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Christmas Stollen

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I had plans for so many Christmas breads this month. I wanted to revisit a stollen I made last year. Well, I actually didn’t plan to revisit the same recipe. I was going to try a new recipe and make a pretty wreath. I tried this recipe from Cooking Light magazine that I saved from last year.


It was going to be really festive with cranberries on top of the sugar glaze. But something went wrong. Not baking catastrophe wrong where I was crying over my dough. I almost did. I was sort of in denial that it wasn’t quite rising as it should. I was heading to a Christmas Eve party and thought by the time I’d come home, it would for sure be doubled in size. It maybe quartered in size. Or maybe it never did and I was just hoping for a Christmas baking miracle.

I thought maybe my milk was too cold when I added the yeast. I know that sometimes could make it take longer to rise.  I baked it anyway and figured it would be dense and just perfect to dip in my caffe’ latte that morning. It actually wasn’t as dense as I thought it would be. It just wasn’t fluffy and perfect like the one I made last Christmas. I even had some of that first batch today for breakfast and it’s softer than it was the first day. But still, no fluffy factor.
This is the first stollen that just didn’t rise to it’s fullest potential:
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What really went wrong? I’m not sure. Maybe the milk was too cold and the dough needed more time. Maybe my rise temperature was too high and that caused it to be a flop.
*Ok-slight update to my post I’m just working on this morning. I know what happened to the 1st recipe from Cooking Light from reading readers’ comments on their link to recipe. The Cooking Light recipe has you add too much sugar to the yeast. The excessive sugar is probably what killed my yeast. Did anyone else ever have this happen?
Why did I stray from this trusty recipe? I had hopes of making a lighter dough. I wanted the same thing but slightly better. Sometimes it’s best to stick with what’s worked for you. So I made my Christmas Stollen one more time from last year. It was perfection.
This is the way my stollen was supposed to look. I also was finally successful in convincing my mom to make her delicious Kalács (Hungarian Nut Roll). Love it!

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If you never made a stollen, this recipe is a great recipe to start (and end) with. I’m submitting my successful Christmas Stollen to the wonderful Susan of Wild Yeast for Yeastspotting🙂

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You know I’ve been busy with all this holiday baking. I’ve been baking every thing on a new wonderful cookie sheet! This was a batch of citrus glazed cookies I made (recipe to follow).

This is where I’ll be most of Christmas break. I am still dreaming of seeing some snow. In the meantime, I’ll take the sand, surf, and warm ocean breezes.

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Christmas Stollen

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 2/3 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 1/3 cup currants
  • 1/3 cup sultana raisins
  • 1/3 cup red candied cherries, quartered (I skipped this and added dried cranberries)
  • 2/3 cup diced candied citron (skipped this and added 1 large orange zest)
  • 6 ounces marzipan  (I did not have marzipan to do the marzipan surprise)
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
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When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, and citrus peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.
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Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet. (I didn’t have to with one of the loaves because I used the new ManPans baking sheet)

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet.

Cover with a damp cloth and combine 1 tablespoon milk and 1 egg. Brush dough gently with milk mixture. DSCN9828
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack. Dust the cooled loaf with confectioners’ sugar, and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

*This year I did a sugar glaze like on the Cooking Light Magazine. Here is the recipe:
Combine 1 tablespoon milk and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth; drizzle over cooled loaves

Hope you are having a FABULOUS week:)Thank you for stopping by to say HELLO:)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Jan says

    I love stollen! And, I find it's a great way to use up all those odds and ends of dried/candied fruits after all that holiday baking. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.

    Reply

  4. Shulie says

    Aww Lora love your FL style Happy Holidays card. Gorgeous stollen, always mean to make it but never got around to it. Delish!! Happy New Year my friend!

    Reply

  6. Barbara | Creative Culinary says

    The word stollen always takes me back to being younger and Sunday morning breakfasts. My dad got up and first thing he did was leave to go get a paper and something from the bakery. I know yours would be oh so fabulous. Love the holiday card; so perfect. So warm. So jealous. 🙂

    Reply

  7. Renee says

    The one thing I missed having this year was stollen. I usually get one from the German bakery but did not get by there. I'm bookmarking this to have for baking next year for the holidays.

    Reply

  9. Becky says

    Your stollen looks delicious. At least you finally got the perfect stollen:) Great Pictures!
    We don't ahve snow, but we don't ahve the sand and surf either. Enjoy your break!

    Reply

  12. Anonymous says

    The stollen looks amazing and mine has never been a fluffy bread, more of a dense style of bread….even when I buy it! The pan sounds amazing and how lucky are you to get one! Congratulations!

    Reply

  14. Claudia says

    So many things kill yeast, don't they? Things take forever around here because of the cold. But your stollen does beckon. Love the pans? Why? Made in the USA! Like to support American-made.

    Reply

  16. Velva says

    I think your stollen looks pretty darn good! I know you were not satisfied but I would love to dunk thick slices into my morning coffee. I know it would be perfect.

    Velva

    Reply

  21. Amy says

    Sorry to hear the first one didn't turn out as expected, I hate that, and have had similar experiences ;)! It looks tasty though, and glad to hear the second one from your tried and true recipe turned out!

    Reply

  26. Kiri W. says

    looks great! Our version is denser, and contains more fruit, and has a sugar-crust. I'm not a huge stollen fan, but it's an integral part of German Christmas 😉

    Reply

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