stollen bread

German Christmas stollen is a traditional yeast bread that’s filled with dried fruit and marzipan, then coated in butter and icing sugar.  You’ll love every bite of this moist, delicious bread this Christmas season!

German Christmas Stollen

raisins

currants

almonds

mixed peel (finely diced)

orange juice

bread flour

fast-action yeast

salt

caster sugar

lemon zest

vanilla extract

milk

unsalted butter (melted)

marzipan

icing sugar

Soak the fruit

Stir together the raisins, dried currants, chopped peel, sliced almonds, and orange juice until well mixed.  Leave to soak while you make the bread dough.

Mix dry ingredients

Pour the flour into a large bowl, adding the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl.  Stir in each one with your finger.  Mix in the sugar.

Add wet ingredients

Dump in the warmed milk, orange zest, vanilla, and egg, and bring the mix together with your hand.  The dough may be dry at this stage, but don&#39;t add any additional liquid to it.

Prove #1

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it prove at room temperature for 40 minutes.

Melt the butter

Put the butter in a saucepan set over low heat until melted.

Knead in the butter

Gradually add the melted butter to the dough, squeezing and crushing the dough with your hand to incorporate.  Once all of the butter is added, knead until all the butter is evenly distributed.

Prove #2

Cover the dough with plastic wrap again and let it prove for 1 hour.

Add the fruit

Place the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the soaked fruit mixture and mix on medium-low speed until evenly mixed.  If you don&#39;t have a stand mixer, you can do this step by hand.

Prove #3

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.

Making the German Stollen Dough (45 min + 2 hrs 10 min proving)

Punch it down

Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Punch it down all over to knock out any large air pockets.

Roll out the dough

Roll out the dough into an oval about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide.  Place the bread dough on an 11x17-inch cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Roll out the marzipan

On a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, roll out the marzipan to an oval slightly smaller than the bread dough.  Lay it on top of the bread.

Fold

Fold over the long side of the oval so the dough is folded in half lengthwise.  The marzipan should be covered by the dough.

Prove #4

Cover the stollen with a piece of plastic wrap and let it prove until the dough springs back when gently pressed, about 30 minutes.

Shaping the Stollen (10 min + 30 min proving)

Preheat

Towards the end of the final prove, preheat your oven to 400 F.

Bake

Cook the stollen in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 F.  Without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 375 F and bake the loaf until it&#39;s golden brown and has an internal temperature of about 190 F, about 40 minutes.  Once the bread is nicely browned, cover it with aluminum foil.

Cool

Let the stollen cool for 10 minutes on the tray, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool.

Baking the Stollen (1 hr)

Decorate

While the loaf is still hot, brush on a generous coating of melted butter and sift a thick coating of icing sugar on top.  This coating looks pretty and seals the loaf, preventing it from drying out too quickly.

Serve

Let the German Christmas loaf cool completely, then slice and serve with soft butter.

Decorating the Christmas Stollen (10 min)

Stollen: Buttery, spiced, tender loaves of sweet bread studded with dried fruit, candied citrus peel, and nuts for a heavenly flavor worthy of holiday celebrations. Perfect for holiday snacking, Christmas Eve dessert, or a sweet finish to holiday brunch! Make two loaves as directed, or see the recipe notes to make smaller loaves for gifting!

Stollen

raisins ((240 grams))

orange peel (diced (120 grams))

lemon

almond (chopped (60 grams))

dark rum ((120 milliliters))

milk ((110-120F/180 milliliters))

(0.25-ounce 7 grams) packet active dry yeast

all-purpose flour (divided (480 grams))

unsalted butter

sugar ((66 grams))

cardamom

mace

Confectioners’ sugar

In a medium bowl, combine raisins, orange peel, lemon peel, almonds, and rum. Cover and let soak while preparing the dough, stirring occasionally.

For the Fruit and Nuts:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk and yeast, stirring to combine. Let stand until the top is foamy, about 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup of flour, the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, cardamom, and mace to the bloomed yeast. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-low speed until the mixture is well combined and smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Switch to the dough hook. Add the remaining 3 cups of flour and the lemon zest. Mix on low speed until a soft and smooth dough forms, about 10 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, cover, and let rise until the dough is about doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Drain any remaining liquid from the soaked fruit.

Add the drained fruit mixture to the dough. Use the dough hook and mix on low speed just until the fruit is combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead a few times to bring it into a ball. flouring the dough and your hands as needed.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a 7x11-inch oval, lightly flouring your hands as needed.

For the Dough:

Shape the marzipan into 2 (10-inch) long logs. Place a marzipan log down the center of each oval. Fold one long side of the dough over the marzipan to meet the other side. Gently press down along the seam to seal in the marzipan. (Do not pinch the seam together.)

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the loaves on the baking sheet a few inches apart. Loosely cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until visibly puffed, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

For the Filling:

Uncover the risen loaves and brush with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown. (The internal temperature should reach 190F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into the center of each loaf.) Place on a wire cooling rack.

Brush the hot loaves with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Let cool for 20 minutes.

Heavily dust the tops of the loaves in confectioners’ sugar. Pat them with your hands to adhere the sugar to the crust. Cool completely. Dust again once cooled, including the bottom of the loaves, and pat to adhere. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap until ready to serve. Stollen gets better with age and can be enjoyed up to 3 weeks after baking as long as it is stored tightly wrapped.

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Stollen

Top 2 stollen bread recipes from across the web

The most viewed stollen bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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German Christmas Stollen

Stollen

The most viewed stollen bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine