German Christmas Stollen Recipe

Christmas stollen is a classic yeast pastry made in Germany for Christmas Eve. The authentic German Christmas stollen recipe contains a large amount of filling: candied fruits, dried fruits, nuts, poppy seeds, chocolate, marzipan (all together, separately or in combination with each other).

The classic stollen is long and white (covered with powdered sugar), which, according to legend, is supposed to resemble the “baby Christ wrapped in diapers.”

Some people think that any Christmas cakes, including the famous English Christmas fruit cake, are called stollen. But this is not the case. Traditionally, stollen is a German yeast pastry.

If you don’t want to mess around with yeast, I sincerely recommend making an English Christmas fruit cake, which tastes like a stollen, also contains a huge amount of filling, and also takes 2–3 weeks to ripen. But the cooking process is much easier and faster. Moreover, my YouTube channel already has a video of making a Christmas fruit cake (with English subtitles), so I invite you to watch it. I’d be grateful for a like, a comment, and a subscription, as it helps promote the content.

In the homeland of stollen, Germany, they are treated very conservatively, to the point that, for example, a Dresden stollen can only be called such if it is made directly in and around Dresden. The same goes for types, recipes, and proportions. Traditional fairs, markets, and competitions dedicated to stollen are held annually in Germany.

Try making German Christmas stollen at least once, and this pastry will become a wonderful tradition in your family!

Stollen are good for storage, so you can make several at once and enjoy them for up to 3 months. Your winter breakfasts will be extraordinary, because stollen with coffee tastes incredible!

The above amount of products make 2 stollens, each of ~800 grams.

If you are not yet very familiar with yeast dough, I recommend you firstly to read my post Yeast dough not rising.

Pre-ferment

milk
fresh or dry yeast
sugar
all-purpose flour

Stollen dough

pre-ferment
eggs
unsalted butter at room temperature
sugar
salt
ground cinnamon
orange zest
vanilla extract
all-purpose flour

Stollen filling

candied fruits and dried fruits (I have dried cherries and cranberries, raisins, dried apricots, homemade candied orange peel)
rum + water
nuts (almonds, walnuts)

For decoration

unsalted butter
powdered sugar

So, first, soak the dried fruits in a mixture of rum and water (1:1) at least overnight.

You do not need to soak the candied orange peel.

For the pre-ferment, mix the milk, yeast, sugar and flour, stir, cover with a lid or film and set aside for 30 minutes. During this time, the pre-ferment will rise and become fluffy (if this does not happen, the yeast is bad, unfortunately, you will have to remake the pre-ferment with other yeast).

Add the rest of the ingredients for the dough to the pre-ferment: eggs, soft butter, sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon, orange zest and sifted flour.

Knead the dough. Place in a deep bowl, greased with vegetable oil, cover with foil or lid and put aside for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the soaked dried fruits. Put them in a sieve and leave them for an hour to get rid of excess liquid. Dry slightly with a paper towel.

Palm the risen dough, add nuts, candied orange peel and prepared dried fruits, mix well.

Put the dough aside for another 2–3 hours (again covered with a lid or film). During this time, the dough will double in size.

Palm the risen dough and form 2 stollens: divide the dough in half, roll each piece into a circle and fold in half.

Transfer to a baking sheet covered with parchment, cover with foil and leave for 1–2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Bake the stollen for about 50–60 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.

Brush the finished hot stollens with melted butter. After 10–15 minutes, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

Cool the stollens completely, wrap in parchment and put them in an airtight container or bag. Put in a cool place to “ripen” for 2–3 weeks.

Before serving, sprinkle the stollen generously with powdered sugar again.

Of course, the stollen is delicious even right after baking, but after 3 weeks it will be special, just trust me. During this time, it will ripen, soak in the aromas of candied fruit, the moisture will be distributed, and you will get a deliciously flavorful holiday dessert!

Enjoy your meal!

What do you think about this German Christmas stollen recipe? Did you like it? I am happy to share my experience with you and waiting for your feedback!