Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Jesse Palmer (Seasons 4-11) or Bobby Deen (Seasons 1-3), HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP is an elimination culinary competition series that follows eight or nine bakers who show off their holiday dessert traditions and baking skills, as they vie for the $50,000 grand prize. Except for the finale, each one-hour episode features two rounds. In the pre-heat round, one contestant can win a special advantage they can use in the main heat challenge, where they must impress three judges -- Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Lorraine Pascale -- or risk being sent home. In the pre-heat round, the competitors partake in one of the following challenges: making the best holiday cookies, using only baking tools that are wrapped inside their presents; creating a swirled treat using eggnog; making their best dessert using store-bought pie crust -- in only 30 minutes; taking the polarizing fruitcake someplace new; and using the classic holiday flavors of peppermint and hot chocolate in a dessert. During the main heat challenges, the cheftestants must: use holiday ingredients to create three different kinds of cookies; play nice with varieties of sugar and spice for their second dessert; create three different pies with three different crusts; reinvent the biggest holiday cake of all, the yule log; and create a blown-out holiday breakfast complete with three sweet dishes. In the finale, the three remaining bakers have just one challenge, but it's a massive one. Each baker taps into a favorite holiday memory and then constructs gingerbread worlds filled with all sorts of treats. The baker who can impress the judges the most will take home $50,000. Season 1 competitors include: Season 1: David Bondarchuck (Denver, CO); Erin Campbell (Palmdale, CA); Punky Egan (Madison, WI); Stephanie Hart (Chicago, IL);Naylet Larochelle (Miami, FL); Bill Lipscomb (Atlanta, GA); Dante Marasco (Annapolis, MD); and Terra Nelson (Louisville, KY).

The sophomore season of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Sunday, November 1, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network, with host Bobby Deen and judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Lorraine Pascale all returning for an eight-episode second season. On the first episode, the bakers' go nuts for the holidays. In the pre-heat round, the competitors select a nutcracker to reveal their assigned classic holiday nut with possibilities ranging from chestnuts, walnuts, pecans, to almonds that must be incorporated into their chocolate-nutty confection. The contestant with the best treat wins a special advantage in the main heat challenge, where they must highlight their favorite holiday memory in the form of a decorated pie. Bakers in Season 2 are: Adalberto Diaz (Salt Lake City, UT); Briana Johnson (Dallas, TX); Steve Konopelski (Denton, MD); Melody Larsen (Mesa, AZ); John Marasco (Westlake Village, CA); Haley Miller (Beaver Dam, KY); Padua Player (Washington, D.C.); Maeve Rochford (San Diego, CA); Joe Settepani (Staten Island, NY); Susan Steffan (Galena, IL).

Season 3 of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. Cookie challenges that are inspired by dear old grandma, dessert competitions that celebrate ugly holiday sweaters, and pie contests that require everything to be made by hand fill this scrumptious seven-week competition. On the season premiere, the bakers are tested to turn classic seasonal beverages, such as apple cider, hot chocolate and eggnog, into custom-made confections. The contestant with the best treat will win a special advantage in the main heat challenge, where they must show off their decorating skills by creating a filled Bundt cake designed like a wreath. Throughout the rest of the season, the contestants must tackle tough challenges from baking without appliances, to creating Thanksgiving imposter cupcakes, and to putting a fresh spin on a classic yule log. Each week one baker will crumble in the competition and get sent home. Then, in the grand finale, the three remaining bakers must use their imaginations to create North Pole-inspired treats, but only one will impress the judges to win $50,000 and title of Holiday Baking Champion. Plus, each week fans can join judge Duff Goldman online for an original web series Duff's Sweet Spot, where he will share his take on the competition's sweet challenges, as well as tips and recipes for home cooks to try his magical desserts in their own kitchens. Competitors in the third season are: Shawne Bryan (Miami, FL); Maddie Carlos (Anoka, MN); Amber Croom (Vail, CO); Patti Curfman (Stayton, OR); Keli Fayard (Charlotte, NC); Matt Moratt (Guttenberg, NJ); Jason Smith (Grayson, KY); Cheryl Storms (Oakland, CA); and Vincenzo Vaccaro (Astoria, NY).

The fourth season of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Monday, November 6, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network, with new host Jesse Palmer and returning judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller and Lorraine Pascale. This season's seven-week competition celebrates Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah. To kick off the new season, nine bakers must create eye-catching and tantalizing new holiday treats for seasonal parties. In the pre-heat, bakers create a dessert with an unusual candy cane flavor and then, for the main heat, they use a holiday cocktail as sweet inspiration. One unlucky baker goes home. Competitors for Season 4 include: Jennifer Barney (La Crosse, WI); Ian Barthley (Upper Marlboro, MD); Stephany Buswell (Santa Cruz, CA); Aristo Camburako (Kansas City, MO); Andra Chisholm (Daytona Beach, FL); Aveed Dai (Chicago, IL); Joshua Livsey (Boston, MA); Pablo Sanchez (Atlanta, GA); and Amy Strickland (Lake City, FL).

On Monday, November 5, 2018 at 9pm ET/PT, Food Network premiered the seven-episode fifth season of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP, with host Jesse Palmer and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Lorraine Pascale all returning. In Season 5, nine talented bakers whisk, fold, and frost their way through difficult challenges, but only one will 'sleigh' the competition for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize and be featured in an original video on FoodNetwork.com and in a feature in Food Network Magazine. Competitors for Season 5 include: Lerome Campbell (Naples, FL); Sherry Clarke (East Lyme, CT); Jamie Decena (Chula Vista, CA); Julia Perugini (Maricopa, AZ); Douglas Phillips (Ayer, MA); Dan Raymond (Castleton, NY); Nolan Schooley (Sanford, MI); Sarah Lucia Tafur (Miami, FL); and Chantal Thomas (Windsor, CT).

HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP returned for its sixth season on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 9pm ET/PT, immediately followed by a one-hour special at 10pm. Season 6 opens with a new batch of holiday bakers and even more decadent holiday desserts. Host Jesse Palmer,along with judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Lorraine Pascale, test the skills of ten talented bakers as they whisk, fold and frost their way through difficult challenges throughout the eight episodes. From yule log mashups to eggnog cakes, only one will 'sleigh' the competition for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize and be featured on the new Food Network Kitchen app. The 10 competitors for Season 6 are: Geoffrey Blount (Myrtle Beach, SC); Jennifer Clifford (Moultonborough, NH); Kobe Doan (Boston, MA); Janet Letendre (Malakwa, BC); Devon Maciver (Claremont, CA); Dwight Penney (Pittsburgh, PA); Maria Short (Hilo, HI); Cedrick Simpson (Atlanta, GA); Sarah Wallace (Boston, MA); and Melissa Yanc (Healdsburg, CA).

The eight-episode seventh season of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Monday, November 2, 2020 from 9-11pm ET/PT on Food Network, with host Jesse Palmer and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Carla Hall. The new season kicks off with a supersized two-hour premiere, as a dozen of the best holiday bakers whisk, fold, and frost their way through new decadent dessert challenges. From holiday wreath cakes to Hanukkah jelly doughnuts, only one baker will 'sleigh' the competition for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize and be featured on the new Food Network Kitchen app. Season 7 competitors include: Jon Buatti (Auburn, NH); Lorenzo Delgado (Miami, FL); Kess Eshun (Frisco, TX); Jeffrey Gray (Atlanta, GA); Julianna Jung (Champaign, IL); Jamaal Nettles (Atlanta, GA); Jonathan Peregrino (Detroit, MI); Eva Roberts (Spokane, WA); Megan Rountree (Keller, TX); Lashonda Sanford (Newport News, VA); Aubrey Shaffner (Baltimore, MD); and Kristina Stephenson (Spokane, WA). In the two-hour season opener, "Holiday Style," host Jesse Palmer kicks off the competition for 12 bakers with the kind of dessert people are embracing at home -- holiday decorated quick bread wreaths. Then, to spice things up, Jesse reveals the rankings of every challenge will appear on the new naughty or nice list. If a baker is naughty, there's no hiding it! In the main heat, the competitors must make a winter hat cake to charm judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

Season 8 of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Monday, October 31, 2021 at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network, with tough-love judges, Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Carla Hall and host Jesse Palmer, searching for the ultimate holiday baker. The twelve bakers competing for a chance to win $25,000 and the title of Holiday Baking Champion include: Richard Akers-Barrows (Dorchester, MA); Sabrina Coombs (Atlanta, GA); Philippe Costa (Seaside, CA); Shayla Daniels (Odessa, FL); Neomie Eliezer (Cherry Hill, NJ); Jennifer Hood (Winston-Salem, NC); Grace Lapsys (Albuquerque, NM); Jose Marchan (Cleveland, OH); Adam Monette (Saint Albans, VT); Naomi Mwangi (McKinney, TX); Jody O'Sullivan (Quincy, MA); and Marilyn Santos McNabb (Chicago, IL).

HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP returned for its ninth season on Monday, November 7, 2022 from 8-10pm ET/PT on Food Network, with host Jesse Palmer and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Carla Hall returning. This season, a dozen of the best holiday bakers in America showcase their baking skills through weekly dessert challenges over eight episodes, as they vie for the grand prize: $25,000, a spot in Food Network Magazine and the title of Holiday Baking Champion. The Season 9 competitors include: Aaron Davis (Surprise, AZ); Christine Herelle-Lewis (New York, NY); Antoine Hopkins (Philadelphia, PA); RaChelle Hubsmith (Salt Lake City, UT); Bill Makin (Brooklyn, NY); Aishia Martinez (Union City, NJ); Harshal Naik (Bedford, PA); Zakiya Newton (Gotha, FL); Sumera Syed (Dallas, TX); Dru Tevis (Rehoboth Beach, DE); Jessica Wang (Los Angeles, CA); and Kristen Weidlein (Staten Island, NY). In the two-hour season opener, "First Snow," host Jesse Palmer gets some welcoming inspiration for the first Preheat as he challenges the 12 bakers to create meringue pavlova wreaths in yummy fall flavors. For the Main Heat, Jesse settles a long-standing debate over the best holiday dessert by dividing the kitchen into the pie team and the cake team. The better bake wins immunity for their whole team, and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall send one baker from the losing team home.

The tenth season of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP premiered on Monday, November 6, 2023 from 8-10pm ET/PT on Food Network. Over eight episodes, a group of bakers display their immense baking skills, including in a challenge inspired by holiday-loving chocolatier Wonka. Jesse Palmer hosts and, along with judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller, decides which baker wins the title of Holiday Baking Champion to take home the grand prize of $25,000. In the two-hour season opener, "Season's Best," 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. The 12 Season 10 competitors include: Bert Alvarado (Las Vegas, NV); Greg Ballenger (Dallas, TX); Jennifer Carey (Brooklyn, NY); Kevin Conniff (Alberta, Canada); Alex Jacks (Portland, OR); Josh Juarez (Austin, TX); Ali Kenis (Ventura, CA); Ashley Landerman (New Braunfels, TX); Sharrod Mangum (Atlanta, GA); Thoa Nguyen (Englewood, CO); Justine Rota (Whitman, MA); and Javier Trujillo (Chicago, IL).
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Season 11 of HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP debuted on Monday, November 4, 2024 from 8-10pm ET/PT on Food Network. Host Jesse Palmer and judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller bring the spirit as they evaluate which extraordinary baker will earn the title of Holiday Baking Champion and a $25,000 grand prize. For the first time ever, $1,000 in holiday bonus cash is awarded to the bakers who win the preheat. All season long, these amazingly talented bakers prepare mouthwatering seasonal desserts that create joy and inspiration.

In the two-hour season opener, "Holiday Open House," to kick off, host Jesse Palmer honors the tradition of making tasty treats for family and friends at a holiday open house. In the preheat, Jesse asks the 12 bakers to create holiday cheese ball desserts featuring a type of cheese and either nuts or dried fruit. Then, host gifts are the theme for delicious bites as the bakers create holiday bark inspired desserts that are both inventive and large scale to impress judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller.