The Christmas season begins in Germany in earnest on the first Sunday of Advent, either the last Sunday in November or the first Sunday in December. Germans start decorating their homes and baking cookies and cakes. It’s about creating a Christmasy atmosphere: the family gathers to make the cookies, taking turns to cut them into shapes or to decorate the gingerbread.

We’ve collected recipes for five of the most-popular and widespread cookies and one cake. The fact is that there is no one way to make any of these treats. Christmas cookies are the pride of the German housewife. The recipes themselves are a matter of strict family tradition, a family creed. Someone else’s cookies may be crunchier, sweeter or gooier, but the family recipe always takes precedence.

Every German knows the baking traditions of the southern German region of Swabia -- they show up in regional and familial variations all over the Germany. The following recipes for Swabian cookies are easy, even for the cinnamon stars -- notorious for their difficulty. None of them take much time to make -- although some of them need to rest for several hours or even overnight. My favorite is vanilla kippers, which have proven a big hit here in the DW-WORLD newsroom.

About vanilla sugar:

In Germany you won't find vanilla extract. German bakers use vanilla sugar instead. To make your own put a chopped vanilla pod in a jar full of granulated or confectioner's sugar. Allow the vanilla pod a week to infuse the sugar with its taste (and smell).

Or just use vanilla extract.

Vanilla Kippers

170g (12 tablespoons) butter

50g (¼ cup) powdered sugar

70g (½ cup) almonds or walnuts, ground

270g (2 cups) flour, sifted

For the final dusting:

100g (½ cup) powdered sugar

3 tablespoons vanilla sugar

Knead the butter, sugar nuts and flour into a roll and refrigerate for one hour.Then make small rolls (around 1 cm / ½ inch thick) out of the dough and form them into crescents. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes. Don't let them brown -- just go for golden at the most. Mix the remaining powdered sugar and the vanilla sugar together. While the kippers are still warm, roll them in the sugar mixture. Be gentle, they break easily.

Cinnamon Stars

500g (3⅓ cups) almonds with the skin, ground

1½ tablespoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons Kirsch (optional)

3 egg whites, beaten until stiff

400g (2 cups) powdered sugar

Extra sugar for rolling out dough

Mix together the almonds, cinnamon and Kirsch. Mix together the egg whites and the sugar. Add ⅓ of the egg white/sugar mixture to the first mixture. If the whole mixture is too dry to stick together add a bit more of the egg white and sugar.

Let rest briefly. Cover a clean dry surface with more sugar and roll out the dough. Cut out stars with a pastry cutter. Plop a little egg white on each star, spread it around with a wooden spoon or a brush. Let the cookies dry out overnight.

Then bake them for 5-6 minutes at 175ºC / 350°F.

Hazelnut Macaroons

6 - 8 egg whites

500g (2½ cups) granulated or confectioner's sugar

500g (3⅓ cups) hazelnuts, ground

80 - 100 whole hazelnuts

Beat the egg white until fluffy, then gradually add the sugar. The mixture should stiffen. Carefully and quickly fold the ground nuts into the mixture. Put dollops on a baking sheet (greased or covered with baking paper) and place a whole hazelnut on top. Let the macaroons dry out for a few hours so that the surface doesn't split when you bake them. Bake on the lowest level in the oven for 30 - 45 minutes at 140-160°C(275°F-325°F), then let cool 5 - 10 minutes.

Wasps Nests

6 - 8 egg whites

500g (2½ cups) granulated or confectioner's sugar

500g (3⅓ cups) almond slivers

100g (½ cup) cocoa powder

2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

Roast almond slivers until they are light yellow. Mix everything together and put dollops on a baking sheet (greased or covered with baking paper). Then, as above, let the macaroons dry out for a few hours so that the surface doesn't split when you bake them. Bake on the lowest level in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 140-160°C (275°F-325°F), then let cool 5-10 minutes.

"Spitzbuben" (rascals)

300g (1½ cups) flour

200g (1 cup) butter

150g (¾ cup) powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

sour-tasting jam or marmelade (rose-hip jam, for example)

a little powdered sugar for dusting

Mix the dry ingredients together. Then roll out the dough until it’s about ½ cm / ¼ inch thick. Using a pastry cutter form round cookies and bake them on an ungreased baking sheet (or baking paper) until they are light yellow. Bake for 10 minutes at 200°C (400°F). If the dough makes bubbles after being baked pop them with a needle. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven brush half of them on the underside with the jam. Don’t use too much jam or the cookies will get soft.

Stick the other halves on top of the jam with the underside to the jam. While they are still warm roll the cookies in sugar.

Note: The top halves can also be made with rings -- just cut out the center with round or star-shaped cookie cutters.

Zwickauer Christmas Stollen

Germany’s traditional Christmas cake is called stollen. Dresden is famous for its loaves. The recipe below comes from Zwickau, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of Dresden. It takes a long time, but it’s tried and true and comes from a Zwickau grandmother. The recipe is also enough to make three or four loaves, seeing as German grandmothers are known for baking it en masse to send to their grandchildren in Christmas packages. If it’s too much stollen for you, then just halve the recipe.

For the day before:

1000g (5½ cups) sultanas

5 tablespoons vanilla sugar

200ml (16 tablespoons) rum

500g (2¼ cups) butter

500g (2¼ cups) margarine

500g (3⅓ cups) sweet almonds, skinned and finely chopped

115g (¾ cup) bitter almonds, skinned and finely chopped

500g (1⅓ cups) candied lemon peel, coarsely chopped

100g (½ cup) candied orange peel, coarsely chopped

For baking day:

2500g (5½ lbs.) flour, sifted

250g (1 cup) yeast

300g (1½ cups) sugar

1 liter (4 cups) milk

juice and peel of two lemons

Butter and powdered sugar for the glaze

The day before:

Wash the sultanas two to three times and drain them. Then mix them with the vanilla sugar and the rum. Put the butter and the margarine in a pot. Take out the almonds and the candied fruits. Leave the sultana mixture, the butter and margarine, the almonds and the candied fruit out overnight to warm to room temperature.

On baking day:

Pour the flour into a bowl and make a crater in the middle.

Mix together the yeast, three teaspoons of the sugar and ½ of the milk. Pour the mixture into the flour crater and work the whole thing into a dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the surface of the dough splits in places.

Mix the dough with the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the fresh lemon juice and peel. Work the butter and margarine (not melted) into the dough using as much tepid milk as necessary to make a smooth, but not sticky dough. Knead the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Then fold the almonds, candied fruits and sultanas into the dough until they are distributed throughout. Cover the dough again and put it in a warm place to rise for two hours.
Then knead it again and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Now divide the dough into 2 kg (4 lb.) lumps and form them into the shape of bread loaves. Using the back of your hand press a deep furrow all the way down the stollen, dividing the log into two differently-sized loaves. Fold the narrow length over the broader length.

Bake on a well-greased baking sheet at 175° C (350° F) for 1¼ - 1½ hours. The stollen should then sit for 6 - 7 days.

Brush the stollen with hot butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar over and over until a thick layer of butter and sugar develops.

The stollen may only last for a few weeks, but the memory of a pleasant Christmas lasts forever, and DW-WORLD wishes you and your family a lovely holiday season.