We Tried 14 Panettoni and Our Favorite Has Been the Best for Nearly 150 Years

There are many foods we associate with the holiday season in the United States: gingerbread cookies, latkes, and even figgy pudding. But no holiday food is more giftable than panettone. The Italian sweet bread is beautiful and shareable, and often, extraordinarily delicious. But panettoni can drastically range in both quality and price (a high-quality panettone can cost $100), so we tasted 14 of them side-by-side to determine which ones are actually worth buying. Here's what you should know.

What is panettone?

Panettone is an Italian, cupola-shaped sweet bread that’s eaten during the holidays. Similar to a brioche, it’s made with eggs and butter, often giving it a striking, yellow hue. The dough is usually flavored with citrus and, traditionally, studded with dried fruits like raisins and candied orange peel, but modern versions come in many flavors — apricot, chocolate, pistachio, pumpkin, and dulce de leche to name a few.

Panettone is among the most challenging and time-consuming breads to bake. Most versions are made using “lievito madre,” a stiff sourdough starter that slowly leavens and ferments the dough — after the dough is kneaded and then a second time again after it is shaped into loaves. Even after the bread is baked, it needs to hang upside down for about 12 hours to hold its shape, or it will collapse. The whole process takes a whopping four to six days. Some bakers will use commercial yeast (like active dry or instant) to speed up the process, but that tends to make the panettone more dense and less complex in flavor.

An excellent panettone will be taller than it is wide, with a dark brown exterior, and an open crumb — like the large air pockets you find in a sourdough loaf. The aroma should be ultra fragrant, the taste should be slightly sweet with a touch of tang from the lievito madre, and the texture should be soft and fluffy, with a slight chew. It also should have a generous amount of mix-ins. In fact according to Encyclopedia Brittanica, by Italian law, at least 20% of a panettone’s weight must be from its fruit and at least 16% from butter.

Another characteristic of the panettone is how long it lasts. Uncut, a panettone can remain fresh for four to six months and cut, if stored properly, it will last for four weeks — though it’s difficult to not finish a loaf before then.

Come Christmastime in Italy, bakeries are filled with beautifully wrapped panettoni, and now, many are available to ship around the world. The time and care that go into making panettone, the cost of ingredients, and its sheer deliciousness make this bread a special holiday gift for a food-loving friend or family member.

How we tested panettone

Although there are many different flavors of panettone, we decided to include just the two most popular versions: traditional panettone with raisins and dried citrus, and chocolate chip panettone. We tasted a total of 14 panettoni from nine different brands — if a brand or bakery offered both traditional and chocolate chip options, we tasted both. We included a combination of affordable, mid-priced, and premium panettoni, ranging from $10 to $110.

We tasted the panettoni side-by-side and unbranded in order to avoid any biases, evaluating each on flavor and texture. When rating flavor, the F&W editors considered the panettoni’s sweetness, richness, how buttery they were, the quality of ingredients, and complexity. When rating texture, we considered lightness, fluffiness, and the distribution of ingredients. We also asked the editors to note the appearance, aroma, and weight of the panettone in their overall rating.

Most of the panettoni we tried were perfectly tasty, but these five stood above the rest.

Best panettone overall: Olivieri 1882 Classic Panettone

$90 at usa.olivieri1882.com

For over 140 years, Olivieri has been making panettone in Arzignano, Italy, and that centuries-worth of experience is evident today. Olivieri makes the quintessential traditional panettone. Its sourdough base is speckled with raisins, candied orange, and a touch of bourbon vanilla. This simple, well-balanced combination kept us going back for more. “I like how rich the dough is, which is reflected in the yellow color,” said one editor.

Related: I Hate Sweets, but I’ve Been Waiting All Year for This One to Come Back

“It’s super moist and fluffy,” noted another. This is an incredibly versatile panettone — toast it with butter, make it into French toast, or tear off a piece and eat it by hand. No matter how you serve it, this panettone is guaranteed to bring joy to your holiday.

Best splurge: From Roy Chocolate Panettone

$102 at newyears.thisisfromroy.com

Let me be clear: This was our editors’ favorite panettone by a large margin. American baker Roy Shvartzapel has absolutely perfected the art of panettone-making. Every loaf is naturally fermented and made by hand, in small batches — a process that takes up to 62 hours. His panettoni are sky-high — nearly twice the height of others we tasted — and have a web-like interior, similar to that of a croissant. The taste is distinctly eggy like a popover, and slightly tangy, and every loaf is topped with crunchy sugar crystals

The problem is, the quality comes with a cost. At $102, this panettone is the most expensive one we tasted, but one absolutely worth splurging for. Because they’re small-batch, they’re also particularly difficult to obtain (Christmas panettoni are sold out, but you can still reserve one for New Year’s Eve).

We suggest you plan ahead next year and reserve your From Roy panettone a couple months in advance. The chocolate flavor in particular is extraordinary, with a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks balanced by the citrus-scented bread.

Best value: The Original Madi Gran Panettone

$20 at Walmart

$33 at Amazon

Good panettone doesn’t need to break the bank. At only $21, the Original Madi Gran recipe is nearly indistinguishable from some of the more expensive brands we tried. This panettone is made in Fossato, Italy using a 41-year old sourdough starter, golden raisins, and candied citrus — a formula that doesn’t stray from tradition. “This is a very fragrant dough,” remarked one editor. “It tastes and smells of orange rind.”

Other editors noted that, while Madi Gran’s panettone tasted delightful, it had a slightly dry texture, creating an eating experience reminiscent of regular raisin bread. To offset the dryness, serve this panettone with a cup of coffee or use it for French toast. No matter how you eat it, this product is great for anyone who is dipping their toe into the world of panettone or who just wants a casual, low-cost panettone to snack on.

Best for chocolate lovers: Ofner Panettone Genovese Chocolate Drops

$38 at Amazon

$34 at ofneramericas.com

Ofner specializes in chocolate pastries, so it’s no surprise that their chocolate panettone would be one of our favorites. The Brazilian company makes a naturally fermented panettone that’s rich in butter and packed with high-quality milk chocolate chips. Unlike other panettoni, the bread base is not citrus-flavored, allowing the chocolate to take the front seat. The dough is also quite soft and moist, similar to a chocolate babka. Plus, at $34, it’s one of the more affordable panettoni we tried.

Best for fruit lovers: Gustiamo Traditional Artisanal Panettone

$70 at gustiamo.com

Pastry chef Luigi Biasetto makes these panettoni, using the best Italian ingredients he can find — alpine butter, organic eggs, Tuscan honey, and a 90-year-old sourdough starter. While he follows a traditional recipe, his panettone has a wider variety of fruit. In addition to the classic raisins and orange peel, there’s also candied citron, lemon, and cherries in every bite.

It may not have been the fluffiest panettone we tried, but it was the most fruit-forward. This bread would be especially delicious toasted and topped with a smear of butter and a sprinkle of flakey salt — the dried fruit will become even more jammy when heated up.

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