The Best Traditional French Holiday Treats

There are many reasons to come to Paris for Christmas. Streets are decked out in beautiful lights (such as the Champs Elysées), chateaux host special holiday events (like Vaux-le-Vicomte), but one of the best reasons is the food. Although the French take gastronomy very seriously all year round, cuisine plays an even greater role over the festive season, especially when it comes to holiday treats. Specialties can vary from region to region, while others have spread around the whole country. Whether you’ll be in France over the holidays or would like to try some new recipes back home, here are some of the best traditional French Christmas treats.

Buche de Noel. Kisoulou / Unsplashed

Bûche de Noël

The most common holiday sweet, which appears on virtually all Christmas menus, is the bûche de noël, or the yule log. The classic recipe consists of a rolled Génoise cake that’s covered with a buttercream frosting. Its origins are somewhat uncertain, however, it’s thought that it first appeared in the 19th century in either Paris or Lyon. It only gained in popularity in the mid-20th century when home cooks could create their own thanks to personal electric ranges. Since then, a few regional specialties have appeared like the bûche de noël bretonne, a yule log from Brittany, and using the region’s traditional apple sauce and salted butter caramel. Contemporary pastry chefs also get quite creative with their buches and veer from the traditional recipe. You can find pretty much any flavor and size, but the log shape always remains the same. 

Bredeles de Noël (Biscuit de Noël alsacien). Arnaud 25 / CC

Bredeles de Noël

The eastern region of Alsace has a wide array of holiday treats, but the most famous are Christmas cookies. Spelled bredalas or bredeles, these aren’t just one type of cookie but refer to an assortment of traditional Alsatian Christmas cookies. They’re usually prepared in Alsatian homes in the lead-up to Christmas and each family has their own favorite recipes. You can often find anise-seed biscuits, gingerbread snaps, crescent-shaped cookies, jam-filled buttery rounds, orange zest-infused cookies, and spiced bread. 

Other Alsatian holiday treats include mannele, a brioche in the shape of a figure (or snowman), linzer torte, a shortcake with fruit preserves and sliced nuts and topped with lattice pastry, and kugelhopf (or gugelhupf), a bundt cake with lemon zest, vanilla or marble.

Les Treize Desserts de Noël

The “13 desserts of Christmas” is a very popular tradition from the southern region of Provence. It consists of a collection of 13 different treats, a number that represents Jesus and the 12 Apostles at the Last Supper. Traditionally 13 different treats are laid out after returning from midnight mass and are left out for the three following days for the household to nibble on. The actual assortment varies from family to family, however, there are usually four categories: dried fruit and nuts, fruit preserved in sugar syrup, sweetened bread, and fresh seasonal fruit. Due to the flexibility, this is one of the easiest French traditions to prepare yourself.

Rissoles de Noel. Photo: Lapichon / Flickr

R’zules / Rissoles

The snowy Alpine region of Savoye also has its own holiday tradition which is called rissole, or r’zule in the local Savoyard dialect. These are small puff pastry turnovers made of flour and lard (now butter) which are filled with pear or prune compote and spices. Traditionally, these were only prepared at Christmas by a group of village residents and shared among the community.

Chocolate Truffles. David Leggett / CC

Chocolate Truffles

Another holiday treat that you’ll find in most shops and homes over the holidays is chocolate truffles. A chocolate truffle is a French chocolate made with a center of chocolate ganache which is coated in cocoa powder, coconut, chopped nuts, or other coatings. You’ll find truffles in most chocolate shops, but they are also relatively easy to make yourself. So this could be a nice family activity over the holidays or a gift item to bring to festive season parties.

Candied Chestnuts from A la Mère de Famille

Other French holiday delicacies

Marrons glacés, or candied chestnuts, are also very popular over the holiday season. We have a whole article on chestnuts which you can read at this link. We’ve also covered foie gras, a very popular holiday specialty, in this article.

Visiting Paris over the holidays and would like to try some of these specialties? Contact us to arrange a custom holiday food tour.