A classic traditional German Christmas sweet is Stollen, a rich fruit bread enjoyed during the Christmas season in Germany. It’s often called Stollen and is especially famous in the city of Dresden. 🎄🍞
Traditional German Christmas Stollen (Christstollen)
Ingredients
- 3½ cups Wheat Flour
- ¾ cup warm Milk
- 2¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast
- ½ cup Butter (softened)
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mixed Raisins and Candied Orange Peel
- ½ cup chopped Almond
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Powdered Sugar for topping
Instructions
1️⃣ Activate the yeast
Mix warm milk and yeast with a teaspoon of sugar. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes until foamy.
2️⃣ Make the dough
In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the yeast mixture and knead until a soft dough forms.
3️⃣ Add fruits and nuts
Mix in raisins, candied orange peel, and almonds.
4️⃣ Let it rise
Cover and let the dough rise for 1–1½ hours until doubled in size.
5️⃣ Shape the stollen
Shape the dough into an oval loaf and fold it slightly over itself (traditional stollen shape).
6️⃣ Bake
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 35–40 minutes.
7️⃣ Finish
Brush the warm loaf with melted butter and sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar.
✅ Tradition:
Stollen is usually baked weeks before Christmas so the flavors develop while it rests.
If you’d like, I can also show you 3 more famous German Christmas sweets (including Lebkuchen and Vanillekipferl) that are very popular during Christmas in Germany. 🎄🍪
