Tag Archive for: Weihnachtsstollen

German Christmas Stollen Recipe

German Christmas Stollen Recipe

German Christmas Stollen Recipe – Weihnachtsstollen

The German Christmas Stollen Recipe is prepared with yeast but without marzipan. It is not as dense as the traditional Stollen and more like a Stollen Bread.

Ingredients for German Christmas Stollen:

  • 600 g (1.32 lb) of flour, all-purpose
  • 80 g (2.82 oz) of sugar
  • 2 pouches of dry yeast, rapid rise
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 225 g (7.9 oz) of butter, melted
  • 150 ml (5.07 oz) of milk, lukewarm
  • 2 eggs, XL
  • 2 egg yolks, XL
  • lemon zest of 1 lemon
  • 100 g (3.52 oz) of fruit peel mix, candied
  • 125 g (4.4 oz) of raisins
  • 125 g (4.4 oz) of zante currant
  • 4 tablespoons of rum
  • 50 g (1.76 oz) of hazelnuts, chopped
  • 70 g (2.46 oz) of butter, melted (for brushing the stollen)
  • 1 cup of powdered sugar (to cover the stollen)

Preparation of Stollen:

Mix the raisins and zante currant in a bowl, pour the rum over the fruit and let it soak overnight.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, yeast, and salt. Make a hole in the center of the flour mix to place the eggs and egg yolks in it. Grate the lemon peel on top of the eggs. Cover eggs and lemon zest with some of the flour and mix the ingredients.

Melt the butter in the microwave and warm up the milk. Add both one after another to the flour while constantly kneading with the kneading hook of a stand mixer or electric hand mixer until the ingredients are combined, and the dough is smooth. If needed continue kneading with the hands. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled.

Roll the dough on a floured surface to a rectangle and spread the soaked fruit, candied fruit, and hazelnuts on top. Fold the dough so that the topping is inside and knead again.

Preparation of dough for German Christmas Stollen Recipe      Finishing Dough

Baking of the German Christmas Stollen:

Cover a baking sheet with 2 layers of baking paper. Form an oval with the dough and shape it to a Stollen in the size of about 30cm x 12cm (11.8in – 4.72in). You also could use a stollen baking pan or loaf pan to shape the stollen. Place the Stollen on a double layered aluminum wrap and fold the sides up. Transfer the Stollen with the aluminum foil onto the baking sheet. Let it rise for 20 minutes.

Shaping the dough for German Christmas Stollen Recipe                    

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Place the stollen on the middle rack and back for 5-8 minutes. Turn the heat down to 180°C-355°F and bake for 45-50 more minutes. Cover the top of the stollen with an aluminum wrap for the last 15-20 minutes of baking time.

Baking of the Stollen                     

Brush the hot Stollen with 70 g melted butter and sprinkle the half of the powdered sugar on it. After the stollen cooled down, sprinkle the rest of the powdered sugar on it.

To store the German Christmas Stollen, wrap it in aluminum wrap and serve after three days. The stollen can be made ahead of time and frozen.

To make the Marzipan Stollen click here, the German Quark Stollen Recipe click here, and the Christmas Stollen Recipe click here.

Serving German Christmas Stollen

Christmas Stollen Recipe

Christmas Stollen Recipe

Christmas Stollen Recipe – Weihnachtsstollen

The Christmas Stollen Recipe is made with fruit and marzipan. The Stollen is traditionally offered during Christmas time in Germany. A Christmas Stollen is called Weihnachtsstollen in Germany.

The Stollen tastes best if it has time to age, meaning if you want to have the Stollen ready by Christmas, you should try to make it about four weeks before Christmas. To store the Stollen, simply wrap it in aluminum foil and keep it in your pantry.

What do I need before starting?

To bake a Stollen, you can either form it in a loaf-like shape or use a baking ring or a special baking pan called Stollen-Backhaube. If you can not find the Stollen form, you can as an alternative, also use a loaf baking pan.

NOTE: If you are going to use a loaf pan or Stollen-Backhaube, make sure to place the pans with the open end onto the baking sheet (upside-down).

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Ingredients for Christmas Stollen Recipe:

  • 400 g (14 oz) of all-purpose flour
  • 2 pouches of dry yeast, rapid rise
  • 125 ml (4.22 oz) of milk, lukewarm
  • 200 g (7 oz) of butter, melted
  • 100 g (3.5 oz) of sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 egg XL
  • 100 g (3.5 oz) of marzipan
  • 250 g (9 oz) of raisins
  • 50 g (1.75 oz) of diced lemon peel candied
  • 50 g (1.75 oz) of diced orange peel candied
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons of rum
  • 100 g (3.5 oz) of blanched chopped almonds

Ingredients for topping:

  • 50 g (1.75 oz) of melted butter
  • 50 g (1.75 oz) of powdered sugar

Preparation of the Christmas Stollen:

Mix raisins, lemon peel, and orange peel. Let it soak in rum overnight.

With a spoon, mix sifted flour with sugar, salt, and yeast. Add the egg, melted butter (melt in microwave for about 50 sec) and lukewarm milk (warm in microwave for about 20 sec). Mix it all together and start kneading with your hands until the dough is smooth. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise for about one hour.

Add the marzipan (or substitute with almond paste), soaked fruit, and almonds to the dough and knead again. Let it rise for another hour.

IMG_8718                     IMG_8722

NOTE: It is very important to give the dough enough time to rise, because with all the ingredients it becomes very heavy.

Knead your dough again and either form a loaf or use one of the alternatives described above. If your dough is still sticky, powder your hands with flour to form the loaf. Cover a baking sheet covered with 2 to 3 layers of baking paper (parchment paper) before you place the Stollen on it.

Preheat your oven to about 160°C (325°F). Place the Stollen on the rack just above the middle one. Bake for about 60-70 minutes.

NOTE: If you have the dough in a Stollen baking pan or in a loaf pan, make sure to take the pan off the Stollen after about 45 minutes baking time. You should have the pan placed up-side down in the oven.

When you have finished baking the Christmas Stollen, brush the loaf while it is warm with 50 g (1.75 oz) of melted butter. Sift the powdered sugar over the Stollen immediately when you have finished the brushing. Let it cool down. Then wrap the Stollen in aluminium foil and store it in your pantry for about 4 weeks. If you want to have a Stollen for Christmas, you should make it around Thanksgiving time. You can also try to make Oma’s Marzipan Stollen.

Find more recipes in “Christmas Baking with Oma“. Available in English and German.

Christmas Stollen Recipe