In the Preheat contestants have to make a pumpkin spice dessert in 90 minutes. Then in the Main Heat they have two hours to make a yule long dessert mash-up.
In the Preheat contestants must work in teams to bake four pies in the same sheet pan in two hours. In the Main Heat contestants must make stuffed cakes with traditional holiday fruits.
In the pre-heat, the seven bakers must make a dessert combining cranberry and another flavor of the season. The main heat challenges the bakers to create a sweet treat that pairs coffee with an unusual flavor of coffee syrup.
In the preheat contestants were asked to create a cream puff family decorated like some of Santa's friends. In the main heat contestants has two hours to make a eggnog cake hand-painted with edible paints.
For the preheat competitors were asked to reinvented the Hannukah treat rugelach with special flavors. In the main heat competitors choose two of the the judges favorite flavors to create a new version of a tiramisu.
For the preheat the bakers got 90 minutes to make a chocolate treats with surprise pantry ingredients. Then in the main heat the bakers had to take one nut and one fruit from a fruitcake and make a new dessert.
For this post-finale special former winners of the Holiday Baking Championship worked in pairs to make holiday light strings made of eclairs. Then for the main heat the teams had 5 hours to make silver or gold decorated cakes.