Our staff member, Dawn, shares her favorite recipe for Christmas stollen. One branch of her family originally came from Sweden, and this recipe speaks to her Scandinavian side. Slightly altered from a recipe found in a Martha Stewart magazine, this recipe is a family favorite in her house. There is nothing like freshly baked bread! A mixture of dried fruits and nuts fill this sweet bread and topped with a lemon sugar glaze.
Dawn’s Christmas Stollen
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 packet (1/4 oz) quick rise yeast
3 eggs
3 cup mixture of your choice of chopped walnuts, chopped almond slivers, golden raisins, dried cranberries, raisins, dried currants, and dried montmorency cherries.
1/2 cup diced citron (if desired)
Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbls lemon juice
In a glass measuring cup, combine milk and butter and heat in microwave until butter melts but doesn’t boil and reaches (120-130 degrees.) In a large mixing bowl add 2 cups flower with sugar, salt, and yeast. On low, gradually add warm milk mixture. Beat on medium 2 minutes to let gluten form. Beat in eggs and 1/ cup flour. Beat 2 minutes more. . Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour until just combined. Turn out onto a floured board or silpat and knead until smooth and elastic, adding up to 3/4 cup additional flour if needed. This takes about 5 minutes of kneading. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased large bowl and let rise about 1 hour until double. (Warm an oven slightly and then turn off heat to use as a warm place if needed.) Meanwhile, chop nuts and dried fruits. Turn out dough onto floured board and knead in the nut mixture. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12×18 approximate oval. Fold in half lengthwise and pinch edges to close, forming a half-moon shape. Repeat. Place on a large cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper at least 3″ apart. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap lightly and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about one hour. Bake 350° F 25-30 minutes. Let cool on a rack. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice to create a thick syrupy glaze to drizzle on top. Decorate top with sliced almonds or glace’ cherries if desired.
