German Stollen Blondies

Think of these as German Blondies or maybe Winter Blondies.

All the goodness of German yeasted bread studded with dried fruit and marzipan but in blondie form.

What is Stollen

Stollen is a seasonal yeasted bread similar to Italian Panettone.  It is filled with rum-soaked dried fruit, candied citrus peel, chopped nuts, and most especially, marzipan.  The finished bread is coated with melted butter and dusted with an enormous amount of icing sugar to create a distinguishable layer on top.  This sweet yeasted bread is served with coffee, as a simple breakfast, or for when company pops in during the afternoon.  Leftover bread makes fantastic french toast!  Here is a link for the classic recipe.

Marzipan is a combination of ground almonds, sugar, egg whites formed into firm logs etc. It can be grated or chopped into baked goods, dipped in chocolate (my childhood fave) or even be formed into decoration for cakes etc.  Think miniature fruits, flowers, people, animals, all painted with food safe colouring sitting on a cake etc, rather like fondant which can be molded or manipulated.  If you purchase baking marzipan, store it sealed well, wrapped and then place it into a freezer bag in a dark cupboard.  This will help it last as long as possible without drying out.

Turning Stollen into Blondies

There are already Stollen Scones on the blog, and they are a joy to bake up.  But like most scone recipes, they are best enjoyed within a day of baking.  So I wanted to create another way to enjoy the flavours of Stollen without having to bake a yeasted bread. I have come across several versions of Stollen squares or bars through the years.  I finally thought I found one that would please me.  But it didn’t soak the dried fruit in rum, it only had orange zest instead of candied peel, it used pistachios instead of the classic walnuts of my childhood memories, and it used just a tad too much marzipan.  Marzipan is sweet, no two ways about it, so I didn’t want it to be the dominant flavour in my Blondie.

So this is what we now have:

Method

I like to use a combination of sultanas (golden raisins) dried cranberries or cherries, and candied orange peel.  This is more of a classic combination, and you can’t go wrong with it.  You will combine them in a small bowl, and add 1 tbsp of rum.  Stir, seal, and let it set for a good two hours. I actually let it all combine overnight for best results.  If you don’t want to use  rum, feel free to use heated coffee or orange juice.

At the same time you can also toast and chop the walnuts. Getting both of these ingredient preps out of the way, even the night before, means that on baking day, you can get right into baking up the blondies.

The stiff batter uses room temperature cream cheese for a lovely tang that contrasts against the sweetened fruit and marzipan.  The rest of the ingredients are simple: flour, ground almonds or almond flour, warm spices, butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and finally icing sugar.  The most fancy ingredient is the marzipan.  The marzipan is chopped into small cubes and gets folded in at the end.

The stiff batter gets scooped into a prepared 8 x 8 inch baking pan which has been sprayed and lined.  I like to line my pan with two layers of parchment, each long enough to go up and over the sides.  Clip the excess with small metal clips (not painted) to hold the paper securely to the side walls of the pan.  This paper will make for easy extraction of the finished and cooled blondies.

Finish with Icing Sugar

Once out of the oven, you will place butter all over the warm surface of the baked blondie slab still in the pan.  I do this by slicing the 1/4 cup of butter into thin slices and laying them evenly over the surface.  As they start to melt, just use a silicone brush to move the butter evenly into all the corners etc.  Now you will start dusting the butter with icing sugar.  You will find that some of the sugar immediately starts melting into the butter.  For this reason, do not use all the sugar at this time.  Save about 2 tbsp for when the entire cake has cooled down.  Then go back and finish dusting the icing sugar over the bare parts of the top.  You may find it best to place the pan into the fridge after it has cooled down.  This will not only help the butter cool down, but will make it easier for slicing later on.

Serving

Remove the cooled iced cake from the pan using the parchment paper and transfer to a wooden cutting board.  Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the cake into either 16 or 25 squares. Because I have reduced the amount of marzipan, I don’t consider these too sweet to eat if using the larger size square.  However, for a simple nibble that will be enjoyed by more, (or for portion control if that is what you need, like me!) then go with cutting the cake into 25 squares.

These can be served from the fridge, but if served at room temperature, you will find that the marzipan helps these little treats practically melt in your mouth!  They will keep for quite a few days in a sealed container on the counter.  But I promise you, they won’t last that long!

If you make these Stollen Blondies, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

Love Jen

5 from 4 votes

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Stollen Blondies

All the goodness of a German yeasted Stollen Bread, but without the yeast or proofing! Melt in your mouth blondies filled with rum soaked dried fruit and candied peel, toasted walnuts, and chunks of marzipan. Finished with a copious amount of icing sugar, just like the bread!

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Keyword candied orange peel, cream cheese, marzipan, rum

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Macerating Time for the Dried Fruit and Peel 2 hours

Servings 16

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup dried sultanas golden raisins
• 1/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries
• 1/3 cup candied orange peel
• 1 tbsp rum, see Notes
• 2 cups (260g) cup for cup gluten free blend flour, can substitute with all purpose flour
• 2/3 cups (75g) almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 3/4 c (168g) unsalted room temperature butter, divided
• 4 oz (112g) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 c (200g) sugar
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup (112g) toasted walnuts, chopped roughly once cooled
• 7 oz (200g) marzipan, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/3 c (40g) powdered sugar plus more if needed once the butter has cooled.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8” square pan and line with parchment paper so that 1” wings hang over on two or four sides. If you have small metal clips, these will work great to secure the paper to the walls of the pan.

2. Place the dried sultanas, cherries and orange peel in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of rum. Seal tightly and let this sit for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, cloves, and allspice.
4. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat 1/2 cup of the butter, the cream cheese, sugar, and orange zest on medium high until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until combined.
6. Using a tea strainer, drain the dried fruit and rum mixture to remove any remaining liquid.
7. Reduce the speed to low and then beat in the dry ingredients followed by the strained rum soaked fruit, and walnut pieces.
8. Fold in the marzipan pieces by hand. Scrape this stiff mixture into the pan and spread it out evenly with lightly oiled hands or a rubber spatula.
9. Bake until golden around the edges and lightly browned on top; begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes.
10. Cut the 1/4 cup of butter into small pieces and spread them all over the top while it’s still hot out of the oven. As the butter melts use a brush to get it into all the corners etc.

11. Use a tea strainer to sprinkle 3 tbsp of the powdered sugar. Let cool completely in the pan and then sprinkle the remaining sugar and any extra sugar needed over everything, covering any spots that may have melted into the butter. You can chill this in the fridge to make slicing easier.

12. Cut into squares. Either 16 pieces or 25 pieces, if you want to keep them on the small side.
13. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Recipe Notes

In replace of rum, you can warm up coffee or orange juice and soak the dried fruit in this instead.

Here is the link for the recipe that inspired my version.