As an international student, one of the hardest times of year to be away from home is Christmas. There is just something about the season that makes you long for home. My favourite way to combat any homesickness is baking, and Christmas of course calls for Christmas biscuits. So here is a collection of my favourite German biscuit recipes.
Vanille Kipferl (makes 60)
Ingredients:
- 200 g Butter
- 80 g icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (extract or paste, adjust accordingly)
- 100 g ground almond
- 250g flour
- Vanilla sugar for tossing
How-to:
- Cut butter into small cubes and knead into a smooth dough (easy peasy).
- Wrap dough in clingfilm or sustainable alternative and refrigerate.
- Pre-heat oven to 160°C.
- Cut dough into walnut sized sections, and form into halfmoon shapes.
- Put onto baking tray and put back into fridge for 10-15 min.
- Then bake for 15-20 min until golden-brown.
- Let cool for a few minutes and toss in vanilla sugar while still warm.
- They can easily be stored in an airtight container for several weeks.
Spritzgebäck (makes 3 trays)
Ingredients:
- 100g sugar
- 250g softened butter
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of vanilla (extract or paste)
- 1 egg (M)
- 320g flour
- 100 g melted chocolate for decorating
How-to:
- Mix the butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt until foamy/creamy.
- Mix in egg and flour.
- Fill into a piping bag with a big star nozzle (or just plain round if that’s all you have).
- Pipe onto baking trays and put in fridge for 45 min.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Bake for 10-15 min until golden-brown.
- While they cool, melt the chocolate. Dip half the biscuit into the chocolate and let harden on some baking paper.
- Add sprinkles or other decoration if so desired.
Lebkuchen
(a lot more ingredients, but a pretty easy dough to make and easy to work with as it’s not temperature sensitive like the others)
Ingredients:
- 250g honey
- 250 g cane sugar
- 150 g butter
- 100 g ground almonds
- 400-500 g flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of clove
- Pinch of cardamom
- Pinch of nutmeg
- ½ lemon zest
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp Rum
How-to:
- Melt honey, butter and sugar together in a pot, stirring well.
- Put mixture into baking bowl and let cool.
- Add the almonds, 400g of flour, baking powder and the spices, egg and knead well.
- Add rum and knead again. If the dough is too sticky add as much flour as needed to make a dough that’s easily formable.
- Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Roll out dough (thickness can vary) and cut into desired shapes.
- Bake for 10-18 minutes depending on size and thickness. Let cool on cake rack.
- Decorate with whatever topping you want; I usually do either chocolate or egg white glaze.
- Store in a NON-airtight container and they last for ages. If stored in an airtight container they will harden and can be used for decorations.
