdough will take much longer, but you will love the fermentation benefits and the flavor!
How to Make Panettone Sourdough Bread
Mix the Levain
Step 1: Mix Levain. Combine ripe sourdough starter with water and flour to prepare your levain (Image 1). Let rise until bubbly and active (Image 2).
Do you have to use a levain in this recipe? No. I prefer it, but if you have a well-maintained and frequently refreshed sourdough starter, you can substitute it in place of the levain in the recipe
Mix the Dough and Begin Bulk Fermentation
Step 2: Mix the Dough. Combine ripe levain, water, egg yolk, sugar, and Fiori di Sicilia to a large bowl and use a dough whisk to mix together (Images 3 & 4). Add the salt and bread flour (Images 5 & 6) and mix until a shaggy dough forms (Images 7). Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes (Image 8).
Step 3: Stretch & Folds. Over a period of about 1 ½ hours, perform a series of “stretch and folds” by reaching to the bottom of the bowl and pulling the dough up to fold over on itself (Images 9 & 10). Continue turning the bowl and folding the dough about four times for each round of stretch and folds (Image 11). Cover and wait 30 minutes between each set of stretch and folds, allowing the dough to become more cohesive and elastic over time. Maintain a dough temperature of about 70ºF during this time (Image 12).
Note: If you want to add an autolyse or fermentolyse to this dough and some vigorous mixing – it will only increase the strength and gluten network in the dough. I use these processes in my Classic Sourdough Bread, and they also work well in this loaf. I didn’t include them in the recipe steps because this loaf is already fairly complicated with monitoring temperature and bulk fermentation, and I wanted to keep the recipe approachable for most bakers.
Add in the Butter
Step 4: Add in the Butter: Before your second set of stretch and folds, grate cold or frozen butter (Image 13) and add half of it to the dough (Image 14). Perform sets of stretch and folds, which will incorporate the butter into your dough (Images 15 & 16). Put the other half of the butter in the refrigerator to chill and after half an hour, add it in during your third round of stretch and folds (Image 17).
Step 5: Add Inclusions. Before performing your fourth round of stretch and folds, add the white chocolate chips and golden raisins on top of the dough (Images 18 & 19) – I have made this recipe many times, so you are seeing photos that show the different containers I use for my dough – any kitchen bowl will work! Perform stretch and folds, incorporating these inclusions into the dough (Image 20).
This method works well for the chocolate chips and raisins; however, if you are planning to use candied fruit, you should wait to add it until you laminate and shape the dough (see photos below). The sugar in the candied orange peel can pull water from the dough, making it harder to handle, which is why candied fruits shouldn’t be added until the dough is shaped.
Note: Maintaining the right temperature is really important for this loaf! I’ve found a 70-72ºF temperature to work well. I wouldn’t go above 75ºF for this recipe, or the butter will get too soft and the fermentation will speed up. To do this, use cooler water when mixing your dough, keep the dough in a cool place, and take the temperature with a thermometer throughout the process. You may need to use your refrigerator to bring the dough in and out during the stretch and fold process to cool your dough down. During warmer months, I will move the dough in and out of the fridge as needed, checking it with a thermometer during the mixing and rising stage. A 30-minute chill, an hour out, then back in if the dough warms up works well for me.
Shape the Dough
Step 7: Shape Dough. Spray a panettone mold with cooking spray to prepare it. Place the dough gently on the counter and gently pull the dough into a tight circular shape (Image 28). Gather the bread into a circle and place it gently into the prepared panettone mold (Image 29).
Note: If you don’t have a panettone mold, you can still bake this bread! It won’t look like the traditional Italian panettone, but it will still taste delicious. Instead of using the mold, you can place your dough in a banneton basket or small bowl to proof before doing a cold ferment in the fridge and then baking in a Dutch oven, the way you would with a traditional sourdough loaf. You can also stick this bread in a loaf pan
Proofing The Dough
Step 8: Proof. Let the dough proof in the panettone mold for about 12-14 hours overnight at 70º Fahrenheit (Image 30). Your dough should be fully risen, jiggly, and puffed slightly above the panettone mold prior to baking.
How do you keep your dough cold for an overnight rise? It’s definitely easier in the winter/cooler months, but you can make this year-round with a little temperature awareness. Warmer dough ferments faster, so if your kitchen is around 75ºF or higher, skip the overnight room-temperature rise. After shaping, refrigerate the dough and let it finish rising the next day.
Baking the Panettone Sourdough Bread
Step 9: Score & Bake. Sprinkle the top of your bread with pearl sugar (if desired) and place your panettone on a baking sheet with rimmed edges (Image 31). Use a bread lame to score your bread, making a cross shape on the top (Image 32). Bake in an oven preheated to 350ºFahrenheit for 50-55 minutes until the internal temperature of your panettone reaches about 190º Fahrenheit (Image 33). If you find that your panettone is browning too quickly, you can add a piece of foil on top to prevent the top from browning too much (Image 34).
Remove the panettone to a cooling rack (this does not need to be cooled upside down like a traditional panettone) and allow the panettone sourdough to cool completely before slicing.
Serve panettone in slices with more butter, some jam, or even Nutella. I also love using this panettone sourdough as the bread in my sourdough French toast casserole and my sourdough bread pudding.
No panettone mold? If you don’t have a panettone mold, you can bake this as a regular sourdough loaf in a Dutch oven at 400ºF for 30 minutes covered and 15-20 minutes uncovered (Image 35 & 36) or see Amy’s Recipe Tips for more options below!
How to Store Leftovers
After the panettone bread has cooled completely, slice it up into pieces. Place sliced bread in a bread bag, push air out, and freeze. This bread toasts up well straight from the freezer into the toaster or defrosts well to enjoy a slice later.
Recipe Tips
- Temperature is the KEY to this bake. Keeping this loaf at a low temperature so the butter doesn’t melt and then allowing the loaf to rise all night long at a low temperature is what makes this an especially good loaf to make over the winter holidays. If your dough is warmer, it’s going to speed up fermentation, and I wouldn’t recommend proofing overnight.
- A Panettone Mold makes this bake look unique, but you don’t have to bake the dough in one if you don’t have a mold. Use these alternative baking methods:
- Shape the dough and stick it in the fridge. Bake like my traditional sourdough croissant loaf in a preheated Dutch oven
- Stick the dough in a 9 by 5 loaf pan. Let the dough rise and bake according to recipe directions at 350ºF once it has risen.
- Fiori di Sicilia is what really sets apart the panettone flavor. Use the extract instead of the essential oil for the best rise.
- Butter Leakage & Browning – Because this is an enriched loaf, a little butter may leak out during baking. If your oven runs hot, the bottom can brown quickly. Bake on parchment and slide a baking stone or empty sheet pan onto the rack below the loaf to help diffuse the heat.
- Using Candied Fruit: If you’re adding candied orange or lemon peel, laminate them in at the end of bulk fermentation. The sugar in candied fruit pulls moisture from the dough and is much easier to work with during lamination than during stretch and folds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this an authentic Italian panettone?
No. Authentic sourdough panettone requires a stiff starter, multiple doughs, and hours of mixing. This recipe is an accessible panettone-style loaf inspired by traditional flavors and my sourdough croissant bread. It’s soft, buttery, lightly sweet, and naturally leavened, without the advanced techniques.
My dough is warming up too quickly. How do I keep it cool?
Use any combination of these methods:
– Use cooler water when mixing the dough
– Keep your dough in a cool room
– Chill the dough in the fridge for 20–30 minutes during stretch-and-folds
– Monitor dough temperature with a thermometer
Why did the bottom of my panettone burn?
Because this dough includes butter laminated into the dough, some butter may leak out during baking. Proper proofing of your dough will keep this from happening. Reducing the oven temperature can help as well.
Do I have to use a levain? Can I use Active Starter instead?
No. You don’t have to use a levain. If your starter is active, recently fed, and strong, you can use it directly in place of the levain. I prefer levain because it produces a predictable rise and consistent flavor.
Can I make these Mini Sizes for Gifting?
If you prefer mini panettone, you can absolutely divide the dough into smaller molds. I haven’t tested mini sizes yet, so you may need to experiment a bit with the amount of dough and bake time. If you try it, let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear how it turns out! And if you’re looking to make your sourdough loaves into mini sizes, use my technique for mini sourdough loaves as inspiration.
