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
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
German Stuffed Peppers or Filled Pepper with Meat
German stuffed peppers are filled with meat and are called in German “Gefüllte Paprika”. This German dish is easy to make and can be varied. If you don’t like to use meat fill the peppers with a rice-vegetable mix. You can also use ground Bison meat or a mix of pork and beef. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Stuffed Peppers
4 green medium size peppers (or red, yellow, orange peppers)
1/2 lb ground meat
1 cup of long grain rice
1 med size onion
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tsp clarified butter
salt, pepper to taste
ground nutmeg, 1 dash
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
Tomato Sauce
2-3 tbsp tomato paste, water
1 can diced tomatoes or 5 fresh tomatoes (or use all natural Italian style tomato sauce)
1/2 cube vegetable broth, instant
salt, black pepper, dried oregano, thyme to taste
or 1 jar ready made tomato sauce
(Note: If you use ready made tomato sauce you won’t use the spices)
Cooking Instructions German Stuffed Peppers
– Cut off the upper part of the pepper (the lid); remove white parts and seeds inside the pepper with a sharp knife or a spoon.
– Chop onions fine; in a pan heat butter and saute onions until transparent.
– Add the meat and brown it briefly. Remove from heat.
– Combine meat with rice and mix it well.
– Spice with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and red paprika powder, and parsley. Mix well.
– With a spoon fill meat-rice mix into each pepper until it is filled.
– In a heavy sauce pan fill in the tomato sauce or chopped fresh, or diced tomatoes.
– Add herbs, spices and bring to a boil.
– Remove from heat.
– Place the filled peppers into the pot with the tomato sauce (the pan should be big enough so peppers will stand straight inside).
Important: Before you fill the peppers place them into the pot to see if it is the right size.
– On very low heat let peppers simmer for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the pepper (needs to be covered with a lid). The rice is uncooked so it needs to cook until it is soft. They are done when they won’t show their fresh green color.
– 10 minutes before the peppers are done, place the lids on top of each pepper.
Serve them with mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, or your favorite pasta.
TIPS
– You can add zucchini, carrots, peas or leek to the tomato sauce.
– For the vegetarian version, mix rice with chopped carrots, peas and mushrooms, fill the peppers and let simmer covered the same way as described above in the recipe.
German Spaetzle – Swabian Noodle Specialty
German Spaetzle are not only popular in the South of Germany, in Swabia, they are known in Switzerland and the Alsace. I am very happy that I even can purchase dried ones here in the USA! But do you know how to make them? If not, then you will love the following recipe. Spätzle are served mainly with meat dishes cooked in gravy such as a roast, beef Goulash or beef rolls (Rouladen). They soak up the gravy and are therefor an ideal side dish for your pork or beef roast.
Do you actually know what the word “Spätzle” means? It literally means “little sparrows”. In 1725, Rosino Lentilio, a councillor and personal physician from Baden-Würtemberg, stated that “Knöpflein” and “Spazen” were “all the things that are made from flour”. Spelt was grown widely in the Swabian-Alemannic area at the time.
Since March 2012, Swabian Spätzle and Swabian Knöpfle have been awarded the EU quality seal for “Protected Geographical Indications (PGI)” and are protected throughout Europe as a regional specialty. In order to be able to bear this sign, one of the production stages of the product must have taken place in the respectively defined region of origin.
German Spätzle are originally from Baden-Württemberg, the region around Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Freiburg. German Spätzle served with fried onions and cheese are called “Cheese Spaetzle”, and this is a meal for itself that tastes awesome with a mixed salad.
To make them you can use a Spätzle maker like shown on the photo below. Just make the dough and pour it through the movable upper part of the board. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Spaetzle
(serves 4)
2 cups flour (wheat, all purpose) – or 250 g flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 cup water or mineral water – 1/4 l water
Delicious Swabian Spatzle from Lovegermanfood.com
Cooking Instructions German Spaetzle
– Mix the flour with half of the salt and the nutmeg.
– Add eggs, mix them in with a fork.
– Pour in water while stirring constantly with a large spoon until dough is smooth.
– Bring water to a boil in a big pot, add remaining salt.
– Set the Spaetzle maker over the boiling water and by going back and forward with the machine, press the dough through the wholes, a few tablespoons at a time, directly into the boiling water.
– Stir the Spaetzle gently to prevent them from sticking together.
– Boil them briskly for 5-8 minutes or when they are floating on the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon.
– Keep them in a bowl until all are done. Never do them all at one time.
That’s all, it is not that complicated. If you don’t want to make them from scratch just buy them packaged.
Find Spaetzle Maker on Amazon
Arme Ritter – German Breakfast Casserole
The German French Toast, or “Arme Ritter” in German, is a traditional dish that can be traced back to the Romans. In the antique cooking book De re coquinariayou can find this recipe:
„Zerbrich abgeriebene Siligenen (= Winterweizengebäcke), mache größere Häppchen, tauche sie in Milch, röste sie in Öl, übergieße sie mit Honig und serviere sie.“ (Break winter-wheat bread, make bigger pieces, dip in milk, roast in oil, pour over with honey and serve.)
The oldest German recipe was found in the 14th century in the book “guter spyse” (good food) that is quoted in the German dictionary of the Grimm brothers with: „snit denne aht snitten arme ritter und backe die in smalze niht zu trüge.“
In a German cook book from 1691 the German French Toast is called “Gueldene Schnitten” which means golden slices.
In England they are called Poor Knights of Windsor, in USA French Toast, in France pain perdu, and in Spain torrijas. Arme Ritter is great for the brunch, breakfast or as a sweet dish only.
This recipe is using vanilla pudding and it is baked in the oven as a casserole (Auflauf in German) which is not the original recipe. Please keep this in mind.
Find the original recipe here: Arme Ritter Recipe – plain and simple – Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Arme Ritter – German Breakfast Casserole
(serves 4)
1 jar sour cherries
1/2 package Dr. Oetker Vanilla pudding (0.75 oz) or cornstarch and vanilla extract
3 eggs, medium
1 package vanilla sugar, 0.5 oz – How to make Vanilla Sugar –
dash salt, powdered sugar for dusting
450 ml milk
3 tbsp sugar
8 thicker slices of wheat toast (white)
25 g almonds, sliced
Cooking Instructions
– Drain cherries, keep the juice.
– Mix pudding powder with 5 tbsp juice, mix until smooth.
– Bring remaining juice to a boil and add the pudding powder.
– Let simmer for 1 minute, than add the cherries and let cool off a bit.
– Mix eggs, 200 ml milk, sugar and salt. Beat them thoroughly.
– Cut bread slices diagonal and turn them briefly in the eggs.
– Place the bread slices and cherry compote into a fire proof form in layers.
– Pre-heat oven to 200 C or 350 F.
– Finally add remaining eggs to the form.
– Bake for 15-20 minutes (cover with foil the last minutes if it should get too brown).
– Roast almonds in a skillet without any grease.
Sprinkle the German French Toast with roasted almonds before serving.
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
1 tsp 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 Casserole – Apfelreis
– 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.
German Potato Goulash – Kartoffelgulasch
Here’s another yummy German dish that is quite popular: You will love the German Potato Goulash dish. It doesn’t contain beef but sausages and potatoes. This Eintopf or stew is spiced with paprika, marjoram and caraway seeds, and can be served with some fresh bread. It’s very easy to make. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Potato Goulash
(serves 4)
6 bigger potatoes
75 g Speck (bacon)
1 tbsp lard or sunflower/canola oil
2 smaller onions
1/2 green or red pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt to taste
1 tbsp mild paprika seasoning
marjoram, caraway seeds to taste
1/2 l beef or vegetable broth – How to make Beef Broth –
1 German pickle – optional
2 tbsp sour cream
3 sausages (Frankfurter, Wiener sausage)
Cooking Instructions German Potato Goulash
– Peel potatoes and onions. Chop onions fine, Cut potatoes in smaller cubes.
– Heat lard/oil in a pan, add onions, saute for 1-2 min, then add potatoes. Reduce heat to medium.
– Fry for about 5 min.
– Add tomato paste, mix well.
– Spice with salt, pepper, paprika, marjoram and caraway seeds.
– Add the broth.
– On low heat let simmer covered for 10-15 min.
– Cut pepper in half, remove seeds, cut in cubes. Add to the goulash.
– If you like add the chopped pickle as well.
– Cook for another 10 min.
– Add the sour cream, cut sausages in slices and add to the Goulash.
Serve in 2-3 minutes when sausages are warm.
German Beer Bread – Original Bavarian Recipe
German Beer Bread is the best to be made with German beer and especially the Bavarian beer from Hofbrau which is one of the oldest breweries in Bavaria. Here is a little history of the Hofbrauhaus: The Hofbrauhaus was founded in 1589 by Herzog Wilhem V.
Since then the brewery and the Brauhaus are a historical location in Munich. Hofbrau are part of the Bavarian history and it is a 400 year old tradition to brew this beer that is been served at the annual Oktoberfest. We all know it by its abbreviation “HB”. Indeed it is part of Bavaria and the beer has created a life style with the beer garden, the food and the “Gemutlichkeit”.
The First Oktoberfest
Bavarian king Maximilian I. demonstrated that he is a generous man when his son Ludwig was going to marry Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. For this wedding he sponsored a gigantic celebration for 40.000 visitors; it was in fact the first Oktoberfest and happened on October 17, 1810. The sensation of the fest was the horse race on a meadow in front of the city, and from that date on it was called the “Theresienwiese” (Wiese = Meadow), and from that day on, it had been decided that such a fest should be occurring every year.
It was the starting day of the famous Oktoberfest and it is happening yearly on the “Wies’n”, the former Theresienwiese. 2 years later, in 1812, a special beer was created: The Oktoberfest Beer. It is of a dark yellow color, and is more spiced, and contains more alcohol than the regular beer. Since then the Oktoberfest beer from Hofbrau has been the world most famous beer worldwide.
Germany is known for being the country with the best beer. It is because of the water they use, the hops and of course of their traditional recipes that are kept secret for hundreds of years. The beer does not contain any chemicals, nor unnatural ingredients. It is brewed per the rules that are quite strict in Germany (Reinheitsgesetz).
It is not strange that the German cook with beer! We found a recipe to make bread and the main ingredient is beer. Happy Cooking! And Prosit!
Ingredients German Beer Bread
360 g whole grain flour (rye, wheat or a mix of flours)
1 tsp baking powder (Dr Oetker)
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp honey (or to taste)
375 ml light beer such as original Hofbrau or Lager or any other light German beer
some melted butter
Baking Instructions German Beer Bread
– Pre-heat oven to 190°C or 375 F.
– Grease a bread baking form of size: 4 x 9 inches with butter. Or layer with parchment paper.
– In a big bowl mix all dry ingredients very well, add the honey and then the beer. You could also dissolve the honey in the beer.
– Stir a little bit but not too much, this is fatal. You need to have some clumps in the dough. Use a wooden spoon (no mixer) and stir several times.
– Pour dough in baking form and bake it for 30-45 minutes, should have a light brown crust.
– Remove from the oven, and increase temperature to 220 C or 425 F.
– Place the bread on a baking tray (must not be in the form) and because the bread is hot any butter will melt right away, so spread the butter generously over the top and sides. This creates a nice crust.
– Place back in oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
Available from Sept 1 – Oct 30
Tips
If you don’t like it sweet reduce honey or don’t use sweetener at all.
Dissolve the honey in the beer. The taste might be different according to the beer you are using. A light beer is recommended that is not too strong in taste.
Don’t use Guiness, Bock beer or ale.
Add if you like ham, onions, or garlic to the dough.
Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce – Verlorene Eier
This German egg dish – Poached eggs in Mustard Sauce – is coming from the good old times when meat was rare or too expensive. It’s a recipe from grandmothers cooking book and what do you know, it’s still popular. It’s called in German “Verlorene Eier” because the eggs have lost their shell. Some call this dish also “Saure Eier” because you use vinegar.
It used to be a very popular dish in East Germany. It’s a good combination, the poached eggs and the mustard sauce, rounded up with boiled potatoes (we recommend Gold potatoes). Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce
1 small onion
40 g butter
40 g flour
500 ml water
3 tbsp German mustard
– All About German Mustard -How to Use it in Cooking –
1 tsp lemon juice
4 fresh eggs
1 liter water
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste
German Mustard from Develey: Mild, Hot or Sweet – which one do you like?
Cooking Instructions Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce
– Chop onion fine.
– Melt butter, saute onion until transparent.
– Add flour, mix very well until you get a slightly yellowish substance. Then add 500ml cold water.
– Bring while mixing to a boil.
– Add mustard and lemon juice, spice with salt and pepper to taste.
– Bring 1 liter water to a boil, add vinegar and 1 tsp salt.
– Crack one egg in a cup.
– Very carefully let the egg slide into the boiling water. Repeat with each egg.
– Reduce heat, and let simmer for 5 min.
– Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.
Serve the poached eggs with the mustard sauce and boiled potatoes.
TIPS
This recipe is using a lot of water. Always make sure that you use purified and good water. Here is a recommendation: The Berkey filter.
I am using this filter since a long time and it’s the best water I’ve ever had, and I tried many filter systems. All the water that I need for cooking will be going through this filter. The coffee and tea tastes better, the drinking water has no strange after-taste anymore. The other good thing is, this filter system is portable. So it’s 100 percent hassle free. No special connections needed. And they have good deals. Check it out!
320×100 Lifestyle
RECIPE VARIATIONS
You can add any German mustard or make a mix out of hot and mild mustard.
Add 1 tbsp vinegar to the sauce.
Use instead of onions German speck (bacon) or use both, onions and Speck.
If you feel you can’t poach the eggs so that they won’t fall apart, we recommend to use an egg poaching tool.
Berkey System Collection
Contains German Mustard
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