Advent and Christmas recipes and customs from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Shortbread is loved all over the world. Very simple to make, shortbread has few ingredients and no eggs. These special, German shortbread cookies are made with hazelnuts and vanilla and are called Vanillekipferln, which describes the crescent shape.
German Eggnog is not just for little old ladies who secretly indulge. Many people love sipping the smooth eggnog liqueur flavored with brandy and vanilla. This easy recipe for eggnog liqueur heats the eggs to just under the boiling point.
Baked apples are traditional Christmas and winter eating in Germany. Often, they form the backbone of a baked apple party, being inexpensive and easy to make. Serve baked apples with vanilla sauce for a delicious dessert.
Spekulatius spice cookies, related to Dutch "Spekulaas" are ideally crisp, thin cookies filled with Christmas spices. This easy recipe for German Spice Cookies has easy-to-find ingredients for the stateside "Hausfrau". Make Spekulatius spice cookies in the traditional mold or roll the dough and cut with cookie cutters.
Looking like little kolache (a type of indented, filled Danish), these butter cookies are delicious. Easy to make, Kolache Butter Cookies look great on the cookie plate. You can use your favorite jelly in the middle of these butter cookie favorites.
German Christmas cookies with cardamom and chocolate. Delightful German cookies have no egg and are refrigerated prior to baking. These cookies go great with tea.
A staple of many coffee hour cookie platters, coconut macaroons are loved by almost everyone. This recipe for coconut macaroons uses whole eggs and is enlivened with lemon. These are soft coconut macaroon cookies.
How to roast a goose for a holiday or special event dinner. Roast goose is all dark meat and very delicious. Slow roasting brings out the best in wild fowl.
Make your own German Christmas cookies simply and easily. Cinnamon, eggwhites and almond meal make delicious Christmas cookies called Zimtsterne. Homemade Cinnamon Star Cookies are a traditional German recipe.
Christmas cookie recipes that use hartshorn or potash are common in European countries. These Swiss cookies, commonly made at Christmas are a good example. These Christmas cookies can also be made with baking powder with good results.
This simple cookie recipe is a good way to use up extra egg yolks. Simple sugar cookies are flavored with lemon for a Christmas treat. Easy cookies which can be made with children.
Nuernberger Lebkuchen is very popular in Germany around Christmas time. Spicy gingerbread that goes well with coffee or tea is easy to make at home.
A traditional German recipe for Zimtsterne, this macaroon-like cookie is a must for the Christmas cookie platter. Traditional German advent was a time for fasting, so butter and meat were not allowed. That is why so many Christmas cookie recipes lack these ingredients. This recipe makes use of a popular nut, the almond, cinnamon, powdered sugar and egg whites.
One traditional Christmas cookie recipe from Germany is Checkerboard cookies, or Scharzweiβ Gebaeck. They can also be found in New York delis along with Black and Whites, Spekulatius and other German favorites. Try these German Checkerboard cookies for your next cookie exchange and see them get rave reviews.
Making German specialties such as gingerbread of Lebkuchen is not hard and you can be successful with no special ingredients. Homemade soft Lebkuchen is a great way to welcome the holidays. Lebkuchen recipes and step by step directions make homemade German cookies easy.
Burnt sugar almonds look difficult but they are simple to make, with very few ingredients. When cooking "gebrannte Mandeln", your whole house will start to smell like a fair or open air market. Use the best ingredients for the best result when you make "gebrannte Mandeln".
How to make traditional German almond lebkuchen from scratch with readily available ingredients.
German stollen should be made ahead of time and allowed to age for several weeks. It is served during Advent and the Christmas festivities. It is a rich yeast dough full of raisins, nuts, and candied fruit.
A good and easy recipe for gingerbread dough which is used to make gingerbread houses. This gingerbread dough makes a very hard baked cookie which can be used for the walls and roof of your own gingerbread house. Although this cookie is completely edible, it is very dry and meant to be used in gingerbread house construction.
Gingerbread lends itself well to a whole wheat variation because it is already dark and heavy. While German Lebkuchen is in cookie form or sheet cake, this one-egg recipe is more like the American gingerbread. This coffeecake - style gingerbread has a no refined sugar.
Germans don’t cook very many turkeys, for festive occasions it’s goose or duck. We don’t see the Christmas goose very often anymore, which is a shame because it is so simple to make. Like other fowl, onions, thyme and fruit are great seasoning choices.
This recipe makes 4 servings and gravy.
Cheese fondue is relatively easy to make, just cheese, wine, bread and some spices. So melt away and enjoy the moment.
Marzipan potatoes are a traditional German Christmas treat. This Christmas candy is simple to make with ground almonds and powdered sugar. Candy potatoes formed from marzipan are small and flavored with rosewater or liqueurs. Marzipankartoffeln are then rolled in cocoa powder and cinnamon.
Enjoy breakfast without guilt with these Christmas muffins. German Stollen flavor with whole wheat and date sugar makes a great wholegrain choice that is quick and easy to mix up. Fast and easy, these healthy muffins are a great choice for brunch.
This gingerbread house takes on the form of a rustic mountain cabin or Swiss Chalet. You can make a gingerbread house from scratch using these simple, illustrated instructions. Pictures of gingerbread house assembly.
A traditional German recipe for Zimtsterne, this macaroon-like cookie is a must for the Christmas cookie platter. Traditional German advent was a time for fasting, so butter and meat were not allowed. That is why so many Christmas cookie recipes lack these ingredients. This recipe makes use of a popular nut, the almond, cinnamon, powdered sugar and egg whites.
Meringue Christmas tree ornaments are easy and fun to make. German Christmas trees are often decorated with edible ornaments, but not the same kind as in the US. Spekulatius, springerle, chocolate wreaths, chocolate pine cones and meringue ornaments are all found on the tree, along with beeswax candles.
