The first recipe is for Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents), and is a family recipe, hence the somewhat odd measurements. The second and third recipe are cookies filled with jam, again a very traditional type of German Christmas cookie. Spitzbuben (literally translated it means rascal) or Geleeringe (jelly-filled cookies) are frequently made, but Preiselbeerrauten are on of my personal favorites. The latter contain some Christmas spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and have a different taste to them. Using a somewhat tart jam nicely balances the sweetness of the cookie with the tartness from the jam. Although you can prepare all these cookies with cheap margarine these cookies are softer and melt in your mouth when using unsalted real butter!
Vanillekipferl
Ingredients:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
210 g cold unsalted butter (real butter!)
110 g almond meal
70 g sugar
280 g flour
2 tablespoons milk or water or one egg
Confectioner's sugar
One vanilla bean
Preparation:
1. Sift flour into a bowl, then add remaining ingredients. Using the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer mix everything until a solid dough forms (add more milk if necessary).
2. Briefly shape dough into a ball, and refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes. (Chilling the dough is absolutely required when adding an egg to the dough!)
3. Divide batter into smaller portions, roll small dough portion on a lightly floured board into a long rod, about finger thick. Cut rod into pieces about 2 inches (3 cm) long. Roll the edges a little flat, then bend the roll into a crescent shape.
4. Place cookies on parchment paper and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) until golden brown (8-10 minutes)
5. Core the vanilla bean and mix the interior with 500 g of confectioner's sugar. Dip hot vanilla crescents into confectioner's sugar, let fully cool, then put into a cookie box.
Spitzbuben or Geleeringe (sandwich cookies filled with jelly)
Ingredients:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Cookie cutters (one medium-sized circle, and a very small circle)
250 g flour
1 leveled teaspoon baking powder
125 g butter
70 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
Lemon peel from one lemon
2 tablespoons milk or water or one egg
Filling:
Jelly or jam (traditionally red currant jelly is used, but raspberry jam or orange jam works well, too; I remove fruit pieces or seeds by squeezing the jam through a fine mesh)
Topping:
Confectioner's sugar
Some water (optional)
Preparation:
1. Sift flour into a bowl, make a little dent into the flour, then add the remaining ingredients. Knead everything into a solid dough using the knead hooks from an electric hand mixer (add more milk if necessary).
2. Briefly shape dough into a ball, and refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes. (Chilling the dough is absolutely required when adding an egg to the dough!)
3. Divide batter into smaller portions. Roll small dough portion on a lightly floured board with a rolling pin until about 2 mm (1/8") thick.
4. Place cookies on parchment paper and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) until golden brown (8-10 minutes)
5. Remove cookies from oven and let cool down. Spread jam on the full circle cookies and place an open-circle cookie on top. Dust cookies with confectioner's sugar or mix confectioner's sugar with very little water and coat the top cookie with it. Let sugar coat dry before putting cookies into a box.
Cranberry diamonds
Ingredients:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Pizza cutter
A clean ruler
150 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 package of vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma
75 g butter
2 tablespoons milk or water or one egg
200 g flour
3 leveled teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Some extra flour for rolling out the dough
Filling:
Cranberry Sauce (I used Cranberry sauce in a jar from Trader Joe's, and removed fruit pieces and seeds by squeezing the sauce through a fine mesh)
Topping:
Confectioner's sugar
Preparation:
1. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla sugar or vanilla aroma and salt until a creamy batter has formed. Mix in egg or milk. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to batter and knead until a solid dough has formed (knead hooks).
2. Briefly shape dough into a ball, and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
3. Divide dough into smaller portions. Roll small dough portion on a lightly floured board with a rolling pin until about 2 mm (1/8") thick. Cut diamond shapes using the pizza cutter and the ruler (see comment 3 below)
4. Place cookies on parchment paper and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) until golden brown (10-12 minutes)
5. Remove cookies from oven and let cool down. Spread 1/2 teaspoon cranberry sauce on half the diamonds, then place a second cookie on top. Dust cookies with confectioner's sugar and put cookies into a box.
Comments:
1. I prepare all the doughs described above with the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer. If you prepare the dough with your hands work the dough very briefly! The warmth from your hands will turn the dough into a crumbly mess if worked for too long.
2. Chilling these doughs is essential. If they are not chilled they will easily crumble, and it'll become painful to make decent cookies.
3. To cut even diamonds I odd the following: I placed the ruler on top of the flattened dough, then cut strips as wide as the ruler. I then turned the ruler at an angle to the set of first cuts and repeated cutting strips, hence making diamonds. To make the diamonds roughly the same between the different batches, I used the numbers on the ruler for orientation to keep the angle of the diamonds the same.
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