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
Susan says
The stollen are beautiful! I wrapped them up in foil and put them in a cool place. They were still warm. Do you think they will get soggy?
I am so thrilled! Usually it is a hard labor to make stollen right before the holiday when there is always so much to do. But here I am finished two weeks before. Amazing! Thank you so much! I took my stollen out at just before 30 minutes, after rotating them halfway through. I also covered them with foil after ten minutes, since my oven tends to overbrown, and removed it during the last four minutes. They were a wonderful light brown. I was wondering if you know what the internal temperature should be before removing them from the oven.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Susan, I’m glad they were a success! You definitely want to let them cool completely before wrapping them because yes, they may get soggy and even spoil because of the excess moisture that’s trapped in there. To check for doneness in the oven aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F.
Susan Hobson says
Hi,
We make stollen every Christmas and Easter. I thought I would try this for Easter but am a bit unclear about the citrus ingredients. I see you have listed here three ounces each of lemon and orange peel. Then you have the homemade citrus peel linked. Now is this in addition to the orange and lemon peel? I made the mazipan recipe, orange, lemon and lime peel recipe and was going to make the stollen today but I am unsure as to the total quantity of the orange, lemon and lime peel. Please clarify for me. Thank you!
Susan
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 (click link for recipe) (we VERY STRONGLY recommend using homemade, it makes ALL the difference!)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Susan! You’ll need 3 ounces each of candied lemon and orange peel (so a total of 6 ounces) and I highly recommend using homemade instead of store-bought. So you are all set! :) Happy baking and please let us know what you think!
Kiethb says
Hey kim, made this today with the candied peel i made last week. No need to make marzipan when it is so easy to find here. Man this is so good. The cardamom was definitely unique to any stollen i have had before. But was really good. I ate some of the first one and the second one will age. Kroger had it last year and i really liked it. But they didnt carry this year. So i went on a mission. Glad i did. Thanks for everything.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kiethb, thank you!
Kieth says
The recipe appears to be for 2 loaves based on directions. Yet the yield says 3 loaves. Which is correct
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Kieth, the recipe yield says 2 large or 3 medium Stollen. It’s your choice how many to make.
Christine says
Hi, I made this Stollen and it was heavenly! My grandfather was a baker from southern Germany who would make these at Christmas. The taste of this brought me back to those times! Making this wasn’t very difficult at all. The candied peel was fabulous. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Now, if I could only duplicate his S cookies,
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Christine, thank you!
Pipistrello says
Hi Kimberly,
I made this for Twelfth Night cake as the recipe is almost the same, just without the icing and the bean! I divided the dough up into 8 so I could give a mini loaf to each of the friends we had got together with and they baked up perfectly in less than 30 minutes. Having never tasted it before, not even the Aldi version which everyone around here says is pretty nice, my husband and I both love this recipe! I did the candied peel a few weeks ago and froze as you suggested and after making a batch of marzipan for your Bethmännchen recipe, I just used the leftover marzipan for the Stollen as I thought that would be plenty. The recipe is a keeper!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m thrilled to hear it, Pipistrello, thank you!
Anonymous says
Amazing recipe. I made it and it was so tasty! Made my own marzipan too from your recipe
Renee Roberts says
Was unable to buy Stollen this year – all sold out. Was inspired by your recipe. I have just finished making my first ever stollen from scratch – home made citrus peel and marzipan. It is amazing. Better than what my grandmother made. Light and all flavours really well balanced. Thank-you so much. I am so glad to have found your website
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m absolutely elated to hear that, Renee, thanks so much!
Rochelle says
I make Rosca de Reyes, for Christmas Day and also for The day of the 3 Kings in January 6th. Thinking of using some of your ingredients to my recipe, since their recipe is kind of boring and plain! I do have a question about the marzipan, if I buy it already made, do I have to add anything else before I use it? I do a lot of baking, and I’m excited about baking this! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Rochelle, I was just reading about Rosca de Reyes a couple of weeks before Christmas – such a fun tradition. No, you don’t need to add anything else to your marzipan. Happy baking and Happy New Year! :)
Sheri says
I can’t thank you enough for your recipe! My German MIL is aging and unable to bake much anymore. Thanks to you I have mastered this stollen and Lebkuchen! I have made multiple batches of both and they come out perfect!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic!!! I’m thrilled to hear that, Sheri – thanks for the feedback and congratulations!
Haslin Trachuk says
Hello, Kimberly! Thank you for your amazing stollen recipe.
I’ve been wanting to make stollen for a loooong time and it was on my “To-do” recipe list for quite awhile, and I finally made it for this Christmas! I decided to make this on Christmas Eve and also to give a loaf to my mother in law as a christmas gift on Christmas because she loves stollen. I went all out and listened to your advice so I made candied citrus peels and marzipan as well on the same day(I woke up at 530am to start baking). The first batch didn’t rise. I re-read your recipe instruction and I found out that I made a mistake. The instruction says to rise the dough first, and then add the fruit/nut/rum mix. I mixed liquid portion of the batter(with yeast) to the fruit/nut/rum mix first, and I went out to buy some spices that I was missing, and I added powder portion of the batter later on. So my liquid mixture was set out for a while (because I went shopping) and I speculate my yeast all died due to rum (high alcohol). I couldn’t be defeated by this failure because I already put so much effort on making candied citrus peels and marzipan and i also had to give this stollen to my mother in law the next day. So I proceeded with the second batch followed your instruction carefully, and YAY! I succeeded! and it was AMAZING! everything was amazing; the candied citrus peels, marzipan and stollen. I agree, the homemade candied citrus peel makes a huge difference! I doubled the a mount of marzipan per loaf because I love marzipan so much and that was perfect amount of marzipan for me.
I have some questions, tho. After baking, the instruction says to brush melted butter on the stollen and you specified the amount of the butter to be 1 stick. Do I use up all the 1 stick of melted butter to brush the stollen ? Do you also poke holes at the bottom of the stollen too?
I didn’t poke holes at the bottom but I did use up 1 stick of butter to brush on stollen. It seemed like a lot of butter to brush for 2 loaves. and I put powdered sugar on top, and the powdered sugar became all yellow from the butter. and I did dust the powdered sugar like 3 more times later on to make white on top and it kept becoming yellow again.
Now I’m trying to re-vitalize the 1st dough I failed, by adding more yeast. I hope it turns out.
Thank you in advance, and It would be awesome if you could answer my questions! I’m so excited to try more of your recipes! Thank you :) and Happy new year!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s fantastic, Haslin! Your determination and never-give-up attitude is just awesome! I’m so glad you took the time to make the homemade candied citrus peel and marzipan and that your second attempt was a success. The holes: I don’t generally poke holes in the bottom, just the top and sides (but you certainly can if you want to). The butter: One stick is just a guideline, let your own judgement and preference be the guide. Also, if you wrap the Stollen to let them age a little while, they’re likely to become more yellow than white anyway as the powdered sugar soaks up any moisture over time. Thanks again for the feedback and I’m so glad it was a success!
Rose says
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! It’s Christmas Eve morning and my dough is on it’s first rise. I made my own candied peel – a first – and marzipan and substituted dried currants for the raisins. Also had to use a bit more flour. We’re so looking forward to having this tomorrow. I was in Germany 35 years ago and still remember the lovely Stollen we had there. A Merry Christmas to you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Rose, and a Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Lauren says
Hi Kim,
I’ve prepped my ingredients and I’m about to make this tonight! Can I do a slow 2nd rise in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning, or will there be issues from the moisture in the fruit if I do that?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Lauren, without having tried it myself I’m hesitant to make a guess – I’m not sure if/how the moisture collecting in the dough will impact it. If you decide to go that route, please let us know how it goes!
Jen Weber says
I accidentally (read: pregnancy brain) used the egg whites instead of the yolks, so I’m hoping my first stollen turn out okay. The dough is just lovely to work with and I’m planning out how to adapt it to personal-sized mini stollen of some sort, because I think those would be adorable!
Anonymous says
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I live at 6,000 feet a.s.l and these are the adjustments I had to make, which fortunately worked like a charm. I reduced the yeast to 2 tsp; I added one more yolk; I replaced the butter with oil and used 1/2 cup. I followed your advice and did make my own candied citrus peel -it’s so good- and I made the marzipan. The result was 2 beautiful loaves that are not overly dry. Because I used oil I did have to add quite a bit more flour when I was kneading it -that was scary- but still came out delicious. Your instructions are delightfully clear; thanks for that too.