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
Nandita says
Excellent recipes for candied peel, marzipan, and this stollen! Made three delicious loaves that won’t last long. Thank you for excellent instructions and pictures! Happy holidays!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Nandita, I’m happy all three recipes were a success!
Lorna Bradley says
Great recipe! Thanks for posting! My dough turned out a bit wet, but it was a damp day here on the coast. I added an extra 1/4 cup flour in the beginning and again with the fruit. I made three loaves and they baked perfectly in 30 minutes. We sampled one right away, wrapping up the rest of it to ripen. The other two loaves will be gifts
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Lorna, I’m happy you enjoyed the Stollen!
Kathleen says
Hi there😊😊 and first off thank you for providing this amazing recipe, I have been wanting to make a traditional German stollen for a long time but never seemed confident to do it until I saw this tutorial
I do have a question , do you know if I substitute the regular flour for GF flour would that work? Or would I also need to change the other ingredients as well? … of course, if you know😋😋😋
I unfortunately cannot have wheat anymore😩😩😩😩
Thanks so much and can’t wait to try this
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Kathleen, I haven’t tried making this with gluten free flour so I’m not entirely sure. Hopefully some of our readers who have tried making this GF can chime in.
Kathleen says
Thanks 😊
I am making it now and it seems very dry, when trying to fold it over it more split on the edge then folding, so I think next time I will have to add some extra moisture somewhere.
Do you have any recommendations if the dough is to dry in the regular recipe?
Thanks again
Kathleen
Ps the candied fruit was a huge success😋😋 thanks for the recipe
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Kathleen, it looks like from your other comments that you made this with GF flour? I haven’t tried that so I’m afraid I can’t make any recommendations – hopefully our GF readers can chime in.
Elisabeth says
We are planning to make this for Christmas. Will it matter if I use unblanched sliced almonds for the rum-soaked fruit and nut filling?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Elisabeth, that’s no problem, it’s purely aesthetics. Happy baking and Merry Christmas!
Sandra says
Frohliche Weihnachten! Followed the recipe, but decided to use my bread machine to do the kneading and rise cycles using the sweet bread program with add in option and the dough came out perfectly. Then formed the dough with the marzipan, let the dough sit another 60 minutes and then baked in the oven. So easy! The homemade candied citrus peel and marzipan are amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipe and expertise. It’s nice to make these traditional German specialties especially this year since we had to cancel our annual trip to Germany.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Sandra, I’m so glad it was a success! We had to cancel our trip to Germany this year as well but surrounding ourselves with the flavors of home helps ease the pain. Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Anthony says
This didn’t turn out at all… Too much dry ingredients compared to wet.. it didn’t rise at all either.. I did everything according to directions
Sue says
My first time making stollen. Candied my citrus peels, made the marzipan ahead of time. Time intensive but well worth it! Delicious. I followed recipe exactly except I didn’t have rum..used a fruit liqueur.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Congratulations, Sue, I’m so happy it was a success!
Catriona Walsh says
Turned out amaZing!!
Carmen says
I absolutely love this recipe! I made it today for the first time ever, after being introduced to stollen at a hotel buffet. I’m in Malaysia and always looking for more unique baked goods. I made my own tweaks and added walnuts in place of some parts of the raisins as I prefer nuts to dried fruit. I also added my own spice mix consisting of cardamom, ginger, star anise, clove and the recommended vanilla and cinnamon. Instead of vanilla extract, I used a vanilla pod, which speckled the dough really nicely. I also substituted rum for brandy as that was what I had and I wasn’t able to afford buying rum. Aside from that I followed the recipe exactly (even for the marzipan) and was blown away by how good it was! I will definitely try making my own peels next time too :)
Personally though, I would have preferred a stronger alcohol flavour, but perhaps I will like my loaf a lot better after the ripening stage. Absolutely foolproof recipe still. Thank you so much x
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Carmen, thanks for the feedback!
Tony says
One quick question: the recipe says divide the dough in half but then goes on to discuss a single loaf. Do you mean to divide in half and then for each half (or thirds if making 3 medium sized stollen) continue with the recipe. Vielen Dank!.om
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Tony, divide it in half to make two loaves.
Marilyn says
So delicious! Crumb is so flavourful with the spices! Had to eat one loaf n ‘hide’ other loaf until Xmas! Will be making it again !
RobP says
Gruß Gott, Kimberly! I’ve been a big fan of your blog for a few years and particularly love your terrific German recipes and editorials. I’m an American who has spent several years of my life living in Germany (Stuttgart, Oberbayern and Marburg) for school and work. Your recipes help me stay connected with many of my German favorite foods! Thank you.
Today I made your Stollen for the first time, including marzipan and candied citrus from scratch. I was out of rum so I substituted a mix of bourbon and amaretto, which smelled super-toll! I have fresh ground allspice, so I threw in a half-teaspoon as well. It reminds me of Christmas. Your instructions were, as usual, very explicit and easy to follow. For those inexperienced with working with yeast, you might want to add a clarifying note about the target range of “lukewarm”).
Everything came together as expected. My one concern is that my Stollen appeared done after 35 minutes, yet the interiors registered only about 155F degrees, not 190F (I’m pretty confident my oven and instant-read thermometer are calibrated accurately). I opted not to over-bake the exteriors, so I removed them from the oven at that point. They are tightly wrapped and “ripening” now, so I’ll know how well they baked Christmas week when I cut into them. Fingers crossed!
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so much for the compliment, RobP, and for your support all these years! Did you use the convection setting (fan) on your oven? That significantly speeds up the baking time, though it also tends to dry out baked goods. In any case, fingers crossed your Stollen baked all the way through and I look forward to hearing what you think once you’ve tried it. A basement or root cellar is the ideal storage place as it’s cool and has good humidity to prevent the stollen from drying out. Alternatively keeping it outside if you’re in a cool climate will work also. Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Anonymous says
Now about to try this’ll receipe.it looks great and easy.
Natasha says
Hello! We made this last year and absolutely loved the recipe! Wanting to make it again tomorrow, but as smaller loaves this time – maybe 6. Do we need to adjust temperatures/timings anywhere in the recipe?
Also wondering if you’ve ever made the recipe as stollen bites and how you would adjust for that?
Thank you :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Natasha! The temperature will stay the same for the smaller loaves but the baking time will be less. I’d probably aim 22-25 minutes but check the internal temp. I’ve never made Stollen bites.
Monica says
King Arthur website has a good recipe for stollen bites. Maybe you could follow their baking instructions.
Victoria says
Oh, my, goodness, is this delicious! Based on pictures, I knew making this recipe would be too much for just us, so I made this recipe into 6 nice size smaller portions. Each loaf is approx. 4″ x 8″ and there was the perfect amount of marzipan to go in each. I made the peels and marzipan from Kimberly’s recipes as well. First off, the dough went together perfectly! I was a bit afraid the rum taste would be overpowering, but not at all! I didn’t quite master the ‘hunp’, but these do appear to be similar to the pics. I followed the directions to a ‘t’ and wrapped all six all up last night. I couldn’t wait the 2 weeks to be ready and dug in this morning. OMG, this is the so delectable! The flavors and the texture are better than I could have ever imagined! Now, let me tell you, out of curiosity, I bought one before I made this at the store, and tried it so I would know what to expect. NOPE!!! Even though this was a lot of work to make, I will NEVER buy one again! This is spot on deliciousness! Thank you, Kimberly, for helping me with a question I had previously, and for this delicious group of recipes to make it truly “kostlich”. Can’t wait to share this with my husband’s German relatives. Merry Christmas!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hoorayyyy!!! That’s truly awesome, Victoria, I’m thrilled to hear that and really appreciate the feedback, thank you! Fröhliche Weihnachten to you and your family! <3
Angelika says
Great recipe, looking forward to make my first Christstollen.
When I was living in Germany there was a bakery close to my place of work and they offered next to the Christstollen also a Quarkstollen. If I remember right, there were less (or any) candied fruit in there and on top was no powdered sugar but regular sugar. It was delicious with some butter on it. Does anybody ever heard of it or maybe/hopefully has a recipe?
Thanks a lot in advance and Frohe Weihnachten from Nevada.