Use your bread machine to easily make traditional Christmas Stollen! It is a buttery loaf, studded with spirit soaked fruit and almonds and coated in sugar.
If you can bake bread you can make stollen! Hands on time is not significant but there are a few steps and 3 rise times so you are going to need to count on a few hours around the kitchen. Trust me though - it is worth it!
Jump to:
German Stollen is a Centuries Old Christmas Tradition
Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas for many German families without stollen. And there are probably as many variations as there are families. Marzipanstollen, with its seam of marzipan down the center, is another popular one. Mandelstollen has almonds, Mohnstollen has poppy seeds, Quarkstollen uses quark, Nuss-Stollen has nuts- you get the idea! The original Dresdner Stollen, dates back as far as 1474 and today has regulations, associations and a seal of authenticity! Authentic Dresdner Stollen must have raisins, butter, almonds, candied orange and lemon peel, flour, water and yeast in the dough. Then more butter, fruits, spirits and spices make up the unique qualities of Dresdner Stollen.
3 Good Reasons to Make German Christmas Stollen
- Besides being delicious - you can serve stollen as a dessert, as a coffe cake or tea time snack and even for breakfast. We often want to 'fancy up' some of our meals during the holidays and stollen is a perfect way to do it!
- You make this ahead. You can eat it right away but tradition will have you wrap it securely in plastic and foil and let the spirits seep through the bread for about 2 weeks. The other option is to wrap it tightly and freeze it up to 3 months ahead of time! It stand up extremely well to freezing taste and texture-wise. You just have to refresh the powdered sugar dusting after defrosting. How is that for getting the jump on your holiday baking?
- This recipe makes 2 large loaves which is great if you are serving a crowd during the holidays. Or, you can make 3 or 4 smaller loaves. They make an awesome and unique hostess gift. Who wouldn't appreciate a delicious homemade stollen, that keeps well, at holiday time? Ps.. check here for other great ideas for Gifts From The Kitchen.
If German baking intrigues you - here is my other favourite German Christmas recipe Vanilla Crescents or Vanillekipferl. Or if you are in the mood for baking bread use your bread machine to make this Christmas Star Bread.
Equipment
- No special baking pan is needed here. A flat baking sheet is used to bake the stollen.
- A Bread Machine is featured in this recipe to knead the dough
Ingredients
Most ingredients are common enough pantry ingredients. The candied citrus fruit and sliced almonds might be the ones you will need to make a store run for!
- All Purpose Flour
- raisins
- candied citrus peel (I used lemon and lime citron from Bulk Barn)
- Grand Marnier, Rum or Brandy (substitute orange juice if you don't want alcohol)
- active dry yeast
- luke warm water
- milk
- butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- sugar
- salt
- almond slices
- icing sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Bread Machine Christmas Stollen
The first thing you are going to do is set out your candied citrus to soak in the Grand Marnier while you make the dough.
Next you are going to make the sponge. This is a starter dough that has had some time to sit to allow the gluten to develop.
Then you are going to mix in the rest of the basic dough ingredients and transfer the dough to your bread machine.
Set the bread machine to the dough cycle.
Typically a bread machine dough cycle has a short knead, a rest period and a 2nd knead. You are going to check your dough after the first knead and adjust it if it seems too dry or too sticky.
At the end of the second knead transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled. (You will need to do this because this recipe makes a lot of dough and your bread machine cavity will be too small to allow it to double in size.)
At the end of that rise you will add the fruit and almond slices and work them in to the dough.
Next you will transfer the dough to a floured surface and divide it in to portions.
Then you will roll the dough in to rectangles and shape them in to the classic stollen fold.
The loaves will rest on your parchment lined baking tray, covered for another hour or so to rise again.
Toward the end of the rise you will preheat the oven. Bake the loaves until golden brown.
Remove from the oven. After 5 minutes, while loaves are still hot, poke them and brush them with melted butter. Coat with icing sugar and allow them to cool.
Wrap the loaves tightly and store for 2 weeks. Freeze or serve and enjoy!
Variations and Substitutions
If you want to tweak this recipe, here are some ideas for substitutions.
- I used Grand Marnier but you can use dark rum or orange juice to soak your candied fruit in. Jamie Oliver even suggests brandy!
- While raisins are traditional, you can substitute currants, dried cranberries or dried cherries for the raisins.
- Dried citrus is a another hallmark of stollen but there are different mixes -some with cherries some without. Choose what works for you.
- You could lay a strip of marzipan down the center of the dough before shaping it into loaves for Marzipanstollen.
Storage
This is the fantastic part about stollen - it is designed to store well! Traditional recipes tell you to wrap the loaves tightly in plastic wrap and then foil wrap. Allow loaves to 'cure' for about two weeks. When you unwrap you may choose to refresh the dusting of powdered sugar before slicing and serving.
You can also freeze stollen, wrapped tightly as above, for up to 3 months. After defrosting you will want to refresh the powdered sugar coating with a fresh dusting before serving. I really don't see why, wrapped as well as they would be, why they wouldn't still be good beyond the 3 month mark. However, mine have never lasted that long... just sayin'!
However you decide to serve it enjoy!
Classic Christmas Stollen (Bread Machine)
If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!
Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Stollen
- ½ cup Grand Marnier (or orange juice if you don't want alcohol)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup candied citrus peel (I used lemon and lime citron from Bulk Barn)
- 3 tsps active dry yeast
- ½ cup luke warm water
- 5 cups all purpose flour divided 4 + 1 cups, plus a bit more for kneading and coating the fruit.
- 1 cup milk divided ½ and ½ cup
- 1 ¼ cups butter at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup almond slices
Icing
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 cup icing sugar
Instructions
- Heat Grand Marnier or liquid you are using to luke warm. Soak the raisins and candied citrus in the liquid for at least 30 minutes. It can be more. Reserve the liquid when you are finished soaking.
- Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water in a large bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to proof. Add 1 cup of the flour and a ½ cup of milk. Stir until smooth. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for at least one hour and up to four hours. This creates a 'sponge' as the basis for the stollen.
- After the sponge has stood, stir it and add the rest of the flour, remaining milk, butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt. Stir all together till ingredients are well mixed.
- Transfer the dough to your bread machine and start the Dough Cycle. Mine does a 5 minute knead, 5 minute rest and 2nd knead is 20 minutes. Check the dough after the first knead. If the dough is too dry add some of the liquid from the fruit soaking liquid. If it is too sticky or shaggy add a bit more flour. I removed the dough at the end of the 2nd knead because this is a big recipe and there won't be enough room in the bread machine container to allow the full rise. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled. Mine was done after 60 minutes but you can go up to 2 hours.
- Drain the raisins and dried citrus. Toss in a zip lock bag with a tablespoon of flour to coat them. This will prevent them from dropping to the bottom of the loaf.
- Punch the dough down. Add the fruit and the almonds and work the dough with your hands to distribute the fruit and nuts evenly through the dough.
- Turn the dough out to your work surface. My dough was soft and not sticky so I didn't need to flour the work surface. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion out to a rectangle about 1 inch thick. See Note 1.
- Fold the long edge of the dough about ¾ of the way over to the other long edge. (The unevenness is meant to represent the baby Jesus in a swaddling blanket.) With the side of your hand, make an indentation the length of the loaf, just to the right of edge of the overlapped dough (basically down the center of the loaf). This helps with the traditional indentation of the finished loaf.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the loaves to the baking sheet and cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap. Let the loaves to rise until doubled (about another 60 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the cover from the baking sheet. Bake loaves about 45 minutes. Check after 40 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean. If using a thermometer, internal temperature should read 190℉. If you made smaller loaves check them after 30 minutes for doneness.
- While loaves are hot out of the oven, use a toothpick to poke holes randomly over the top and bottom of the loaves. Brush melted butter all over (including the bottom of the loaf). Sieve the icing sugar over all sides of the loaf including the bottom. Wait till the loaves have cooled and sieve remaining icing sugar over loaves again till they are generously, uniformly covered.
- Wrap tightly in plastic and then foil and store in a cool place for at least 24 hours and up to 2 weeks. You can freeze loaves, well wrapped in plastic and foil, for 3 months. Refresh the icing sugar coating if desired after defrosting before slicing and serving.
Serving
- Stollen is delicious at room temperature. Some people like to warm it slightly and some people like to even toast it lightly (a toaster oven is best here) before serving.
Notes
-
- Bread flour can be used instead of all purpose flour but it is not necessary. The bread crumb consistency will not be as tender with bread flour as it is with all purpose.
- Do NOT substitute margarine for real butter. You will lose the essence and richness of the traditional recipe. Use the best quality butter available.
- I used Grand Marnier but you can use dark rum or orange juice to soak your candied fruit in. Jamie Oliver suggests brandy!
-
- While raisins are traditional, you can substitute currants, dried cranberries or dried cherries for the raisins.
-
- Dried orange and lemon citrus are a another hallmark of stollen but there are different mixes -some with cherries some without. Choose what works for you.
-
- You could lay a strip of marzipan down the center of the dough before shaping it into loaves for Marzipanstollen.
Nutrition
FAQ
Yes, people report using bread flour with good results. Stollen is a bread texture rather than a cake-like texture. It is not necessary to seek out bread flour but if that is what you have you can use it. Your loaf will be a bit 'sturdier' than the traditional stollen crumb texture.
Marzipan for baking is sold in grocery stores and on-line.
Not necessarily. Almond paste has more ground almond content, is less sweet and is grittier than marzipan. Marzipan is usually sold in a round tube-like form and has a smooth, pliable, clay-like texture. You can however use a paste such as Odense Almond Paste and shape it yourself.
Two week is traditional, but not a strict requirement. It allows for the spirits used in the dried fruit to permeate the loaf. Some people admit to slicing and serving their stollen the day it's made!
Yes. If you don't have a bread machine just use your mixer with the dough hook and knead 8 minutes instead of using the dough cycle of the bread machine. Remove the dough ball after 8 minutes, oil the bowl and return the dough ball to bowl, cover and allow it to rise about an hour until doubled in size. Continue with the rest of the recipe steps.
Dean
By the way, the Japanese MK bread machine (BML-150) has a Stollen setting built into it.
thewineloverskitchen
Oh wow! Mine has a jam making setting that I use! I will have to look at the MK.. it probably has lots of settings if it has stollen specifically!