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We’d heard of monkey bread — yum! — but what was fairy bread? We were intrigued. Turns out this dutch treat, that’s made it’s way to America by way of Australia, is simply butter bread with sprinkles on top. Can you imagine anything more delish? In the Netherlands fairy bread is known as hagelslag, their word for sprinkles or jimmies (as our friends from the south say). The Aussie’s call it fairy bread, and here’s how you make it. Get yourself a piece of the softest white bread available and cut off the ends. Smear your bread thick with butter (some say unsalted, but I like salty sweet things). Sprinkle on some jimmies, and bam, you’ve got it. Here are 16 variations of Fairy Bread, one is sure to appeal to your inner child.
You can dress up fairy bread by adding chocolate icing or cream cheese in place of butter. Some people even make fairy-bread cookies. My favorite version is blogger Eliza Ellis’s way, because she cuts her Classic Fairy Bread into fancy shapes with peekaboo cutouts. Pretty!
In the Netherlands, the sprinkles or shavings are almost always chocolate, very good-quality chocolate. Dutch sprinkles are not just for kids. Adults eat them as treats, and there are strict labeling standards for what can be called hagelslag. They must be at least 35% cocoa with 100% cocoa butter — more like chocolate truffles than the hard shell candies we are accustomed to. In Australia, where Fairy Bread is the centerpiece of birthday parties, multi-colored sprinkles are preferred.
We pronounce both versions *to die for*. Hey, someone has to do the research! Would I like more Fairy Bread? Pretty please, with sprinkles on top.
Got a fairy bread recipe share? Tag us on Instagram @britandco. Come on — share the love!
(Photo via Eliza Ellis)
