my holiday cookie tin

my annual german christmas cookie marathon

I’m no stranger to holiday baking as gift giving. I love gift giving and I love cooking and baking, so those paired together is my perfect love language combo. German cookies don’t allow for a quick one bowl back the same day sorta ordeal. A lot of them have dough that you need to make in October to age to bake off at Christmastime. Many of them need dough to sit for hours, and once shaped need to be laid out to dry for 24hrs. Some require hunting down special ingredients or making your own spice mix, like Lebkuchengewürz (mix made up of cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger, cardamom, anise, mace, and nutmeg) or grinding your own nut flours. With the hustle and bustle the holidays can bring, making my German cookies force me to slow down, to pay attention to the recipe, and use my senses as to when all the components and steps are perfectly right. I haven’t included recipes here, just an insight to what is in my cookie tin this year, but if you’re interested in making your own I highly recommend the cookbooks Classic German Baking by

Luisa Weiss

and Advent: Festive German Bakes by Anja Dunk. Besides my German last name and roots, I’m grateful to have lived in Germany to learn about these cookies, and how to make them from the German friends I made and people I worked for. Now I get the joy of spreading the word about them year after year!

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Elisenlebkuchen (gf/df)

The archetypal German gingerbread. They are flourless and made with ground almonds and hazelnuts, and almond paste helps them to be moist and chewy. They are also have little gems of candied citron and orange peel. They’re baked on thin wafers called Oblaten, and can be topped with blanched almonds, icing glaze, or chocolate glaze. These feel so special every time I eat them (probably because most German cookies are a labor of love).

Lemon amaretti (gf/df)

Not German but in similar style of a flourless, ground almond base. I wanted something bright to break up a lot of the warm spices going on in my cookie tin, and we’ve had loads of lemons from our neighbors tree that pools into our yard. Fresh lemon zest and little amaretto liquor make these simple little cookie pop!

Gebrannte mandeln (gf/df)

When I close my eyes and remember Christmastime in Germany, the first smell I’m hit with is Glühwein and candied nuts. These holiday spiced candied almonds (or pecans, or both) are so addicting. Can easily eat a palmful while I’m packing up the cookie tins!

Springerle (df)

This cookie brings the aesthetics to the box. Loads of eggs and sugar, mixed with flour and the key ingredient bakers ammonia, give this cookie a unique texture that is somewhere between a biscotti and a macaroon. The crumb is so tender and chewy thanks to the bakers ammonia, and it develops little “feet” like macaroon. Studded with anise seeds to bring a pop of flavor. Just like lebkuchen, these get better and better as they age and can last months!

Zimtsterne (gf/df)

The cookies that started the German cookie making tradition. Tedious to make, but perfectly simple in flavor (ground almonds, salt, egg, and cinnamon), I love how chewy and cinnamon-y these are. Their size and shape make them so cute!

Basler Brunsli (gf/df)

The most underrated cookie in my tin. They don’t look like much, but they pack incredible flavor. They traditionally have a ground almond base, but this year I used leftover ground hazelnuts from the lebkuchen, in addition to some ground almonds. You then pulse cold chocolate to become a sandy texture and egg whites to bind it all together. But the secret little pop of flavor comes from a good amount of ground clove and dark rum (or kirsch). Besides these being the easiest to make, I get excited making these every year!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

-C