Holiday Baking Championship

Two cookie challenges are featured in the premiere of this holiday baking competition.

S2, Ep1 1 Nov. 2015 We're Nuts for the Holidays Season 2 kicks off with 10 competing bakers taking on a nutty chocolate dessert in the first challenge and beautifully decorated holiday pies in the main heat. In the end, one person will be eliminated.

For the pre-heat, host Bobby Deen challenges the nine bakers to take seasonal hot beverages like hot chocolate and apple cider a step further by turning them into desserts. Then, in the main heat, these culinary artisans show off their decorating skills by creating a filled Bundt cake wreath.

Bakers create eye-catching and tantalizing new holiday treats for seasonal parties; bakers create a dessert with an unusual candy cane flavor; for the main heat, they use a holiday cocktail as sweet inspiration; one unlucky baker goes home.

The pumpkin spice phenomenon hits the championship; for the pre-heat, nine bakers attempt to wow the judges with creative pumpkin spiciness; in the main heat, the bakers must combine a yule log with a classic holiday treat.

In the first challenge, host Jesse Palmer asks the 10 bakers to introduce themselves with edible place cards and one-bite signature holiday desserts. The main heat is all about holiday wreath cakes, and the competitors must bake and decorate a Danish Kransekake featuring holiday ingredients like chestnuts, graham crackers or toffee. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale have the final say in which baker goes home.

Host Jesse Palmer kicks off the competition by challenging 12 bakers to make holiday decorated quick bread wreaths with assigned flavors. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall decide which baker will be at the top of the naughty or nice list and which baker will be eliminated.

The competition kicks off as host Jesse Palmer asks the twelve bakers to embrace the seasonal transition by making fall and winter doughnuts. For the main heat, the competitors combine holiday cheese board staples in creative apple and cheese desserts. A double elimination looms, and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall must send two bakers home for the holidays.

Season's greetings! 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.

Mmm … can you smell it? 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.

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.

Holiday Baking Championship will return on Monday, November 3rd ,and for the first time ever, will split the 12 competing bakers into two teams of Naughty vs. Nice as host Jesse Palmer welcomes them to an adorable, immersive holiday village with a working coffee shop, general store, and town hall. In this joyful world, the teams will take on tasks like "Snow Day Desserts," "Chrismukkah Platters," and of course, "Naughty Elf Desserts" - complete with advantages that lean either mischievous or merry. Judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Kardea Brown will bring tough love as they determine which amazing baker will earn the title of Holiday Baking Champion and receive a feature in Food Network magazine and the grand prize of $25,000.