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!
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
What is the Origin of Stollen?
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.
Our Stollen Recipe
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!
PIN ME!
For more German and Traditional Christmas goodies try our:
- Pfeffernüsse (German Iced Spiced Cookies)
- Lebkuchen (Nürnberger Elisenlebkuchen)
- Springerle
- Printen (Aachener Gingerbread)
- Speculoos (Gingerbread Shortcrust Cookies)
- Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescent Cookies)
- Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Star Cookies)
- Bethmännchen (Marzipan Cookies)
- Heidesand (Browned Butter Shortbread Cookies)
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
Don says
I tried something new this year. I soaked dried cranberries in rum and used instead of raisins. Will Keep you posted!
Steve M says
Hi Kimberly, we love this recipe and make it every year. This year, with little ones wanting to get in on the sweets, is there a passable substitution for the rum? Maybe apple juice or something?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much, Steve! Yes, you can use apple juice for soaking the dried fruits or even just water. The Stollen will have plenty of flavor either way.
KarenS says
Made this twice yesterday using the metric measurements but the amount of flour was significantly less than was needed to get the dough to form a ball at the first stage (so not related to liquid from adding the fruit). I wondered if anyone else had the same issue?
Overall, It turned out well as very well and tastes great but I think the weight of flour needs adjusting. Will definitely make again and calculate how much additional flour is used.
Andrea Cooke says
I am making your recipe for stollen today. It gives x1 x2 x3 options and I want x1 option. Does that make one or 2 stollen because it says to cut the dough in half.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Andrea, the regular 1x recipe makes two loaves. Happy baking!
Dee says
I made this yesterday and I would like to give some feedback in case it helps anyone. The dough turned out great, but not sweet on its own. I omitted the rum and only used half the fruits, and the whole thing turned out not sweet enough. I also made homemade candied orange peels – these also turned out not that sweet. I prefer less fruits and no rum and so next time I will add more sugar to the dough!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thanks for the feedback, Dee. That is correct, Stollen is more of a bread, not a cake, and as such it relies on the added ingredients for sweetness. So if you only used half of the dried fruits, the Stollen will only be half as sweet as it’s supposed to be. The other component that adds sweetness is the thick coating of powdered sugar on the outside. That said, if you like your Stollen sweeter you can certainly add some sugar to the dough.
Beth says
Hi,
Was wondering if this can be frozen once baked?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Beth, yes it can, just wrap it well.
Torsten Hein says
Hi Kimberly
This will be the 4th year I’m baking your amazing Stollen here in South Africa.
Something I’ve missed before re the candied peel is the tossing in a bowl of fine granulated sugar – Could I use castor sugar for this?
Thank you for your brilliant recipes – Yours is my “go-to” website whenever I need a German recipe!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much as always, Torsten! Yes, castor sugar is absolutely fine. Happy baking and Happy Christmas in advance! :)
Tiffany S. says
I have been making stollen the last three years using only this recipe and I have been told by my friend who is from Germany that this is the most authentic stollen she has had since she lived there! Thank you for sharing and helping me continue my husbands family tradition alive.
Kimberly Killebrew says
I’m thrilled to hear that, Tiffany, and I’m happy this has become a tradition! Thank you so much for the feedback!
Julie says
Since almonds are one of the Asthma triggers for me….
Can I augment the recipe to leave them out ?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Julie, absolutely. You can simply omit the marzipan (and then you have a traditional Dresdner Stollen) and omit the sliced/slivered almonds. No need to replace them with anything else.
Mike says
Made this stollen last year … It was the seasons hit !!
Nearly that time again .
BTW – What variety stollen is this ?
Thanks, Mike
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, Mike, thank you! If you omit the marzipan this is a Dresdner Stollen. With the marzipan it’s Marzipan Stollen.
Mike S says
Interesting- My Mom was born in Dresden Germany .
BTW ……It’s nearly time to bake up a few stollen by Kimberly !
Jacob Crim says
I made this last year and wrapped it in cling wrap and then foil to rest for two weeks. Do you think putting it in a vacuum seal bag would work well?
JANE SNOWDON says
Hi, I’ve been making Stollen by hand for over 20 years. This recipe is very close to the one I use, except start off with a much larger game plan.Orginal recipe is 8 cups of flour..i make it 12 cups of flour.. My sons now 40& 42 suggested to add some cranberries to the stollen. Okay why not. They are going to be presently surprised. I have never used marzipan. You have no idea how many pple hope that they are on my list. ENJOY. 😁
Anonymous says
The most wonderful! Thank you for sharing this recipe, my entire close family loves it! :)
HGard says
Hello,
Just wondering if you can make smaller Stollen with this recipe. At Christmas time here, in Australia, we can buy bite sized Stollen. Would that be possible with this recipe? or even smaller loaves?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Absolutely, HGard. You can divide the dough into however many smaller sizes you desire and just reduce the baking time accordingly.
Jim Kacos says
Well it isn’t Christmas but I made the Stollen along with the candied peels and marzipan. Mother’s day is next weekend and I wanted something special. I think the only thing I didn’t do right was I made the loaves longer and not as wide. That seemed to work out well though as it makes the marzipan close to every bite. Delicious outcome, can’t wait to age some now for a week or two and see what that adds. Thanks for the history lesson as well, I was given a decorative tin of this last Christmas and found your site when I Googled just what it was. The Dresdner brand Stollen inside was not real impressive but this recipe has made me a believer.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Jim, I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Shannon says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe and for the history and beautiful photos. I subsituted w/w pastry flour for one cup of the flour. It adds flavor to me. I made my candied lemon and orange peels. I made my marzipan and sprouted the almonds first (soaked them all day) for more nutrients and digestibility. I was surprised these were so big! Mine don’t look as fruity as yours, theough I used 3 oz each of the citrus, and 9 oz raisins. I did cut them up (with scissors) very small though. I did it all in stages. One day would have been too much. :-) I’m sending one loaf cross-country to a friend, who’ll get it right around Valentine’s Day. <3
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Shannon, I’m happy that you enjoyed them and my blog post! :)
Margot Helquist says
Hello, sounds perfect. I had a thought, if you have any Butterstollen left over, you could use it when making Granatsplitter.
Happy New Year.
Margot