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.
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: 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:
- Pfeffernüsse
- Lebkuchen
- Springerle
- Gugelhupf
- Printen
- Speculoos
- Vanillekipferl
- Zimtsterne
- Kokosmakronen
- Magenbrot
- Bethmännchen
- Heidesand
- 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
Judy says
Thank you so much, Kimberly! I love this recipe and the flavor and aroma that filled the house reminded me of my childhood stay in Germany. I made it yesterday and worked out my minor cosmetic glitches and today I made it again dividing the dough into four loaves for gifts. They are so beautiful. Perfect for Christmas. Love it. I can’t thank you enough.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Judy! Thank you so much and Merry Christmas! :)
Jennifer Main says
I just finished and OH MY GOD!!! I am not a baker so this took me all day. I made a double batch so that I could give some to my mother. I made it all from scratch as you suggested. I also made a lemmon drop martini from my lemon peel syrup. I made the citrus peels Friday and the marzipan Saturday and the bread on Sunday. I finally found rose water after searching all over town. The bread took longer to cook then I thought, the 190 degree tip was critical for someone with little luck baking. I wish I had made 3 loaves, the 2 loaves are really big. I could not wait, I had to try some after I had packed on the conf. sugar. Holy cow, this is amazing, truely authentic. Poking the holes in the bread and letting the butter go into the holes is a great idea. I am so proud of myself and cannot wait for my mother to try it. I will never spend $7 on hard sticky marzipan ever again! Thank you again, I am so glad that I chose this recipe to try. Merry Christmas.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Jennifer, congratulations on your Stollen and I’m so happy that your efforts in making all three recipes paid off! You should definitely be proud of yourself and no doubt your mother will too! Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Kaylyn says
This recipe is wonderful! My husband and sister-in-law had a Dutch great-grandmother who baked stollen and banket. I thought this would be a great treat to get us in the spirit of things this year and I was right! They said it was even better than any they ever had (I guess all the ones they had used store-bought citrus peel and marzipan.) I’m working on my second batch now and found inner cardamom seeds in my cabinet, so I decided to grind them fresh instead of the cardamom powder. These turned out to be two huge loaves, so I will split into three on this go so I can have more gifts for family. Thank you so, so much for sharing these old recipes. I look forward to trying the lebkuchen when the oblaten comes in!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Kaylyn, thank you very much!
Doug says
Love the stolen recipe. My mother used to make it when I was growing up with store bought candied fruit and I didn’t care for it much. The fresh candied citrus peels and home made marzipan turned this into a favorite. I cheated and made 2 rolls of marzipan so there is some on both sides when you fold the sides in. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Dough, thank you! That kind of cheating is perfectly acceptable in my book! ;)
Sam says
OMG this is Devine…
My dough took almost 3 hours to prove, but I genuinely have never baked anything that tastes more special in my life, followed the recipe to a tee, aside from soaking my fruit overnight :)
I’ve tasted it fresh, can’t wait to see how it tastes once it has matured at Christmas!!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sam, thank you! :)
Ellen says
Best Stollen ever! I used to work in a German Deli and had all the German products available to me. Now the store is closed and I had to make my own Stollen! Am I glad I found your instructions! Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Ellen, thank you!
alimak says
Will try again next weekend, but will halve the recipe I think. Hadn’t refreshed the page for a few days and used 200g of butter – the dough was pretty tacky and oily and kneading a bit more flour into it didn’t seem to help.
Baked it anyway, the flavours are magnificent, albeit a stodgy texture rather than bread-y if that makes sense, lol
Magdalena says
Hi, have you tried to integrate the syrup from the candied fruit to replace te zest and/or sugar? By the way, the candied peels went delicious!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Magdalena, I’m glad you enjoyed the candied citrus, thank you! Sorry, I have not tried integrating the syrup in the Stollen.
Wendy says
I would love to know if the flavoured left over syrup would work in this recipe. It seems such a shame to waste it. I’m going to keep it and hope that I can think of something to use it in, if not this Stollen.
Kaylyn says
I am using the syrup in my warm whiskey and apple cider cocktails :)
Anonymous says
Great idea.
Anonymous says
I made a lemon drop martini!
Anne Parys says
I made my candied peel at Thanksgiving and used the syrup to make my cranberry sauce. It was delicious!
Deborah Bluhm says
I will mix mine with cream to make a cream liqueur or alcoholic whipped cream to have with mince pies or on top of hot chocolate.
Yvonne says
My family loves this Stollen. I have to recommend that you make your own candied peel, super easy and definitely adds to the flavour of the bread. I use cranberries instead of raisins. This is the recipe, look no further. Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so much, Yvonne! :)
Bel says
I grew up in Germany and we have Stollen every year. Never homemade though! I’m now in New Zealand and this year the shops haven’t imported any stollen, so I’ll be trying to make it myself! I have a question about the ageing process. It’s summer in this part of the world and I don’t think I can get away with finding somewhere cool and humid to store the stollen. How much of a difference does it really make? I want to get it as close as possible! Do you have any ideas how to store it in summer that would still work?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Bel, trying to store the Stollen in a warm environment isn’t a good idea; I would just forego the aging process. In a warm environment I wouldn’t make this more than a few days in advance of eating it. I personally love this Stollen straight out of the oven!
wildbill says
Happy Holidays DG…….in the recipe you call for 9 ounces raisins, 3 ounces candied lemon peel, 3 ounces candied orange peel and Homemade Candied Citrus Peel. No quantity on the CCP. I’m confused. Nobody else seems confused as I searched the comments.😷😎👨🍳
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi wildbill, it’s 3 ounces lemon and 3 ounces orange total, whether it’s store-bought or homemade. I just provide the link to the homemade candied citrus peel recipe because I super duper strongly recommend you make it instead of using store-bought!
Heidi says
I have a question about the aging process. I’ve tried googling, every recipe says to store in a “cold” place for 2 or 3 weeks. I’ve also been told a fridge is too cold. Could you tell me the best temperature for the Christstollen to mature at?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Heidi, the temperature is one of two important factors; the humidity of the environment is likewise important and that is why the fridge is problematic – it will dry out the Stollen. The ideal temperature is anywhere between 35 and 55 degrees F but again, not the fridge because it’s too dry. Traditionally Stollen were stored in people’s basements where it’s both cool and humid. Today it’s difficult for most people to find an ideal storage spot like a basement and so aging the Stollen for an extended period of time becomes difficult and the Stollen needs to be eaten sooner or not made as far in advance.
Martine Wagstaff says
So is a root cellar ideal for this? We happen to have one in our basement!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s PERFECT, Martine!
Julie Colton says
Lovely taste but mine was a bit dry where am I going wrong .followed the entire recipe soaked the fruit over night in alcohol.would make again if I could solve what was making it dry.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Julie, Stollen is relatively dry (it’s a form of bread), so that’s normal. If it’s “too” dry then it probably wasn’t wrapped airtight enough. Also avoid putting it in the fridge because it has very low humidity and will dry out the Stollen.
Frank FWirges Jr says
I’m not a fruit cake lover but oh boy this is fantastic. I made it for the first time this year. I feel I am an experienced cook but by no means a baker so I followed the recipe to a “T”. My only complaint is that you should include in the recipe some yeast recommendations. For example I didn’t know there were different kinds of yeast (traditional, fast acting and two kinds of instant) and what the difference was. Also you recommend letting it rise for 1 hour. You might mention that if it hasn’t risen enough you can let it raise longer say 1-3 hours until it doubles. People who make bread probably know this but I looked all this up on Google AFTER I made the recipe. But the good news is it was delicious anyway. FYI I used Southern Comfort to soak the fruit… Yum!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Frank, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I do specify that’s it’s “active dry yeast” which is different than instant or rapid. For the rising time I likewise say to let it rise “until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour.” I’m sorry these items were confusing to you but I’m happy it turned out successfully.
Jeanette T says
Good Day Dairing Gourmet
I’m preparing for your stollen recipe to bake this weekend. I made the candied citrus and the marzipan. I always weigh my ingredients as I bake a lot of bread. I noticed that your butter weight is 200g but 1.5 sticks of butter is 170g (113g+57g). If I stick with your weight on everything I should be ok? Sorry to question you but I have to make sure this is a success. Thanks so much. Stay well!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jeanette, there’s been an odd software glitch occurring the past few days that I’ve notified the developer about. Yes, it should be 170 grams but even adding 200 grams will be perfectly fine; you may just need to add a little extra flour if the dough is too wet.
Alyce says
Can I use bread flour? I have bags of it that I would like to use up. Thank you! I am looking forward to making loaves galore to brighten friends and family’s holiday.
Alyce
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Alyce, I do not recommend substituting bread flour because it has a higher protein content and will result in a denser, dryer, chewier dough.