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
Denise says
I am going to give your recipe a shot this year as I sadly lost my recipe :(
Can you omit the candied citrus?, as I am not a fan and substitute with some more nuts and by how much?
I also have stollen spices. How much would you put in to substitute for the individual spices? Thanks a bunch! Merry Christmas!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Denise, yes you can omit it. No substitutions necessary though you can add some more nuts if you wish and I would add some extra lemon zest and some orange zest. Still, if you’ve never tried homemade candied citrus peel I strongly recommend it. I absolutely abhor store-bought candied citrus with a passion but homemade is COMPLETELY different. For the Stollen spices, you can omit the cardamom, mace and cinnamon and use 2 teaspoons of your spice mix in their place.
Lawrence says
Absolutely fantastic recipe!
My first time making stollen so obviously being Christmas I decided to make 4 batches at the same time… Big mistake!
I was basically going at it for about 8 hours, but not before I’d spent the entire previous day using your Candied Fruit and marzipan recipes which are just excellent.
All 8 large stollen came out perfectly! The only oddities I noticed were the mixing element and fruit dispersal, the mix was always so extremely sticky – I’d say I ended up having to add a good 200-400g of flour per batch just to make it thicker. Although ultimately I’d just mix for the 7 minutes then add 100g flour right at the end just to dry it out then immediately slap it onto the worktop before it mixed and got wet again.
Likewise with the fruit, I’d use 255g dark rum soaked raisins but with 2 large stollen coming from each batch I started to notice, although they weren’t sparse… The raisins were definitely fewer than store bought stollen so I think next time I’ll go for 350g per batch.
These are just my own views though, I probably messed up somewhere to be fair. Either way the recipe is absolutely fantastic and the stollen tastes amazing, can’t wait for it to age a bit!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Kimberly Killebrew says
WOW, that was quite the undertaking, Lawrence, you’re a rock star!! So glad you enjoyed these and appreciate the feedback, thank you!
Janelle says
Omg this is AMAZING!! Hats off to you I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe and it taunted amazing. I actually didn’t add lemon zest and it still tastes good.
Question can I age it in the refrigerator or should a cool place be in a cool window ledge or something? Thanks!!! I’ll try the marzipan next time!! The citrus was easy and turned out great!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Awesome, Janelle, thank you! Don’t put it in the refrigerator because it will totally dry out the Stollen. A cool (not freezing) window ledge works.
Theresa says
Question: Can I substitute the rum for orange juice or other kind of non alcoholic juice?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Theresa, yes I would recommend apple juice.
Shannon says
I made yours last New Year’s and it was divine. Got rave reviews. This year I could recall where I got the recipe, so used another from a well-known bakers’ website, which also had many positive reviews, but I just found yours again and believe this is the BEST that I have tried.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Yay! I’m so thrilled to hear that, Shannon, thank you!
Kristy says
Hi I was wondering if anything changes for high altitude?
Claire Bee says
Love the recipe, thanks for sharing it! Cracked a loaf today. 10 days out. Homemade marzipan? Perfect. Rum soaked almonds, raisins, and candied citrus peel? Perfect. Buttery icing sugar coating? Perfect. But the loaf is dry. Too much flour? Overbaked? Not enough toothpick holes and butter? Didn’t soak the fruit/almonds long enough? Any insights welcome!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Claire, it’s hard to say without me seeing and trying it to know if it’s “too” dry or as dry as it should be. Keep in mind, Stollen is not like a moist cake, it is a bread, so it is supposed to be pretty dry.
Bill says
I’m about to embark on this recipe but I need to omit all nuts and of course, marzipan. This will be for my son who has a nut allergy. Should I adjust any other ingredients to compensate?
Thanks in advance!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Bill, you can simply omit the marzipan and in place of the nuts just add an additional 2 tablespoons of flour and you’ll be good to go. Happy baking!
Bill says
Thanks so much Kimberley, for this recipe and your suggestion for making it nut-free. I found the dough to be very slack but was not inclined to add yet more flour. This made it very hard to shape the stollen decently.
The baked result however was absolutely great! The flavour is amazing, the texture perfect. I had great difficulty to stop eating.
Definitely a keeper!
Kimberly Killebrew says
That’s wonderful, Bill, thank you so much for the feedback!
Amy says
I first made this recipe with all the extra time I had during Christmas of 2020. With a smaller crowd that year we only needed one and I put the other in the freezer well wrapped. I ended up taking it out of the freezer and sharing with with family a year later for Christmas 2021 and it was even better than the first one! Now it’s 2022 and it’s time to make some more. I know we’ll eat both this year though :-).
Kimberly Killebrew says
Wow, I’ve never kept one frozen for that long and that’s great to know that it freezes so well for that length of time – awesome! Thanks so much for that feedback, Amy, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Ann says
Question: the raisins and candies peels are measured in weight measurements, or on volume???
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Ann, these are measurements of weight.
Dorle says
My mother baked 4 Christstollen every year, starting in late October , when sometimes we already had the first snow ! She added LOTS of butter in the dough , at least twice the amount your recipe calls for , but omitted the Marzipan. She also added twice your amount of dark rum. The Stollen looked rich and tasted heavenly . That was many, many Christmases ago, when I was a child .
Angela S says
I make this at least once a year (except last year when I had a 3 month old lol)! I love it so much and I’m just about to put this year’s round 1 in the oven 😊
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much, Angela, I really appreciate the feedback and hooray for this year’s round one! :)
Leonora. Am zuli says
I made your recipe last year just the way you advised. I made the candied citron and the marzipan. It was amazing. I gave one away to my sisters to enjoy. Almost wished I didn’t lol. I am making this again today but making 3 loaves and giving 2 away. I found that the 2 loaves were a bit big. But I did double the marzipan recipe in case I needed a bit more. I can always use the leftovers. This year I added currants to the fruit mixture. I reduced the amount of raisins to make up for volume. I soaked them overnight and well, the fruit is going to be a bit drunk as there is none swimming, I am guessing this is going to be really good! I loved your story that went along with the recipe. It made it that much more relatable to the custom. My parents are from Holland. I don’t remember never having Stollen for. Christmas or Easter. My parents are gone now and I miss hearing their voice and language. Your story brought them back for a little while. Thanks for sharing.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Leonora, and I’m happy that these Stollen were able to reconnect you with your parents in this special way <3
Stephanie Schmolze says
At what point is it best to freeze the stollen? Literally after applying the powdered sugar or before? Thx looking forward to making this and giving to my parents for Xmas. They grew up eating this and I’m excited to give them a treat from the past
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Stephanie, you can freeze it after it’s all complete with the powdered sugar and fully cooled. Happy baking and I hope you and your parents enjoy it!
Robert Wise says
I change it up just a bit substituting Craisins for raisins, fresh orange and lemon zest instead of citron and I cook down some apples in pie spices and make a second hump. Super delicious. Your dough rocks!
Julie says
I make this every year for my dad’s birthday on December 3rd, and it’s the perfect way to ring in the Christmas season. He used to buy the store-bought Stollen, but now he can never go back! I’m currently on my second rise and realized that I forgot to add butter to the dough– no wonder the dough was so dry! I added a few splashes of milk to get it to hold together, we’ll see how it turns out in a couple hours! 8-((
Kimberly Killebrew says
That’s wonderful, Julie, I’m so glad it’s become an annual tradition, thank you for the feedback! And fingers crossed this latest batch of Stollen is salvageable!