Stollen spirals

4.90 (10)
⏱ 165 mins 🍽 Makes 11-12 buns 🌶 german ✅ More effort 🏷 Breakfast

These sweet German buns are a festive Christmas bake, ideal for breakfast or a teatime treat. The dough is enriched with butter and milk, then filled with a mix of soaked dried fruit, nuts and a marzipan centre. After proving, they are baked until golden and finished with a sweet icing sugar glaze. The recipe yields 11 to 12 buns.

Stollen spirals

Ingredients

  • zest 1 orange plus juice 1/2
  • 4 tbsp Cointreau
  • 85g dried cranberries
  • 85g mixed dried fruit
  • 550g strong white bread flour plus extra for kneading
  • 2 x 7g sachets easy-bake dried yeast
  • 85g golden caster sugar
  • good grating of nutmeg
  • 85g butter plus extra for the tin
  • 1 large egg
  • 250ml warm milk
  • sunflower oil for the bowl
  • 25g pistachios chopped
  • 300g golden marzipan
  • melted butter and icing sugar, or icing sugar mixed with a little water, plus chopped pistachios, if you like

Method

  1. Combine the orange zest and juice, Cointreau, cranberries and mixed fruit in a small bowl and set aside to soak.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, caster sugar and nutmeg. Add half a teaspoon of salt and rub in the butter. Whisk the egg with the warm milk, then pour this onto the dry ingredients. Stir with a knife before using your hands to form a soft dough.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a surface and knead for a couple of mins, adding a little extra flour only if it sticks. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 45 mins-1 hr in a warm spot until it has doubled.
  4. Prepare a large roasting tin by lining it with buttered baking parchment. Roll the risen dough out firmly into a long strip measuring about 70 x 18cm. Stir the pistachios into the soaked fruit, then scatter this mixture over the dough. Shape the marzipan into a sausage matching the dough's longest side and lay it along the centre. Roll the dough up firmly around the filling, trim the ends and slice into even pieces. Arrange these cut side up in the tin, cover with cling film and prove for 45 mins-1 hr until well risen.
  5. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Bake the buns for 15-20 mins until golden. They can be frozen for up to 6 weeks. Brush the warm buns with melted butter and dust with icing sugar, or mix a little water into icing sugar to make a drizzle. Scatter over extra nuts if you like. They are best eaten within 2 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories467 kcal
Fat13 g
Saturates5 g
Carbs80 g
Sugars41 g
Fibre3 g
Protein9 g
Sodium160 mg

Recipe details

Skill levelMore effort
CategoryBreakfast
Cuisinegerman