Belgrader Brot German Christmas Cookies Recipes

CHRISTMAS ROCKS GERMAN COOKIE

Steps:

• Cream butter, shortening, brown sugar and vanilla all together.
• Add beaten eggs, until fluffy.
• Sift two cups flour with the salt and spices.
• Dissolve the baking soda in hot water.
• Add soda to creamed mixture alternately with the dry ingredients.
• Blend well.
• Toss the fruit with the last 1/2 cup of remaining flour.
• Work this into the dough by hand.
• Drop from a teaspoon 1 inch apart onto greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 325 degrees F.
• for ABOUT 15 minutes.
• Remove to cooling rack.

CINNAMON STARS (ZIMTSTERNE) GERMAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Separate egg yolks from whites and beat whites until stiff peaks form.
• Slowly sift in the sugar and lemon juice, then beat some more for about 8 minutes.
• Put aside 4 heaped tablespoons of the meringue - this will be used to top the cookies later on.
• Add ground almonds and cinnamon to the remaining meringue and mix well. You might want to add a dash of rum or Amaretto.
• Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
• Sit down, relax and have a cup of tea.
• After an hour fetch the dough from the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/160C/320°F.
• Sprinkle a surface with confectioners' or regular white sugar and roll the dough to approximately 5 mm.
• Cut the stars with a star shaped (yes, indeed!) cookie cutter.
• Put the stars on the lined baking sheet.
• Now get the reserved meringue from earlier. You might have to stir it a bit so it becomes a smooth mix. You also might want to add some more lemon juice. It's a matter of taste.
• Now brush the cookies with the topping and bake them for about 8 minutes.
• Cool on the baking sheet.
• Store in an air-tight tin.
• The cookies should keep for about two weeks.

VANILLE HOERNCHEN (GERMAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES)

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar together in a medium mixing bowl.
• Knead by hand until dough comes together.
• Don't over knead it.
• Seperate dough into about 30 segments.
• Form each segment into a half moon or cresent shape.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake 10-12 minutes until they're golden colored.
• Roll the cookies in the powdered sugar while they're still hot or dust them with the powdered sugar while still on the cookie sheet.
• It is important that you do this while they're still warm or the sugar won't stick.
• Put on wire rack to cool.

MANDELSPRITZGEBäCK (GERMAN CHRISTMAS ALMOND COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven (375°F, 190°C).
• Grease baking trays.
• Mix butter with sugar until creamy. Add egg and egg yolk and mix until foamy.
• Add almonds and a few drops oil of bitter almonds.
• Add flour (mixed with baking powder) little by little and mix. The dough should be elastic, but will not be smooth.
• Fill in the dough into a cookie press with big star nozzle or better into a meat grinder with a big star nozzle.
• Make/press dough strings of about 2 to 3-inches. Form dough strings into rings, "S", horseshoes or any other shapes you like and place on baking tray.
• Bake for about 12 minutes. Cookies should still be light.
• NOTE: Oil of bitter almonds: if you can't find it, use almond extract.
• NOTE on cookie press: the dough is elastic but not smooth. So using a simple icing bag could be difficult. I use a meat grinder with a special cookie star nozzle. You can use a suited cookie press.
• NOTE on custom yield: I really can't give the correct custom yield. But the amount will make several baking trays. Baking time is given for one tray.

BETHMAENNCHEN - GERMAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Finely grind the measured almonds.
• Break the marzipan dough into small pieces and mix with one of the eggs, rosewater, powdered sugar, ground almonds and flour.
• Separate the remaining egg and beat the yolk, set aside.
• Form marzipan mixture into balls the size of walnuts.
• Press three almond halves onto the sides of each ball. The almonds should stand up and down and be evenly spaced around the ball.
• Brush each ball with the beaten yolk and place on a cookie sheet.
• Place cookie sheet on the middle rack and bake 15 minutes until golden brown.

ZIMTSTERNE (CINNAMON STAR COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a bowl mix dry ingredients for dough.
• Add egg whites and knead until a still sticky dough is formed.
• Wrap into cling film and put into the fridge for at least one hour. I always leave it in the fridge for 2 - 4 hours.
• Near the end of cooling time preaheat oven (170 C) and make meringue glaze.
• For meringue glaze beat egg white with salt until stiff. While still beating add caster sugar by and by to make meringue.
• The meringue should have a consistency that you can spread it with a brush onto the dough later. It should have a more creamy consistency, so that it will stick on the dough and not running down.
• Add just a little milk to get the right consistency. Depending on the egg white you may need about 1 to 3 tablespoons.
• Line out baking trays with parchment paper.
• Get the dough out of the fridge and roll it out between two layers of parchment papers or cling film. The dough sould be a bout 1 cm thick.
• Method ONE for making cinnamon stars (easy way): Using a star cutter cut out the stars and place them on the baking tray. With a brush spread meringue glaze on the cookies.
• Method TWO for making cinnamon stars (tricky way): After you have rolled out the dough spread a thin layer of the meringue glaze on the dough. Now you need a star cutter which can be opened. These are available in Germany. When you can open the cookie cutter you avoid touching the glaze, because the dough has the tendency to stick to the cutter. Put the stars on the tray. Knead the rest of the dough again and add some grounded almonds, so that the dough is not too sticky. Repeat the steps of making the stars.
• Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12 minutes. Watch them carefully, because the meringue should not be browned.
• Take them out and let cool completely. Store them in airtight container. The cookies get better and better, because the flavours blended over time, but I you have to find a good hidout.
• NOTE on egg size: egg size is important here, because it determines the stickyness. My recipe is based on an egg size of 54 - 63 g per egg.
• Custom yield is a guess.
• Time to make does NOT include cooling time.