German Stollen have been around for nearly 700 years and are prized throughout the world as one of the most famous and beloved of all Christmas pastries.  Your search for the BEST authentic German Stollen recipe has ended: Flaky, moist, and divinely flavorful, these homemade German Christmas Stollen are INCREDIBLE!
For more traditional German Christmas recipes be sure to also try our Pfeffernüsse, Lebkuchen, Springerle, Vanillekipferl and Zimtsterne!
Sweet cakes and breads studded with candied fruits and nuts are hallmarks of Christmas baking in many areas of the world. Examples include fruitcake which is traditional throughout the English speaking nations, panettone in Italy, keks in Poland, julekake in Norway, bolo-rei in Portugal and birnenbrot in Switzerland. But perhaps none are revered as highly throughout the world as German Stollen.
I grew up in southern Germany and celebrating the Christmas season without homemade Stollen was simply unthinkable.
What is Stollen?
Christmas stollen, known in Germany as Christstollen, is a yeast bread that is baked with dried fruits, candied citrus peel, nuts and spices. Variations include Mandelstollen (almond), Mohnstollen (poppy seed), Quarkstollen (quark), Nuss-Stollen (nuts), Butterstollen (high butter content), Dresdner Stollen and Marzipanstollen.
Stollen are famously dusted with a thick coat of powdered sugar, reminiscent of the snowy German landscape, and baked with spices conveying the warmth of the Christmas season.
© shutterstock
Where Did Stollen Originate?
The first and most famous variety of stollen is the Dresdner Christstollen. Some historians date its origin back to 1329 and over the centuries the stollen was refined to become what it is today. And it has come a long way indeed because up until 1650 the stollen was a bland, hard pastry as the use of butter and milk was forbidden during Lent by the Catholic church. It was in this year that Prince Ernst von Sachsen, at the request of the bakers of Dresden, petitioned the pope to lift the butter ban. The request was denied and then, five popes later, the ban was finally lifted in 1490 via the pope’s famous Butterbrief, “butter letter.”
From that point the stollen gradually developed into an enjoyable sweet bread incorporating additional ingredients and it become an important symbol of the region. King August II in 1730 commissioned the bakers of Dresden to bake a gigantic stollen in celebration of the strength of the Saxon military, an event to which he invited the dignitaries of Europe in the hope of building allies. The stollen weighed 1.8 tons (that’s 3600 pounds!), was 27 feet long and 18 feet wide and a special oven was designed and built just for this purpose. It took a convoy of eight horses to transport the stollen to the king’s table and a 26 pound and 5 1/4 foot-long knife was used to cut it.
Germany’s first Christmas market was held in Dresden in 1434. This market, the Dresdner Striezelmarkt, continues to be held every year. Also held annually on the Saturday prior to the 2nd Advent is the Dresdner Stollenfest featuring Germany’s largest Christstollen. So far 2013 holds the record for the largest Stollen weighing nearly 9400 pounds! Each year a horse-drawn carriage parades the giant stollen through the streets and on to the Christmas market. Per tradition, a replica of the original 5-foot long knife is used to slice the stollen. The mayor of the city tastes the first piece and the stollen is then cut into thousands of pieces that are sold with the proceeds going to charity.
© Lianem | Dreamstime
The Symbolism Behind Stollen
The word “stollen” refers to a post or boundary stone for a city. It is also thought it could refer to the entrance of a mine shaft. Some historians believe that the stollen’s characteristic shape was molded after the shape of a mine tunnel, reflective of the silver and tin mining industries of the time. But there is also religious symbolism behind the stollen with the loaf, or bread, being symbolic of the body of Christ. Specifically, being dusted with powdered sugar, it is symbolic of the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. Thus it is traditionally called Christstollen, or Christ Stollen.
How to Make Stollen
I’m sharing with you my recipe for Stollen which is thoroughly authentic in its method and ingredients. It features dried fruits, candied lemon peel, nuts and marzipan (which you can omit if you choose). I LOVE the addition of marzipan and it’s one of the most popular varieties of Stollen. Don’t worry about having to go out and buy some, it is unbelievably quick and easy to make your own (seriously, it takes about 5 minutes). Check out our recipe for Easy Homemade Marzipan!
A Word About Store-Bought Candied Citrus Peel (do you hate it as much as I do?)
I have to tell you, I absolutely detest store-bought candied citrus peel. And most people I speak to feel the same. It has a bizarre chemical flavor no matter the brand. For that reason I’ve never been a fan of fruitcakes in general. BUT using your own homemade candied citrus peel is a 100% deal changer.Â
While you can use store-bought candied citrus peel if you insist, I VERY, VERY STRONGLY recommend making your own. Please, trust me on this: Using homemade candied citrus peel is the difference between night and day when it comes to flavor! It is vastly superior in every way and will make your Stollen taste incredible! And the good news is it can be made far, far in advance. In fact, I freeze mine so it lasts basically forever and I take out what I need as needed. Check out our recipe for Candied Orange Peel!
For anyone who may be feeling a little intimidated at the thought of making Stollen, don’t be. If you can make a cake or a loaf of bread, you can make Stollen. But while it’s easy to make, it’s not quick to make. There’s a waiting game involved both during the baking process and the aging process. In the baking process the Stollen dough has to rise a couple of times just like in making yeast bread. Then it has to bake for a while. And then there’s the waiting process. Typically the Stollen is tightly wrapped and kept in a cool place to age for 2-3 weeks before eating. This allows the liquid from the rum-soaked dried fruits to soak into the bread creating both flavor and moistness.
NOW, while letting Stollen age will allow the flavors to fully penetrate the bread, our Stollen is absolutely AMAZING straight out of the oven! So the question of to wait or not to wait we’ll leave up to you.
Fun trivia: Fruitcakes that contain a lot of alcohol can remain edible for years. Yes, years. For example, the Antarctic Heritage Trust discovered a 106-year-old fruitcake last year and after sampling it (the brave souls) they said it was not only in “excellent condition” for its age but was even “almost” edible! Another fruitcake baked in 1878 in Michigan was kept as a family heirloom and sampled for the first time in 2003 by Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.  It’s amazing what an incredible preservative alcohol is. So in other words, as long as you keep your Stollen tightly wrapped and in a cool place, letting it age for 2 weeks is, like, nothing.
Lastly, if you’ve never been a huge fan of store-bought Stollen you’re not alone. I’ve never cared for them either. But homemade…that’s an entirely different story.
Your search for the best Stollen recipe has ended:Â Flaky, moist, and divinely flavorful, these homemade German Christmas Stollen are INCREDIBLE!
Authentic German Stollen Recipe
Let’s get started!
Place the raisins, candied citrus peel and almonds in a medium bowl and pour the rum over it. Stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while the dough rises.
Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, mace and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast/milk mixture.
Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together. Knead the dough on the bread setting and once the dough comes together continue to knead for 7 minutes.
Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the bowl with a little oil, return the dough ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or lightly warmed oven (just barely warm), to rise until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit/nut mixture to the dough (it should have absorbed all the rum by now but if there is excess liquid, pour it out before adding the mixture to the dough).
Using the dough hook, knead the fruit/nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.
Cut the dough in two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval to about 1 inch thickness. Roll each piece of marzipan into a log the length of the oval. Press the marzipan gently into the middle of the dough.
Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the marzipan, then fold right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen. In other words, don’t fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen.
Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the marzipan.
Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump.
Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40-60 minutes until puffy.
At this point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough (they will burn during baking).
Towards the end of the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F.
Let them sit for 5 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes all over the stollen. This will allow the melted butter to seep in.
Generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while the stollen are still warm.
Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely.
The stollen can be sliced and eaten now or wrapped tightly (I like to wrap in plastic wrap then foil) and left to “ripen” in a cool place for 2 weeks. The liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the dough for more flavor and moisture.
Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
For eating, I like to warm the slices up for a few seconds in the microwave, it makes the crumb nice and soft.
Slice and enjoy!
For more traditional German Christmas goodies try our:
- PfeffernüsseÂ
- Lebkuchen Â
- Springerle
- Gugelhupf
- PrintenÂ
- SpeculoosÂ
- VanillekipferlÂ
- Zimtsterne
- Kokosmakronen
- Magenbrot
- Bethmännchen
- HeidesandÂ
- German Rum Balls
BEST Authentic Stollen (German Christmas Bread)
Ingredients
- For the Dough:
- 1 cup lukewarm whole milk
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour ***NOTE: Amount will vary depending on how much liquid is in your fruit/nut mixture. Be sure to drain any excess liquid. Add more flour as needed if dough is too wet.
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) , at room temperature so it's very soft
- 2 teaspoons quality pure vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 teaspoon ground mace (recommended but can substitute nutmeg)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 ounces Homemade Marzipan/Almond Paste , divided in half (you can omit the marzipan if you prefer)
- or store-bought marzipan/almond paste
- For the Fruits & Nuts:
- 9 ounces raisins
- 3 ounces candied lemon peel , finely diced
- 3 ounces candied orange peel , finely diced
- Homemade Candied Citrus Peel Recipe (we VERY STRONGLY recommend using homemade, it makes ALL the difference!)
- 3 ounces blanched slivered or sliced almonds , finely chopped
- 1/3 cup quality dark rum
- For the Glaze & Dusting:
- 1 stick unsalted butter , melted
- powdered sugar for generous dusting
Instructions
- Place the raisins, candied citrus peel and almonds in a medium bowl and pour the rum over it. Stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while the dough rises.
- Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
- Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, mace and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast/milk mixture. Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together. Knead the dough on the bread setting for 7-8 minutes. Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the bowl with a little oil, return the dough ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or lightly warmed oven (just barely warm), to rise until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour (likely closer to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the environment).
- Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit/nut mixture to the dough (it should have absorbed all the rum by now but if there is excess liquid, pour it out before adding the mixture to the dough). Using the dough hook, knead the fruit/nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it in two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval to about 1 inch thickness. Roll each piece of marzipan into a log the length of the oval. Press the marzipan gently into the middle of the dough. Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the marzipan, then fold right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen (see pics). In other words, don't fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen. Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the marzipan. Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump (see pics). Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40-60 minutes until puffy. At that point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough (they will burn during baking).
- Towards the end of the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F. Let the Stollen sit for 5 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes all over the stollen (this will allow the butter to seep in), then generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while the stollen are still warm. Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely.  You may want to give it another dusting of powdered sugar once cooled.
- The stollen can be sliced and eaten now or wrapped tightly (wrap in plastic wrap then foil) and left to "ripen" in a cool place for 2 weeks. The liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the dough for more flavor and moisture. Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
- Makes 2 large or 3 medium Stollen.For eating, I like to warm the slices up for a few seconds in the microwave, it makes the crumb nice and soft.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet November 20, 2018
Kamar says
Hi! Thank you very much for sharing this recipe. I am not able to use alcohol in my food. What do you suggest as a substitute to soak the dried fruit please?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Kamar, yes you can soak them in apple juice or just water.
Wendy says
Hi Kimberly, I’m just making the candied peel and will then start on the Stollen for the first time, do you think it would be ok to soak the fruit etc in orange juice rather than rum , apple or water? Or do you think it could compromise the yeast? Thank you.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Absolutely, Wendy, you can use orange juice. The Stollen just won’t store as long since it’s lacking the alcohol as a preservative.
CH says
Hi! I’ve heard that stollen can be kept for months. Without alcohol, how long do you think it will last if wrapped well?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi CH, it will last for up to a week.
Wendy says
Thank you Kimberly.
Lainy fenwick says
Hi I really want to make this, but I don’t have a dough hook, so will kneading it with my hands still be ok ??
Thank you
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Absolutely, Lainy! Traditionally these were only ever kneaded by hand. Happy baking!
Willem says
Could I candy a mixture of mandarin and lemon peel instead of orange and lemon? I happen to have plenty of mandarins on hand, so I might as well use them!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Absolutely, Willem!
Heidi R King says
I really enjoyed following this recipe! I don’t have a stand mixer and planned to knead by hand, but after adding the yeast mixture to the flour/butter mixture I found the dough very wet and sticky. I added quite a bit of flour just to get the dough to come together and to be able to lightly knead the dough in it’s bowl. My stollen turned out a bit dry, perhaps because of the extra flour or perhaps I over-baked or didn’t let it sit for weeks before trying it. The flavor is very good though, and I really enjoyed making my own citrus peel and marzipan.
Amy says
I followed the recipe almost 100% per instructions – I even made marzipan and candied citrus peels from scratch. I just cut off a few slices for myself and my kids – it’s a huge hit! The few differences I made were, 1) I used lemons from my own tree for the zest. The rinds are very thin so I used two whole lemons for zest. 2) I used dried cherries and dried cranberries instead of raisins. 3) I also used instant yeast. The dough was perfect and the Marzipan delicious. The only “issue” is that there was too much dried fruit/candied citrus peels for my liking. The next time I make this (and yes, there will definitely be a next time) I’m going to use half the fruit. I’m also going to shape the loaves thicker (taller?) and longer.
But I would recommend this recipe (as is) to everyone!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Amy, I’m happy you enjoyed it! And by all means reduce the quantities according to your preference.
Mike V says
Everybody loves a Stollen, amazing all the comments.
Your pictures could be straight out of my mothers (Dresdnerin) Weihnachtsbaeckerei 70 yrs ago, or my wifes kitchen (Oberstdorferin), years apart, same memories.
S L says
Yep. Tried this out today and it turned out scrumptious! Like a number of the folks here, I made my own candied citrus peels: fabulous! Used commercial almond paste–never used that before–as I don’t have a means of making my own. Overall: very pleased with this.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, S L, thank you!
Brendan says
Third year making this. Always delicious.
This year the marzipan is poking out. Can it still be stored/cured in a dark location or should it be refrigerated to prevent spoilage?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Brendan! It should be fine, just wrap the Stollen tightly.
Joy Grotenhuis says
What flour do you recommend? I typically use American unbleached, but this year am considering using a European flour. What do you think?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Joy, I just use regular unbleached all-purpose flour for this.
Natasha says
Hi, I made this stollen last week, and it was delish! However I had a few issues or actually one. The recepie says to use 500 g of flour and my dough ended up very runny so I had to keep adding more in. This made me nervous as I worried the other ratios would be wrong.. Am I the only one with this problem? I also do not have a baking machine so i kneed by hand.
Is it ok to store the Stollen in colder temp for the 2 weeks? Ive got mine on the balcony ( live in Switzerland)
Regards
Natasha
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Natasha, I’m happy you enjoyed it! This is the first time I’ve had anyone report that problem; we’ll see if anyone else chimes. Other than having to add some extra flour did everyone else go well? Yes, the Stollen will be fine outside for a couple of weeks; just keep it wrapped very well in several layers and since the balcony is very cold let the Stollen to sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.
Milly says
I’ve also had the same issue with it being incredibly liquidy! I had to add another 250g flour for it to be form a dough ball. Everything else went fine and it is a fantastic recipe!
Nancy essig says
I also thought I must have screwed up my measure as I added 512 gms of flour vut t just never came away from the bowl and I had to keep adding flour until it became dough. Hope it comes out alright
Natasha says
It turned out Lovely in the end but i have a feeling it got a bit dry. Its all gone already 😄 but im thinking of making it again although the flour worries me a bit..as i dont know how wet rhe dough should be.
Lucy says
I grew up in Germany and had some of the best stollen. Every year in the UK I buy some from German supermarkets but wanted to try and make my own. I found this recipe pretty straightforward and made my own candied peel which was also super easy. Did the dough by hand and had to add a bit more flour due to stickiness. Really pleased with the results, it looks great cut and taste amazing. Glad the recipe made so much and I’ll be making it every year now.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Lucy, thank you so much!
Erica says
I also had the same issue; the dough was super sticky and never came together after 15 minutes of kneading in my KitchenAid mixer. I finally added more flour until it formed a (still sticky) ball.
I used the imperial measurements and didn’t realize until later that I could switch it to metric. Four cups of flour only equated to about 490 grams, when the recipe called for 580! No wonder my dough was too sticky. The imperial and metric measurements do not add up! Hopefully this helps someone else.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Erica, the imperial cup measurements can be problematic regardless; different sources will give you different conversion info – some sources say one cup of all-purpose flour equals 120 grams while other sources will tell you 150 grams or anything in between. So in making any kind of breads there will always be some adjustments made to the amount of flour, either adding a little less or adding a little more. And in the case of the Stollen the amount of flour that is needed is also greatly impacted by how much liquid is left in the dried fruit/nut mixture when it comes time to add it to the dough, which is why as much excess liquid should be removed as possible.
Randalin Hilton says
Hi Kimberly, could Natasha’s problem with runny dough be the different grind of flour in Europe/UK and the USA? When I lived in England a few years back I had to add more flour to of my recipes for bread, cakes, and cookies.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s an interesting thought, Randalin. There is a difference in the amount of water absorbed by soft wheat flour versus hard wheat flour. Hard wheat flour has a higher protein content and absorbs more liquid than soft wheat flour. What I recommend in this recipe is all-purpose flour which made with a combination of the two.
Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour and pastry flour has an even lower protein content than cake flour, so both of these will absorb less water than all-purpose flour resulting in a wetter dough.
Ellen says
Mine came out perfect, no additional flour needed!
Lisa Mailer says
Hi kimberley,
This sounds lovely I cannot wait to make it. Is it possible to make this into little bite size pieces?
Thank you
Lisa
Don Herold says
I’m getting ready to make t the stollen. I made the citrus peel and almond paste. Wow, can relieve the difference between store bought and homemade. They are both so good! Don’t skip this step!
Lars K. says
I made this last year and it was a bomb! Fantastic flavor! Going to make it this weekend again.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s awesome, Lars, thanks so much!
Gisela Huelsman says
I’m a german and this is a wonderful Stollen and tastes great .
I lost my mothers recipe and this is very close and the instructions are very user friendly! Danke!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Bitte, Gisela! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you so much! :)
JoAnn says
Best Stollen recipe! I made it last year and can’t wait to make again this year. The homemade citrus peel is definitely worth making yourself. Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so much, JoAnn! <3
Wunderlich says
Has anyone heard of a recipe using pine needles? My Oma’s called for it, but it’s long lost and I can’t remember how they were used. BTW, I made the candied peels & marzipan and wow so good!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Wunderlich, no I’ve never heard of using pine needles in any German baked goods – not for anything other than decoration. I’m happy you enjoyed the candied peels and marzipan, thank you!