German Stollen Cookies
Transport yourself to a German Christmas market with a batch of German stollen cookies. These bite-sized yeasted Christmas cookies are based on the traditional Dresdner stollen recipe and offer the same classic dried fruit and citrus flavors you’ll find in a full-sized classic Christstollen.
Growing up in Germany, stollen is THE classic German Christmas cake, and plays an important part in the lead up to the festivities. It’s typically made in the beginning of the festive season, as it’s made to last for an extended period of time thanks to the yeasted dough and generous powdered sugar coating. Just like a slow cooked roast, Germans say it gets better with time but ours never really lasts that long to be honest.
The trouble with stollen is that it easily dries out once cut but these handy stollen bites retain their moisture due to the powdered sugar coating all around – plus, they’re perfect for gifting and cookie exchanges. The combination of a lightly sweetened yeasted cookie dough, soaked dried fruit, citrus peel, ground nuts, and plenty of spice creates the authentic Christstollen everyone loves. You can fill these cookies with marzipan if you’d like but it’s hard to find in many places so I left it out. I recommend about 1 tsp of marzipan per cookie.
You can learn more about how Germans enjoy the holiday season, aka Weihnachtszeit, in my comprehensive Weihnachten guide. For more authentic German cookie recipes, check out my German gingerbread, spritz cookies, stollen cookies, and coconut macaroons as well.
If you loved this Stollen Cookie Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating below. Thank you!
German Stollen Cookies
Ingredients
- 5 oz raisins or sultanas
- 5 oz dried red currants
- 1/2 cup whole milk lukewarm
- 2 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 1 tsp Christmas spice mix or pumpkin spice mix
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3.5 oz candied citrus peel
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Add the sultanas and dried red currants to a medium bowl and pour over boiling water until they're fully submerged. Set aside to plump up.5 oz raisins, 5 oz dried red currants
- Activate the dry yeast by combining lukewarm milk, yeast, and 1 tbsp of the sugar. Mix and let it froth up for 5-10 minutes.1/2 cup whole milk, 2 tsp active dry yeast
- In a large bowl or a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, ground almonds, Christmas spice, and sugar.1/4 cup granulated sugar, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup ground almonds, 1 tsp Christmas spice mix
- Add the activated yeast, softened butter, vanilla extract, and eggs to the flour mixture. Mix until fully combined.3/4 cup butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Drain the sultanas and red currants and incorporate the soaked fruit into the dough alongside the candied citrus peel.3.5 oz candied citrus peel
- Knead the dough by hand or with a dough hook until it becomes smooth and elastic. Shape it into a large dough ball and then let it rise in a warm place covered with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking sheep with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into small balls (about 2oz each) and place them on the lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the stollen cookies for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, then cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Roll in powdered sugar while warm. Enjoy immediately or store them in an airtight container once cooled for up to 2 weeks.1 cup powdered sugar
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients and substitutions
- Dry ingredients: You’ll need all-purpose flour, active dry yeast (or instant or fresh yeast), and granulated sugar.
- Wet ingredients: Warm whole milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and eggs at room temperature.
- Dried fruit: Sultanas and dried red currants, glazed lemon peel and orange peel. You can also add lemon zest or orange zest for extra freshness. Traditionally rum-soaked raisins add extra flavor to homemade stollen. Simply soak the raisins and red currants in 1/2 cup of rum.
- Nuts: Ground almonds add a wholesome texture and nutty flavor to these Christmas cookies. You can substitute them with ground walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts as well.
- Christmas spice: I use 1 tsp of my Christmas spice mix which is a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, ginger, and cloves. Add a knife tip of each instead if you don’t want to make up a large spice mix. Alternatively, you can use a pumpkin spice mix.
- Powdered sugar: For rolling the cookies post-baking.
- Marzipan (optional): Fill the stollen cookies with homemade marzipan to create an indulgent and sweeter treat.
Step-by-step: stollen cookies
1. Activated yeast. Add to dry ingredients.
2. Stollen dough before the rise.
3. Shaped stollen cookies before baking.
4. Stollen cookies after baking.
I made this recipe for the first time yesterday. I love stollen and was excited for the outcome.
Well, this recipe is like none other I have seen or tried, and will definitely be a Christmas staple. These cookies taste like German Christmas to me. Perfect!
Thanks Judi, that’s great to hear. Enjoy the cookies and frohe Weihnachten!