Holiday Baking Championship Season 3

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season three has seven elimination episodes followed by the Adults vs. Kids Christmas special that the normalized catalog counts as episode eight. Across sixteen challenges, the bakers tackle drink-inspired sweets, cookies, pies, trifles, cupcakes, yule logs, edible gifts, choux trees, finale cakes, and a team dessert display. One original home adaptation is inspired by the toasted-marshmallow heat.

1. Episode 1 · Holiday drinks and wreath cakes

   Signs of the Season

   Nov 6, 2016

   Assigned hot drinks become individual desserts before the bakers fill Bundt cakes, decorate them as wreaths, and add cookie leaves during the main heat.

   • Preliminary

     Hot holiday drink-inspired dessert

     Make a dessert in one hour inspired by an assigned Irish cream latte, pumpkin spice latte, hot cocoa, peppermint mocha, mulled cider, hazelnut latte, chai latte, eggnog cappuccino, or cinnamon mocha.

   • Main

     Filled Bundt cake wreath

     Bake a filled Bundt cake and decorate it as a holiday wreath in two hours, adding edible cookie leaves when the twist is announced.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Holiday cookies and handmade pie

   Grandma's Thanksgiving Favorites

   Nov 13, 2016

   Two cookie styles test speed, while the main heat removes electric appliances and adds a second miniature pie in a contrasting flavor.

   • Preliminary

     Two kinds of holiday cookies

     Bake two different holiday cookies in 45 minutes, with one required to be a sandwich cookie.

   • Main

     Handmade Thanksgiving pie and mini pie

     Make a Thanksgiving pie in 90 minutes without electric appliances, then add a miniature pie in a different flavor for the mid-round requirement.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Thanksgiving desserts in disguise

   Thanksgiving Joy

   Nov 20, 2016

   Thanksgiving favorites are layered into trifles, then represented visually by three cupcakes disguised as savory dishes, one of which must contain cranberry.

   • Preliminary

     Thanksgiving trifle

     Combine favorite Thanksgiving dessert flavors and components in an elegant trifle within 45 minutes.

   • Main

     Three Thanksgiving food-imposter cupcakes

     Bake three cupcakes in 90 minutes, each decorated to resemble a different food from a Thanksgiving meal, and incorporate cranberries into one cupcake.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Fireside sweets and yule logs

   Hearth and Home

   Nov 27, 2016

   Toasted marshmallow supplies fireside flavor in the first heat, followed by embellished yule logs that must gain a contrasting crunchy element.

   • Preliminary

     Toasted-marshmallow dessert

     Create a dessert in 45 minutes that prominently features toasted marshmallows.

   • Main

     Blinged-out yule log

     Update and elaborately decorate a classic yule log in two hours, then add a crunchy component when the twist is revealed.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Ugly sweaters and edible gifts

   Sweet Surprises

   Dec 4, 2016

   Wearable holiday kitsch inspires the preliminary desserts before edible gift boxes must hold an assortment of baked treats and incorporate popcorn.

   • Preliminary

     Ugly Christmas sweater dessert

     Make and decorate a dessert inspired by an ugly Christmas sweater in one hour.

   • Main

     Edible gift box filled with baked treats

     Construct an edible gift box and fill it with multiple baked goods in two hours, incorporating popcorn into the treats after the mid-round announcement.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Stockings and cream puff trees

   Christmas Morning

   Dec 11, 2016

   Christmas-morning memories appear first as stocking-shaped desserts, then as tall trees assembled from cream puffs and crowned with chocolate toppers.

   • Preliminary

     Holiday stocking dessert

     Create a dessert shaped and decorated like a holiday stocking.

   • Main

     Cream puff Christmas tree

     Build a colorful Christmas tree from cream puffs, then make and add a chocolate tree topper; only the preliminary winner received pre-tempered chocolate.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · North Pole finale

   Live From the North Pole

   Dec 18, 2016

   The finalists prepare a sweet and savory pair for overlooked North Pole characters, then build large cakes around assigned winter scenes.

   • Preliminary

     Sweet and savory North Pole snacks

     Make one sweet snack and one savory snack in 90 minutes for an assigned reindeer, polar bear, or penguin character.

   • Main

     North Pole winter-scene cake

     Bake and decorate a North Pole-inspired cake in five hours using the assigned Snowman Family Christmas, Elves in the Workshop, or Santa's Sleigh Ride theme.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Adult-and-child crossover special

   Adults vs. Kids

   Dec 25, 2016

   In a post-season special, three Kids Baking Championship bakers face the first three Holiday Baking Championship winners, then pair with the adults to fill a football-dome display with three sweets.

   • Preliminary

     Rich holiday dessert

     Make a rich, decadent holiday dessert in one hour, with the winner choosing the adult-and-child teams for the second heat.

   • Main

     Three-dessert football-dome display

     Working in one-adult, one-child teams, create three different desserts in two hours to fill a small football-dome display and incorporate sprinkles into one treat.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2Episode source 3

Inspired by the briefs

Bake it at home

These are original Baking Show Guide adaptations for a home kitchen. They are inspired by the challenge briefs, not the contestants' recipes or an official recipe from the show.

Inspired by Episode 4

Toasted Marshmallow Brownies

Deep chocolate brownies topped with a thin layer of vanilla marshmallow and a crisp oat-cocoa crumble.

Time

1 hr 4 min

Makes

16 brownies

Level

Medium

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 170 g unsalted butter
• 180 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 80 g light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 95 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 35 g rolled oats
• 25 g all-purpose flour, for the crumble
• 20 g light brown sugar, for the crumble
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for the crumble
• 30 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 100 g mini marshmallows

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175 C, or 160 C fan. Line a 20 cm square pan with baking paper.
2. Melt the 170 g butter and dark chocolate together over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
3. Whisk the granulated sugar and 80 g brown sugar into the chocolate. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each, then stir in the vanilla.
4. Sift in 95 g flour, 30 g cocoa, and the salt. Fold just until combined, then spread the batter evenly in the pan.
5. Rub the oats, 25 g flour, 20 g brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cocoa, and cold butter together into coarse crumbs. Scatter the crumble around the edge of the brownie batter, leaving the center mostly open.
6. Bake for 27 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set and the center still gives slightly when pressed.
7. Scatter the marshmallows over the open center and return the pan to the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, until puffed. Toast the topping briefly under a hot broiler, watching continuously, until spotted golden brown.
8. Cool completely before lifting from the pan and cutting with a lightly oiled knife.

This is an original Baking Show Guide home adaptation inspired by the episode brief. It is not a contestant recipe and not an official Food Network recipe.

The crumble supplies the contrasting crunch requested in the episode's later yule-log heat.

Marshmallows brown very quickly under a broiler; do not leave the pan unattended.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. foodnetwork.com, en.wikipedia.org, tvmaze.com.

Season result

The winner stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.

See every Holiday Baking Championshipwinner, season by season →

Full cast

Everyone recorded for Season 3, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org.