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.
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 (1.76 lbs).
If you are not yet very familiar with yeast dough, I recommend you firstly to read my post Yeast dough not rising.
Ingredients for the German Christmas Stollen Recipe
For the pre-ferment
- milk
- fresh or dry yeast
- sugar
- all-purpose flour
For the stollen dough
- pre-ferment
- eggs
- unsalted butter at room temperature
- sugar
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- orange zest
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
For the 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 the stollen decoration
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
Instructions
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 them to a baking sheet covered with parchment, cover with foil and leave for 1–2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
Bake the stollens 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!
If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Share your experience or any creative twists you made in the comments below. Let me know if you have any questions. Your feedback helps me create even more delicious content. Enjoy your homemade treat and happy baking!
Related recipes:
German Christmas Stollen Recipe | YellowMixer.com
Print RecipeIngredients
- Pre-ferment
- 200 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) of milk
- 50 g (1.75 oz) of fresh yeast (or 15 g (0.5 oz) of dry yeast)
- 15 g (1 tbsp) of sugar
- 100 g (3/4 cup) of all-purpose flour
- Dough
- pre-ferment
- 2 eggs
- 200 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 60 g (1/3 cup) of sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 600 g (4 3/4 cups) of all-purpose flour
- Filling
- 300 g (2 1/2 cups) of candied fruits and dried fruits
- 50 g (3.5 tbsp) of rum + 50 g (3.5 tbsp) of water
- 250 g (2 1/2 cups) of nuts
- For decoration
- 40 g (3 tbsp) of unsalted butter
- ~5 tbsp of powdered sugar
Instructions
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.
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 (340°F).
Bake the stollen for about 50–60 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.
Brush the finished hot stollens with melted butter and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.
Cool completely, wrap in parchment and put in a cool place for 3 weeks.
2 comments
Cynthia L Wood
25.11.2024 at 12:11What is the print button for on this page? It will not function. Just takes me back to top of page every time.
Marina
28.11.2024 at 14:08Hello, Cynthia! The print button is present and functional. I tested it on an iPhone using both Safari and Google Chrome, as well as on a MacBook with Google Chrome, and it worked as expected. You might want to try refreshing the page or clearing your browser cache to see if that resolves the issue. If the problem persists, let me know your device and browser details so I can help troubleshoot further!