Traditional German Stollen (Christmas bread)
This light, sweet bread dotted with candied fruit and nuts is a tasty Christmas tradition from Germany that our family has enjoyed for years, and I’m sure yours will, too!
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It’s less than a week until Christmas. Almost all my shopping is done, and I’m excited to set aside all the “have to”s in favor of doing a little more holiday baking just for fun. Hooray for good food.
In our family, Christmas was filled with traditions from our German ancestry. I remember watching the blades slowly spin on our traditional German pyramid nativity, lighting a candle each Sunday evening on our advent wreath, and opening one gift on Christmas Eve after acting out the nativity story.
This bread (pronouced “SHTOLL-en”, like stolen, but with a “sh”) is another one of those traditions. I can picture my Oma’s wrinkled hands kneading the dough and methodically sifting powered sugar over the top of the baked loaves.
I never got the chance to learn her exact method, but she taught my sister, and last year I asked my sister to teach me. She came over one afternoon during Christmas break, and we spent nap time that day remembering Oma and honoring our heritage…all through a simple loaf of bread. I love how food is able to connect us to our past in that way.
Now, I’m sharing it with you. Whether you have German ancestry or not, I hope you’ll enjoy the recipe. Even more, I hope you’ll take the time to explore your own heritage and discover (or rediscover) an old family recipe that can become a tradition for your own family.
P.S. – Despite the use of candied fruit, this is in NO way like fruit cake. I promise. Don’t offend the bread by making that comparison. 🙂
ENJOY!
Traditional German Stollen
This light, sweet bread dotted with candied fruit and nuts is a tasty Christmas tradition from Germany that our family has enjoyed for years, and I’m sure yours will, too!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mixed candied fruit (candied orange & lemon rinds, pineapple, & cherries)
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 6 Tablespoons water mixed with 1 teaspoon rum flavoring
- 1 cup slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, plus 1/4 cup very soft butter, plus 1/2 cup melted butter, divided
- 1/3 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons (3 packages) active dry yeast
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 1/2 cups flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- grated zest of 2 lemons
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a shallow dish, soak the candied fruit and raisins in the flavored water, covering the dish but stirring occasionally. Soak at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Toast the almond pieces in a pan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until they begin to color and become fragrant, about 7 minutes. Remove to a separate (cool) dish and set aside.
- Heat 3/4 cup milk, one stick butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and the salt in a small saucepan, stirring just until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, put the warm water in a cup, sprinkle with the yeast, and and stir in 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Wait 5 minutes, until the yeast is foaming actively, then stir the yeast mixture into the warm milk mixture.
- Add eggs and 3 cups flour, and stir well. Add vanilla, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup softened butter (cut into several pieces), the fruit/nut mixture, and the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix together to form dough.
- Turn dough on to a floured board and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball, lightly oil the outside, and place in a covered bowl to rise for an hour (or until doubled).
- Grease two baking sheets. Divide dough in two and–working one at a time–roll or pat each half into an oval. Roll out to about 2.5 cm/1 inch thick. Brush liberally with butter and fold in half length-wise so the bottom edge of the dough extends beyond the top and press down. Pinch around the edge to seal. Brush with butter again, cover loosely, and let rise until doubled again, about another hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaves for 35-45 minutes, until the loaves are golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Brush with butter (again) and set aside to cool, brushing with butter several more times. Sift powdered sugar over the loaves after each layer of butter. Stollen keeps well and can also be sliced and toasted. It makes an awesome breakfast paired with some hot cider and fresh fruit.
Notes
Source: My wonderful Oma
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This is the first time I’ve heard about this. It looks amazing!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
I don’t think it’s very common, but it’s something I grew up loving.
This looks delish! What a great tradition.
Yum! I love learning about other traditions – this bread sounds like a good one!
Me, too. I think it’s fascinating to see how various cultures celebrate the same holiday in different ways.
Love this! We have German heritage but I don’t have any of the recipes. I will have to make this!
We had a joke in my family that you don’t mess with the Germans about Christmas traditions and you don’t mess with the Russians about Easter (my grandpa was Russian), so we have LOTS of yummy recipes. And, we just cook a lot in my family. I hope you enjoy discovering a little piece of your heritage through this. 🙂
Oh wow, looks great! Definitely something new for me to try!
Thanks, Tabitha. I hope you like it!
Based on the ingredients alone, this looks amazing! I have never had this type of bread before!
It’s a little unique with the candied fruit and all, but it’s just a good, yummy yeast bread. And I LOVE a good, yummy yeast bread. Enjoy!
I’ve been looking for something to make for My family during the holidays! This is perfect!
deliciousness. I am so happy to try this!
What a neat tradition! I have never heard of this before and enjoyed learning about it. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Hi Megan. Just stumbled upon your site and thrilled to see a traditional family recipe for stollen. I love stollen…the stollen that I have eaten in Germany…not so much the stollen that you find prepackaged in stores here. And in reference to your last comment about fruitcake, I love fruitcake too, but only my mother’s traditional recipe, NOT the stuff you find in stores today. And while stollen and fruitcake are not at all the same thing they are both wonderful and tasty food traditions when homemade with those long standing family recipes. Looking forward to giving your recipe a try! Thanks.
Thanks, Nancy. And I’m glad you came to the defense of poor fruit cake. It just has such a bad reputation (probably mostly unfounded, like Brussel sprouts), and I didn’t want people to compare stollen since it uses a similar fruit mixture. You’ve inspired me though…now I want to go find a good homemade fruit cake recipe and try to prove the stereotype wrong for myself. Thanks for visiting!
This looks really good! I’ve never heard of this kind of bread before.
I made this today, it is delicious, will be making again .
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Been craving this bread since the local bakery that made this closed. They called it quark bread but it looked like this. I decided to add some quark cheese to the milk to make up the quantity of the recipe. Turned out great and is so tasty! I did omit the almonds because I prefer it with just fruit. Also baked it in a loaf pan to keep the shape. Will definitely make this again!
I love this stollen bread. My mother in law who is from Germany makes this every Christmas for us for 30 years now. I love it! I must watch her make it someday but for now I have your recipe to make. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed holiday.
Isn’t it just delicious? I’m glad you found me here, and I hope this recipe helps you connect a little more with your family. Merry Christmas!
I have a fruitcake recipe that is my husband’s great grandmother made. It’s a family tradition. I bet you would love it. We soak it in port for 2-3 weeks.
I thank you so much for sharing this with us doll! I plan on making this for my Dad, his Mom (Oma) used to make stollen for every Christmas. She had been in a care home for 15 years before she passed away last year. It has been that long since he has had homemade stollen! My question is, do you think I could mix this up in my bosch mixer without ruining the fruit and nuts? I have arthritis.
I don’t have a Bosch, but I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with no problems. I imagine the Bosch would have similar results. I say go for it!
What kind of flour should be used? Bread, AP,?
I usually just use all purpose flour, but you could try bread flour, too. Bread flour will give your bread a chewier texture and crustier exterior, while all-purpose flour will yield a lighter, softer loaf with a thinner crust.
Will try AP first, let you know how it turns out
Do you have to let your bread sit for 8 to 9 days? My mother-in-law use to do this with her recipe. She was full blooded German and my wife could not make out recipe.
I have never let it sit that long. It always gets eaten at my house within a few days!
My parents used to spend a whole Saturday making Stollen. They would never let us help – it was serious business and they made at least 20 loaves to give as gifts.
They’re both gone now and I never got the recipe – but this looks like what I remember them doing. I can’t wait to try it and especially can’t wait having a piece on Christmas morning with a cup of coffee – something my Dad and I did every year. Just the two of us.
Thanks so much for this!!