Australian Fairy Bread Recipe (2024)

This Fairy Bread recipe is Australia’s favourite party snack for kids and nostalgic adults alike. Make this colourful treat in minutes with just three ingredients!

Why We Love This

Fairy bread would have to be the ultimate kids party food, but adults love it just as much!

Full of nostalgia, this sugary snack has the magic power to take you back in time and always brings a smile to everyones faces.

Kids love making fairy bread almost as much as they love eating it, and adults love it too because it’s no-cook, no-fuss and no-mess… Okay maybe we lied a little bit on that last point. 🙂

Related: Vegemite on Toast / Chocolate Sprinkle Bread

What is Fairy Bread?

It’s an old-fashioned Australian snack made from white bread, butter and sprinkles, more commonly known as 100s and 1000s (hundreds and thousands) in Australia. The original unicorn toast, it’s very similar to hagelslag, which is made with chocolate flavoured sprinkles instead.

Most Australians grew up with this beloved sugary snack which, like the best things in life, was reserved for children’s birthday parties and special occasions like Christmas or Australia Day.

You’ll usually find it cut into triangles and popped on a plate next to platters of homemade lamingtons, cupcakes or jelly slices. Sugar rush heaven and a no fuss substitute for cake!

Did you know: Australia has its very own National Fairy Bread day on November 24th each year!

Where does it come from?

According to the online grapevine, a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson back in his 1885 collection of ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’ was said to have given one very clever person a very bright idea… Of that person, we could find no further clue, but whoever you are, our inner child salutes you!

From those early origins the love of Fairy Bread spread throughout the country. It was even mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald in a 1934 article titled “Christmas Dinner with Toddlers”, which heartily recommended “a slice of fairy bread with sponge cake and the usual drink of milk” as a festive treat.

What You’ll Need

Just three ingredients are all you need for fairy bread!

• Bread – You’ll need to start with a few slices of the freshest, softest, fluffiest white bread you can find. Note that it’s gotta be white bread. Ask your nearest five year old and they’ll no doubt agree – wholegrain just won’t do! But as with any recipe, if you feel like substituting we’ll never judge. You can leave the crusts on or cut them off, it’s up to you.
• Butter – This helps the sprinkles stick to the bread. When we were kids, our mums would probably have used margarine, however we’re not big fans of it so we use butter. Salted or unsalted is fine. We recommend using room temperature butter which spreads more easily.
• 100s & 1000s / Sprinkles – These are more commonly called sprinkles in the US, or occasionally ‘nonpareils’ if you’re feeling fancy. Made from sugar, starch and food colouring, we have two main kinds here in Australia: round balls (100s & 1000s) or strands. The round sugar balls are iconic for fairy bread, but Laura’s grandma always used the strand sprinkles. Which will you choose? Once again, go with your heart!

How to Make Fairy Bread:

1. To make your very own fairy bread, coat each slice of white bread with plenty of butter.
2. Pour plenty of sprinkles / 100s and 1000s over the top of each slice.
3. Slice the bread into triangles and enjoy!

Wandercook’s Tips

• Crust On or Off – It’s up to you.
• Sprinkle or Dunk – Sprinkle the 100s and 1000s over the bread, or pour them out onto a flat plate and gently press your bread slice, buttered side down, into the sprinkles.
• Start with (Slightly) Frozen Bread – This makes it waaaay easier to spread butter or margarine over the bread as it won’t rip apart. If your bread is straight out of the freezer, let it defrost slightly first.
• Play With Shapes – Cut the bread into cute shapes like triangles, circles or use a cookie cutter for hearts or stars.

FAQs

Variations

• Halloween Fairy Bread – Top with orange and black sprinkles.
• Chocolate Fairy Bread – Also known as ‘hagelslag‘ or ‘chocolate hail’. You could even add fresh banana slices.
• Fairy Toast – Toast the bread slices and make the recipe as normal, or swap the butter for one of the other spreads.
• Not Enough Sugar? – Add clear sugar crystals on top of the sprinkles for extra sparkle.

Christmas Fairy Bread

While there’s no such thing as a White Christmas in Australia, with Fairy Bread there’s rainbow snow!

Aussie mums would often make up a batch of fairy bread for the kids on Christmas morning, and Aussie kids became very good at stealthily stealing a slice or two just for themselves. Sarah fessed up to this secret, but I’m pretty sure a trail of sprinkles on the floor and a rainbow smear around her smile would have been a bit of a giveaway.

Take a detour down memory lane with bright and colourful Christmas Fairy Bread. It’s fun, affordable, and easy to make with Santa’s little helpers.

Here are a few extra tips for Christmas Fairy Bread:

• Arrange the slices into a cute Christmas Tree shape just before serving. We recommend slicing two pieces of bread in half diagonally and the remaining pieces into quarters for triangular pieces in different sizes. Experiment with the layout and have fun! Finish it off with a star piece on top!
• Optional: Use the crusty end piece of your loaf of bread to make a nice trunk for your Christmas Tree.
• Optional: Use red, white and green sprinkles if you can find them.

For more sweet treats, try these next:

★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below!