Christmas is not called the most beautiful time of the year for nothing. During the holidays the whole family comes together, you can start the day more relaxed and enjoy your breakfast. For many, an extensive Christmas breakfast on the Christmas days is definitely part of a real Christmas or is even an old family tradition. In today’s blog post we want to show you different breakfast traditions in five different countries and introduce you to the typical Christmas celebrations in Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain.

Christmas feast in Austria

In Austria there are various Christmas traditions which take place through the entire advent season from the 1st to 24th of December. A well-known tradition in Austria is the advent wreath. It is a fir branch wreath with 4 candles, of which one candle is lit every advent sunday (the 4 sundays before Christmas). In the circle of the family the candles are lit and the advent sundays are celebrated together.

On Christmas Eve, the 24th December, the Christmas tree (usually a fir or spruce) must not be missing in Austria. The Christmas tree is decorated at the latest on the 24th and decorated with Christmas tree balls and small sweets. On Christmas Eve there is a large feast, which looks differently from family to family. Two of the more traditional Christmas meals are for example the roast goose or carp. But also fondue or raclette are typical Christmas meals in Austria.

The Christmas breakfast in Austria

Christmas breakfasts in Austria are usually accompanied by Christmas biscuits. Another typical Christmas breakfast in Austria is the Christmas stollen. The Christmas stollen is a bread-shaped cake made of heavy yeast dough.

The main ingredients are fat and dried fruits (in most cases sultanas) or other fillings such as marzipan and poppy seeds. This Austrian Christmas breakfast has a long tradition, because already in the 14th century the stollen, originally known as “Christbrot”, was made from flour, yeast and water. The shape of the Christmas stollen is intended to remind us of the wrapped Christ Child.

For us personally, our muesli, crunchy and porridge should not be missing at Christmas either. For a Christmassy touch, we like to add a little cinnamon to our porridge or a few roasted almonds to our muesli and crunchy.

The Christmas feast in Germany

As in Austria, December 24 is the most important Christmas day in Germany. The tree is decorated, the Christmas dinner is cooked and a lot of time is spent with the family. When it comes to the Christmas dinner in Germany, the opinions and traditions in Germany are quite different. A traditional Christmas meal in Germany is roast goose with potato dumplings and red cabbage. For many Germans, however, potato salad with sausages are an integral part of the Christmas feast.

The Christmas breakfast in Germany

As in Austria, in Germany biscuits or small treats are part of the Christmas breakfast on 24th of December, so that the time until the evening passes a little faster. The 25th of December (1st Christmas Day) is then enjoyed with the family and there is an extensive brunch or breakfast.

For a little inspiration for your Christmas breakfast, click yourself through our Christmas recipes.

The Christmas breakfast and Christmas feast in France

In France people also celebrate Christmas and the family comes together. The 24th of December is a normal working day in France and Christmas does not begin until late in the evening. The classic Christmas meal in France, “le réveillon”, consists of a turkey stuffed with chestnuts or a capon stuffed with plums.

A particularly important part of the meal is the so-called “bûche de Noël”, the Christmas tree cake. The tradition of the Christmas tree cake comes from the rural regions of France, where every guest used to bring a real tree trunk to the Christmas party to heat the house. The Christmas tree cake is also a popular breakfast treat on the following Christmas days.

In France, the “Père Noël” brings the Christmas presents in the night from the 24th to the 25th of December and unwrapping the presents for the children takes place in the morning of the 25th of December.

The Christmas breakfast and Christmas feast in Italy

Unlike in Austria, the Christmas tree in Italy is already set up on the 8th of December. In addition, the trees are not felled, but are put into the apartment or the house with their roots. In Italy, family ties are generally very strong. Therefore, all relatives come together at Christmas and spend the Christmas days together.

The most important Christmas day in Italy is the 25th of December. In the early morning children start to unwrap their presents. Afterwards there is a big Christmas dinner, a big feast with many courses and delicious desserts. At Christmas the Italians often remain faithful to their national dish. Therefore, different pasta dishes can be found on the Christmas tables in Italy.

A very popular and well-known dessert is “Panettone”: a cake speciality from Milan that resembles the Christ stollen. This cake is eaten as dessert or for breakfast on Christmas days.

The Christmas breakfast and Christmas feast in Great Britain

Christmas in the UK is particularly different from the previous Christmas breakfasts as the actual Christmas celebration is on the morning of Christmas Day (25th December). Once the Christmas presents have been unpacked, a cozy Christmas breakfast or brunch is organised in the UK.

Typical UK breakfasts include pancakes, classic English breakfast, salmon rolls and eggs. If there are any leftovers from the Christmas dinner on the eve of Christmas, the famous “Christmas pudding” will also be served on the breakfast table. Christmas Pudding is a cooked or steamed pudding made from dried fruit such as raisins, nuts and usually beef kidney fat or vegetable fat. Finally, the dark pudding is often soaked with brandy or other alcohol.

Granola chocolate drops

So that nothing stands in the way of your Christmas breakfast, we have prepared a delicious Christmas recipe for you. The Granola chocolate drops are perfect for the Christmas season and for your Christmas breakfast with your loved ones.

Print Recipe
5 from 114 votes

Granola-chocolate drops

Our crunchy chocolate drops are not only quick to prepare, they also satisfy our craving for chocolate. With our Verival Orange-Acerola Granola, the biscuits get a delicious, fruity note.
Cook Time20 mins
Keyword: chocolate, Christmas, Granola
Servings: 20

Ingredients

  • 150 g Verival Granola of your choice
  • 100 g nuts
  • 400 g chocolate
  • 10 g coconut oil

Instructions

  • Mix the Verival Granola with the nuts.
  • Chop the chocolate roughly and melt along with the coconut oil over a hot water bath.
  • Allow to cool slightly and then put the chocolate in blobs (about 2 tablespoons) on a baking paper.
  • Next, sprinkle the Verival Granola Nut mixture onto the chocolate drops.
  • Leave to cool for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator or at room temperature overnight.



If you can’t get enough of baking at Christmas time, we have three, a little more healthy, Christmas recipes for you. Lena Fuchs from the “Mein leckeres Leben” blog has baked stuffed cocoa date cookies, pumpkin porridge lucky balls and healthy chocolate crossies. You can find the three Christmas recipes here.

Although Christmas is celebrated a bit differently in each country and within each family, they all have one thing in common: The family comes together, you can spend time with your loved ones and you can have your food and breakfast in a relaxed atmosphere. For us at Verival, Christmas symbolizes one thing in particular: spending time with our favorite people and consciously taking time for each other. With this in mind, we wish you a merry Christmas and a wonderful Christmas feast! 🎄🎅

Alexandra Wiesinger

Gesunde Ernährung spielt für mich sowohl persönlich als auch in meinem beruflichen Kontext eine große Rolle. Deswegen probiere ich gerne neue Rezepte aus und teile hier mit euch meine Tipps für einen gesunden Lebensstil und leckeres nahrhaftes Frühstück.   Dabei ist es mir besonders wichtig einen klaren Überblick über verschiedene Ernährungsthemen zu geben und euch alltagstaugliche Tipps mit an die Hand zu geben.   Mein liebstes Verival Produkt: das Himbeer-Kakao Sport Porridge mit Haferkleie. Zu meinem Lieblingsprodukt

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