I recently was back east to celebrate my brother’s wedding. It was an amazing weekend filled with family, friends, dancing, and so much partying! One of the things I loved getting to do, was catch up with my Oma and Opa. Growing up, we spent lots of time at their house in New Hampshire. Our trips up there usually included playing out on their large property, traipsing through the woods, swimming in the river, eating lots of delicious German food, and baking together. At one point my Oma owned a German bakery in Maine, Helga’s Bakery & Konditorei. Long after the bakery was gone, she still had the huge floor mixer and commercial pizza oven in the basement or as we called it, the bakery. We would bake brown bread with my Opa and bake everything from Stollen at Christmas to Strueselkuchen for a casual afternoon coffee in the summer with Oma.

Since moving away from New England, I have had to learn to make many of the German cakes and desserts I grew up with. While there are European bakeries and even specifically German bakeries near me in Denver, I find they are never quite as good as the treats I grew up enjoying and almost always far too sweet. I have many of my Oma’s hand written recipes and detailed notes on recipes we’ve made together but I always struggle to find new German recipes I like. So when I discovered “Classic German Baking” by Luisa Weiss I was thrilled! This book is filled with the recipes from my childhood, many more that I have tried in Germany, and some I’ve never heard of but every single one I’ve baked has been amazing!

I’m one of those people that loves to read a cookbook. I mean really read it and this cookbook is set up just for that. It starts with an introduction on writing the book and her process for testing recipes. Next, it walks through all the essential pantry ingredients you’ll need. Each recipe is accompanied by a story about either the history of the recipe, the recipe development, or a memory or association she has with the recipe. Finally, there is a section of basics that covers how to make some of the harder to find ingredients like Quark (a fresh cheese) and vanillezucker (vanilla sugar).

One of the recipes that I came across that I did not grow up baking was Mandelhörnchen. I had had them several times while visiting Germany and was excited to give them a shot. These are chewy, almond cookies dipped in chocolate. What’s not to like!? Another side benefit is they are naturally gluten free making them an excellent treat to share with the gluten free people in my life. With just five ingredients, these cookies come together easily!

Mandelhörnchen

From: Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 10 cookies

Ingredients

7 ounces/ 200 g almond paste

¼ cup/ 50 g granulated sugar

1 egg white

1 cup/ 85 g blanched sliced almonds

3 ½ ounces / 100 g bittersweet chocolate (minimum 50% cacao), chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut or tear the almond paste into small pieces or grate it on a box grater’s largest holes and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment. Add the sugar and egg white. Bat together until creamy and uniform, 1 to 2 minutes.

Slice the sliced almonds in wide, shallow bowl. Place a bowl of cold water nearby. Dip your hands in the cold water, and then take a piece (about one tenth) of almond dough and roll out evenly to 4 ½ inches/ 11 cm long. Place the log in the bowl of sliced almonds and turn to coat evenly all over. Place the log on the prepared baking sheet and form in into a crescent, Repeat with the remaining dough and almonds.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the almonds are toasted and the cookie dough is golden brown and gently puffed. Place the baking sheet on a rack to cool.
When the crescents are completely cool, melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler set over simmering water or in a microwave in short bursts, stirring after every few bursts. Brush the bottom of each cookie thinly with some of the melted chocolate and then dip the ends of each crescent about ¾ inch/ 2 cm into the melted chocolate if you wish. Place the cookies on he lined baking sheet, chocolate-side down, to set the chocolate, about 1 hour.

When the chocolate is fully set, transfer the cookies to an airtight container, where they will keep for up to 1 week.