Prisoners are baking the treats from scratch, including gingerbread men and Rudolph-shaped cookies.

The prison's in-house bakery is run by 16 inmates under the supervision of two professional chefs.

It opened in October last year and initially six female prisoners worked there. Since then production has doubled with the help of eight new male prisoners. The bakery is now the only supply for all the prison’s baked goods.

ACT Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury said on Friday the bakery was “part of a vision to have a rehabilitation-focused prison”.

Mr Rattenbury said the program improved self-esteem, kept prisoners busy and taught them new skills to put on their CV.

“Some detainees perhaps haven’t finished their education and some of them have never held a job, so this very practical work experience is really great for people in that circumstance," he said.

He said the aim was to break the cycle of reoffending, and programs to help future employment were an effective way to do this.

ACT Corrective Services executive director Jon Peach said that on a practical level, the benefits included the fact they were "now feeding the whole jail with our bread."

"So we’re saving costs by being self-sustainable," he said.

The head baker, Darrell Morton, has been teaching prisoners cooking skills since the program began.

“They really enjoy it. There’s a lot of commitment and they’re incredibly proactive," he said.

He said the initiative taught detainees to have a good work ethic as well as a new skill set.

The bakery’s weekly production is a whopping 1200 desserts, 2390 rolls, and 822 loaves of bread a week. As Christmas approaches, a new set of treats is now on the menu.

“We do get a bit festive. We’re making fruitcakes, Christmas puddings. In fact, we’re making 600 Christmas puddings on Christmas day. We’re doing reindeer and gingerbread men too," Mr Morton said.