German Walnut Hearts Christmas Cookies
These German Walnut Hearts Christmas Cookies are a must bake for the holidays and Christmas. They contain walnuts, marzipan and are glazed with chocolate. These cookies are very easy to make and no special ingredients are needed. But it takes a while to make these cookies. Calculate 1-2 hours for making them. Happy Baking!
Ingredients German Walnut Hearts
(for about 30-40 cookies)
200 g butter
125 g powdered sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar- Find it here –
– How to Make Vanilla Sugar –
1 egg yolk
60 g ground walnuts
300 g flour
400 g baking marzipan
powdered sugar for rolling the dough
apricot jam
400 g dark chocolate, semi-sweet or unsweetened
walnut halves for decoration
Baking Instructions Walnut Hearts
– Combine butter with powdered sugar, egg yolk, vanilla sugar and ground walnuts.
– Add the sieved flour and knead until you get a smooth dough. Form a ball and wrap in plastic.
– Let sit in fridge for 1 hour.
– Add flour on a baking board or smooth surface, roll the dough so you can cut out hearts, stars or round shapes.
– Pre-heat oven to 150 C or 300 F.
– Place cookies on a baking tray that is layered with parchment paper.
– Bake cookies for 15 – 20 min.
– When done let them cool off a bit.
– Knead the marzipan with powdered sugar, roll thin and cut out with the same form you used for the cookies.
– Brush on each cookie some jam, place the marzipan cookie on top.
– Melt chocolate in double boiler.
– Dip the surface into the chocolate or brush the chocolate on top. Latter might be easier.
– Decorate right away each cookie with half of a walnut.
VARIATION
You can make double decker cookies:
– On one base cookie add the jam, then marzipan cookie, more jam and add a cookie that had been dipped into chocolate.
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German Hazelnut Macaroons – Christmas Cookies
The German Hazelnut Macaroons (in German “Haselnussmakronen”) are traditional and classic German cookies for the Holiday season and Christmas. Germany is known for its unique and delicious Christmas Bakery. If you have not made any German Christmas cookies before, then this recipe is very good to begin with. In Germany we use very thin baking wafers for these cookies. In the USA you can get them online or in special Germans stores. The good thing is that you can make the macaroons without the wafers as well but using them is so German and makes the little difference.. Happy Baking!
Ingredients German Hazelnut Macaroons
4 egg white
200 g fine sugar (confectionery sugar)
200 g ground hazelnuts or hazelnut flour – Find it here –
hazelnuts cut in half for decoration
1 hint of cinnamon
2 tbsp flour for dusting
30 wafers, 40 or 50mm (very thin round wafers ) – optional
Makes a Special GIFT for your Beloved ones!
Baking Instructions Hazelnut Macaroons
– Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
– Beat egg white with pinch of salt very firm by using a hand mixer (so firm that if you cut it with the knife you would see the cut!)
– Add sugar; sieve it over the firm egg white and carefully mix it.
– Then add the hazelnuts and cinnamon and mix it carefully (don’t use the mixer, use a wooden spoon). If you cannot get ground hazelnuts or hazelnut flour, you can use a coffee grinder to grind them.
– Dust a baking tray with flour or layer it with parchment paper.
– Place on each wafer with 2 teaspoons a small amount of hazelnut batter and place in the middle one half of a hazelnut (or a small whole one).
– Bake them for 10-15 minutes depending on the oven. Check frequently, you don’t want the wafers become brown.
Tip
If you want you can bake them without the wafers too. Instead using wafers for the bottom you can use melted chocolate and dip the bottoms of the baked macaroons in it briefly.
FIND THE BACKING WAFERS – OBLATEN – HERE
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German Halloween Muffin Recipe
The German Halloween muffins are very easy to make for Halloween; you just need some decorating items such as licorice wheels and drops from Haribo, a food decorating pen or melted chocolate that is using with a simple freezing bag. Just cut of a tiny corner piece and squeeze spider legs and bodies or spider webs onto the muffin surface. Happy Baking!
Ingredients German Halloween Muffin Recipe
125 g butter
100 g sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar Dr. Oetker
– How to Make Vanilla Sugar –
2 eggs
125 g flour
1 tbsp baking powder
Decoration:
Haribo licorice wheels and drops
Baking Instructions German Halloween Muffin Recipe
– Pre-heat oven to 370 F (180C).
– Grease muffin forms (use a tray).
– Mix soft butter, sugar and vanilla sugar thoroughly, then add one egg after the other.
– Mix flour with baking powder and add to dough.
– Fill dough into paper forms that had been placed into the forms and bake 15-20 minutes until they are golden colored.
– Let them cool off on a grid.
For the decoration unwind the licorice wheels and cut them into 2.5 inches long stripes.
– Melt white chocolate frosting in using double boiler method and spread it over the muffins.
– Licorice stripes can be used as spider legs and 1 or 2 drops for the body.
– Using food decorating pen make a spider net on other muffins.
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Dead Eyes – Creepy Halloween Drink
It’s Halloween! If you throw a party you need some fancy, creepy and scary drinks or beverages. We found a German recipe that you will love for your Halloween party: It’s the Dead Eyes Creepy Halloween Drink – make it non-alcoholic or add some alcohol, as you like. Happy Halloween!
Ingredients Dead Eyes Creepy Halloween Drink
lychees (from the can or fresh)
cherry juice
orange juice
lemonade
Instructions
– Mix lychees with cherry juice and keep it in the fridge over night. It will make them purplish.
– Before serving, fill the bowl with lemonade, and add ice cubes or a green hand.
– Make the green hand: Fill green water into rubber globes and freeze them (use filtered water or non-sparkling mineral water and green eatable color).
Tips and Variations
Alcoholic:
– Use blood orange juice and champagne.
– Use Curacao and champagne.
– Instead of adding ice cubes mix white wine with eatable color and fill it in rubber gloves; freeze them and place them into the punch (don’t use sparkling water or lemonade because the hands will brake very soon).
– Place the lychees over night in vodka and cherry juice.
Make the eyes more real looking by placing a cherry into each lychee.
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Apple Rice Casserole – Apfelreis
For many Germans in the USA this was a dish from their childhood in Germany. The sweet dish Apple Rice Casserole – Apfelreis is still a favorite and very popular. In German we call it a “Auflauf”. You would use layers of short grain rice and apples for making it. Using long grain rice is not the same, and it will turn out differently, so it’s not recommended. The rice that is used for making the Milchreis is rounded, and will be sticky when cooked. Tastes awesome with other fruit such as sour cherries, plums or apricots. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Apple Rice Casserole – Apfelreis
1 liter milk, 1 dash salt
zest from 1 organic lemon and lemon juice
250 g Milchreis or short grain rice (arborio)
1 tsp vanilla sugar
– How to Make Vanilla Sugar –
60 g butter
3 eggs
80 g sugar
3 tbsp raisins (optional)
4 apples or alternatively 1 jar sour cherries
additional butter flakes
Cooking Instructions Apple Rice
– Combine milk with rice, salt and lemon zest in a pan. Bring to a boil and cook on reduced heat until it is mushy (stay with rice cooking instructions).
– Let cool off a bit.
– Peel apples, remove core, cut in halves, then in quarter, and finally in small pieces. Drip with lemon juice, and if you use raisins, mix them with apples.
– Combine butter, sugar and egg yolks, and mix until bubbly. Spoon by spoon add the rice.
– Beat egg white until firm. Fold into the rice.-
– Place layers of rice and apples in a casserole. Start with rice and end with rice.
– Place butter flakes on top.
– Bake in pre-heated oven on 370 F for 45 min.
– It’s ready when the upper layer has a golden brownish color.
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Tomato Sauce German Style – Like Miracoli
In Germany you can get a classic packaged spaghetti dinner that is called “Miracoli”. (from Italian miracolo = Miracle). You might know it because you lived in Germany, and it’s available in every supermarket. It’s very popular and widely known. But I learned that this product is not the same anymore, and you cannot get it in the USA at all. Kraft sells a spaghetti dinner that is similar but the ingredient list is not the same. There are German online shops that sell the packaged dinner but they are located in Germany, and it’s pricey!
Miracoli was one of my favorites back in Germany because I often didn’t have the time, so this package was very convenient.
I found a German recipe that is copying the taste of the tomato sauce and I must admit, it’s the best tomato sauce German style I ever had. Forget about the ones in the jars – they are tasteless compared to this home made tomato sauce. Best is to serve the sauce with Italian spaghetti that are made only out of durum wheat and are not enriched. I find them at ALDI, they are very good. And of course sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Tomato Sauce German Style
7 ripe tomatoes, medium size
1 medium onion
5 twigs of fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano
1,5 tsp Italian herb mix
salt, pepper to taste
1 dash Cayenne pepper
2 celery stalks, 1/2 zucchini
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 dash sugar
olive oil for frying
1 cube instant vegetable broth (eg from Edwards & Sons)
Spaghetti
. 
Cooking Instructions
First you need to Peel the Tomatoes
– Cut with a knife a cross on the top or bottom side of the tomatoes.
– Place them in a big bowl.
– Pour enough boiling water over them so all are covered. Let tomatoes in the water for 10-15 min.
– Now remove the skin with hands as the skin has become very loose around the tomatoes. That’s how it should be. If the tomatoes are not quite ripe leave them in the water 10 min longer.
– Cut all tomatoes into smaller pieces, keep all the liquid from them. If tomatoes are very ripe they produce quite some liquid.
– Peel onions and chop fine.
– Heat olive oil in a pot, sauté onions until transparent.
– Add the tomatoes, chopped herbs, sugar, herb mix, salt and pepper. Mix well.
– Chop celery stalks and zucchini into very fine cubes.
– Let cook on low-medium heat for 10 min.
– Now depending on the tomatoes the sauce can be thin or thicker. If the sauce is thin it needs to cook much longer as it will thicken the longer you cook it. Is it too thick add some water.
– Add the chopped vegetable, the broth cube and Cayenne pepper.
– Leave the pot uncovered at all times.
– Let cook for another 15 min or longer depending on the consistency. It can take up to 45 min if tomatoes are very juicy.
– Mix frequently, make sure sauce won’t stick on the bottom of the pot.
– Spice as needed.
Cook the Spaghetti
– Boil water in a pot with some salt and a splash of olive oil.
– Place the whole spaghetti into the pot and make sure that they all fit nicely into the water (they will sink into the water).
– Boil until they are “al dente”.
– Drain and put back into the pot and serve right away.
Serve the sauce with Spaghetti and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
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Cherry Cream Dessert – Authentic German Recipe
The Cherry Cream dessert is a delicious combination of sour cherries, heavy cream, and Kirsch Schnaps. In the South of Germany, especially in the Black Forest, you can get the best Kirsch Schnaps and sour cherries. These cherries can be found in many German baking recipes such as cakes and pastries. They are very juicy and therefor great for this dessert. See our notes on using gelatin because you need it for making this delicious dessert. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Cherry Cream Dessert
8 sheets red gelatin – if you cannot get them, use white gelatin and add some dark, real cherry or red grape juice for the red color
600 g sour cherries fresh or from the jar without pits (see below)
250 ml red wine
110 g sugar
10cl Kirsch Schnaps
6 sheets white gelatin – find them here –
300 ml milk
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
500 g heavy cream
2 tbsp grated chocolate
Cooking Instructions Cherry Cream Dessert
1. Soak red gelatin for about 10 minutes in water or red juice.
– Remove pit from fresh cherrie, combine with red wine and 2 tbsp sugar, and let simmer for 3 minutes.
– Drain canned cherries and warm them with red wine, then remove from stove.
2. Press all water out of the gelatin; dissolve gelatin in the cherries and add the Kirsch Schnaps.
– Fill into 6 decorative glasses and keep cool.
3. Soak the white gelatin.
– Slice vanilla bean and with the milk and remaining sugar bring to a boil.
– Remove the bean, scrape out the vanilla pulp, and add to the milk.
4. Make the egg-milk cream: Beat egg yolks and whole egg until foamy.
– Add to the hot milk – Important: Milk should not be boiling hot!
– Mix well.
– Dissolve the white gelatin in the milk. Keep it cool.
5. Beat the heavy cream until firm.
– The egg-milk cream will start to thicken, mix in carefully the firm heavy cream.
– Arrange the cream on top of the cherries, and sprinkle with grated chocolate; decorate with one whole cherry.
How to Use Gelatin Sheets and Substitute with Powdered Gelatin
You can successfully substitute sheet gelatin for powdered gelatin in any recipe by using the following scaling:
1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin.
The recipe is asking for red and clear gelatin sheets. It’s almost impossible to find red gelatin sheets in the USA. We recommend to use red juice and combine it with the gelatin.
Dr. Oetker has the best gelatin sheets here in the USA.
Gelatin sheets are the purest form of neutral gelatin available with a strong set. Use to make molds, aspics, fondants icing, chaud/froid (jelled white sauce to glaze hams, turkeys, etc.) and desserts. Perfect to top and seal homemade pâtés. Simply soak the sheets in cold water for one minute, squeeze, then add to boiling water or any other liquids. Cool and let set. When set, gelatin can stand at room temperature for several hours without weeping which makes it useful for a buffet setting.
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German Iced Coffee – Eiskaffee
The German iced coffee – or as we call it “Eiskaffee” – is not just ice cubes in some cup of cold coffee. If it doesn’t contain whipped cream and vanilla ice cream it’s not a Eiskaffee. This beverage is very popular in Germany and you can get it in every ice cream parlor and Cafe. If you can get it somewhere in the USA, you are lucky. In case you cannot, it’s so easy to make from scratch! Try it out. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Iced Coffee – Eiskaffee
(2 servings)
100 g heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
– How to Make Vanilla Sugar –
(alternatively vanilla extract and a little bit of sugar)
4 scoops vanilla ice cream
300 ml brewed coffee, chilled (preferably German coffee)
grated chocolate, unsweetened cocoa, cherries or chocolate syrup for decoration
How to make it
– Combine heavy cream with vanilla sugar and whip until very firm.
– Fill 2 scoops vanilla ice cream into 2 tall glasses.
– Pour the chilled coffee over the ice cream.
– Place the whipped cream on top.
– Decorate with a cherry, grated chocolate or chocolate syrup.
You can add some flavor by adding some liquor such as (Asbach) brandy or Amaretto.
Find the Tschibo Coffee in this Box – No subscription needed
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