Site Links










Top Posters
Dotsie 23647
chatty lady 20267
jawjaw 12025
jabber 10032
Dianne 6123
Latest Photos
car
Useable gifts!
Winter wonderland/fantasy for real
The Soap lady meets the Senator
baby chicks
Angel
Quilted Christmas Stocking
Latest Quilt
Shelter from the storm
A new life
Who's Online
0 Registered (), 175 Guests and 2 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Stats
3239 Members
63 Forums
16332 Topics
210704 Posts

Max Online: 409 @ 01/17/20 03:33 AM
Topic Options
#218324 - 12/21/12 08:07 PM Anne's Family's German Christmas Cookies
Anne Holmes Administrator Offline
Boomer in Chief

Registered: 03/12/10
Posts: 3212
Loc: Illinois
I am going to make more Christmas cookies today. The 7 kinds I baked earlier this month have been largely given away, and I still need some to take to Christmas dinner at my Dad's.

One of the cookies I will be baking today is a family tradition that comes down through my mother's family, and is called "mondel snitzen." It is an almond cookie that is built in layers, then cut and baked.

I've never seen it anywhere else, and I've spent years looking. Just did a search for "German Christmas cookies" again, and I came up with something called "Mandel Schnitt" whic is the closest I have ever come to finding a duplicate recipe.

I don't speak German, so I don't know whether my family's "mondel" is the same as this recipe's "mandel" but I am guessing that somewhere along the line someone in my mother's family couldn't spell...since I just checked and "mandel" means "almond" in German!

Anyway, those cookies are cut with a cookie cutter into (star) shapes, and my cookies are not cut with a cookie cutter, but instead the dough is rolled out and cut into diamond shapes...which saves on having to re-roll the dough to use it all up!

Here's the recipe:

Quote:
“Mondel Schnitzen”
(Recipe handed down from Anne’s Great Great Grandma, whose last name was “Fauerbach.”)
4 eggs separated
4 C. unbleached flour
1 pound unsalted butter
2-1/3 C. sugar
1 t. salt
1 pound almonds, blanched and chopped or ground fine
Nutmeg to sprinkle on top of the cookies before baking

Set the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease several cookie sheets.

Separate the eggs. (I like to put each egg white into a separate container, as they will be used later in the recipe, one at a time.)

Cream the butter and sugar until well blended. Add the flour and mix until you have crumbs, or streusel.

Divide the crumb mixture in half, and save half for the crumb topping. (Depending on the heat of the kitchen, you may want to refrigerator it.) To the other half, mix in the egg yolks and the salt, to create a dough.

Divide the dough into quarters.

Roll out the first of the dough quarters until thin, and put the rest of the dough into the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. (If you have a sock for your rolling pin and a cloth to roll on, this works well. I use the sock but not the cloth. Instead, I roll out the dough on a lightly floured granite counter top. )

Lightly whip one of the egg whites and brush it onto the dough. Be sure to coat the dough all the way to the edges. Top the egg white with one quarter of the streusel. Again, applying it all the way to the edges of the dough. Top the streusel with one quarter of the almonds, again being sure to cover all of the dough. Sprinkle nutmeg on top of the sheet of dough, and lightly press down on it, to help the toppings to adhere to the crust.

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough vertically into strips about 1-1/4 inch wide. Then cut it horizontally, at an angle, so that you create diamond shapes in the dough, about 3 inches long.

Carefully use a spatula to life the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 12 minutes until lightly browned on the edges. Then remove them from the oven and let the cookies sit or a minute or two before removing them from the cookie sheet onto a cooling rack which has been covered with paper towel.

Repeat with the other dough quarters, until all the cookies are baked. Makes roughly 100 cookies.
_________________________
Boomer in Chief of Boomer Women Speak and the National Association of Baby Boomer Women.
www.nabbw.com
www.boomerwomenspeak.com
www.boomerlifestyle.com
www.boomerco.com

Top
#218351 - 12/26/12 07:54 PM Re: Anne's Family's German Christmas Cookies [Re: Anne Holmes]
Anne Holmes Administrator Offline
Boomer in Chief

Registered: 03/12/10
Posts: 3212
Loc: Illinois
Well, the cookies are all baked, and given away by now. I also baked "from scratch" rolls for Christmas dinner and three Norwegian julekages, which are a rich yeast bread which is flavored with cardamom, full of candied fruit and almonds. I made mine as a simple round loaf. I frosted 'em as well, and decorated red and green cherries.

I think I'm actually going to give the oven a rest now that we're back home. Probably won't do any baking for a couple of weeks. LOL!
_________________________
Boomer in Chief of Boomer Women Speak and the National Association of Baby Boomer Women.
www.nabbw.com
www.boomerwomenspeak.com
www.boomerlifestyle.com
www.boomerco.com

Top



NABBW.com | Forum Testimonials | Newsletter Sign Up | View Our Newsletter | Advertise With Us
About the Founder | Media Room | Contact BWS
Resources for Women | Boomer Books | Recent Reads | Boomer Links | Our Voices | Home

Boomer Women Speak
9672 W US Highway 20, Galena, IL 61036 • info@boomerwomenspeak.com • 1-877-BOOMERZ

Boomer Women Speak cannot be held accountable for any personal relationships or meetings face-to-face that develop because of interaction with the forums. In addition, we cannot be held accountable for any information posted in Boomer Women Speak forums.

Boomer Women Speak does not represent or endorse the reliability of any information or offers in connection with advertisements,
articles or other information displayed on our site. Please do your own due diligence when viewing our information.

Privacy PolicyTerms of UseDisclaimer

Copyright 2002-2019 • Boomer Women SpeakBoomerCo Inc. • All rights reserved