German Poppy Seed Marzipan Cookies (Spritzgebäck)
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Deutsch (German)
These pretty German marzipan cookies consist of a poppy seed shortbread cookie and a piped marzipan cookie sandwiched together with spiked jam! A German Christmas cookie recipe to impress everyone with!
These jam-filled Poppy Seed Marzipan Cookies are a traditional German Christmas Cookie recipe that you will LOVE!
As you might know, I am a Kraut and lived in Germany until my early twenties. While I am super comfortable splitting my year between Canada and Mexico these days, I get serious pangs of homesickness come Christmas.
This is the time where every German young or old, dons an apron and spends their weekends in the kitchen to bake Christmas cookies. Some are group bakers, some like to fend for themselves. We start in November and power through a schedule of at least 3 kinds per weekend.
Some even start earlier because certain kinds of Christmas treats need to rest. These marzipan cookies being one of those.
Why all that work?
Because come the first of advent, you gotta have that cookie plate ready to present to friends and family when they stop by Sunday afternoon. And there’d better be at least 10 different cookies on display for granny not to take out her store-bought gingerbread hearts.
A German Christmas cookie platter is a showcase of textures, colors, and flavors. It is also common to present gifts of homemade Christmas cookies to colleagues, friends, and family.
German Christmas baking does not have to be complicated!
Now, admittedly, German Christmas baking can be a bit fiddly. There can be a lot of steps and often there are several cookie doughs used for just one cookie. But the payoff is worth it.
I am not a very patient person and also have a pretty busy life, so I tend to choose recipes that deliver the best flavor with minimum effort. These German poppy seed marzipan cookies are one of those recipes.
Why these German marzipan cookies need to be part of your holiday baking plans:
These German poppy seed marzipan cookies are made up of two parts. A tender butter almond and poppy seed shortbread cookie as the base and delicate piped marzipan cookies.
Both parts are sandwiched together with a generous dollop of jam to hold them together.
The jam can be plum, strawberry or raspberry and we stir some rum into in to make it more spreadable. The rum not only adds a touch of festivity but also serves as a tenderizer, making the marzipan cookies softer with time.
How to make German Poppy Seed Marzipan Cookies:
As poppy seeds come as whole seeds on this side of the ocean, you want to grind them first. You can use a food processor or a coffee mill.
You can actually start this German Christmas cookie recipe way ahead of time by making the almond poppy seed shortbread dough. Stored in the fridge, the cookie dough keeps for many days.
I make the marzipan cookie dough using the creaming method, which means your butter should be thoroughly softened.
The top and bottom layer both have marzipan and poppy seeds. The piped cookie top has a higher content of butter and marzipan, making it softer and pipeable. This batter needs to be piped right away while it is still soft.
Tips for the ultimate poppy seed marzipan cookie:
- Make sure your butter and eggs are room temperature.
- Each brand of almond essence has a different strength. You don’t want to overpower the marzipan flavor, just help to boost it, so err on the side of caution.
- To get the perfect piped look for your top halves, I recommend freezing the cookie trays with the piped marzipan cookies for 8 minutes before baking.
- Make sure to bake them only for a short time. Consider rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time to prevent the ones at the back of the oven from overbaking.
- These poppy seed marzipan cookies get better with time as the jam makes them extra tender. They are best about 1 to 2 weeks after baking.
Make your own German Christmas Cookie collection and give them away as holiday gifts!
Here are my favorite German Christmas Cookie recipes:
Stuffed German Hazelnut Cookies
German Honey Gingerbread Bunnies
★ Did you make and love this German marzipan cookie recipe? Give it your review below! And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
German Poppy Seed Marzipan Cookies with Jam Filling
These pretty German marzipan cookies consist of a poppy seed shortbread cookie and a piped marzipan cookie sandwiched together with spiked jam! A German Christmas cookie recipe to impress everyone with!
Ingredients
- 150 g marzipan 2/3 cups
- 350 g softened butter 1 1/2 cups
- 155 g powdered sugar 1 1/4 cups
- 1 pinch salt
- 12 drops almond essence strength depends on brand - use to taste
- 2 eggs
- 500 g flour 4 cups
- 50 g cornstarch 4 tbsps
- 150 g poppy seeds 1 cup finely ground
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 -2 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp rum optional
- 200 g jam 1 jar - your favorite
Instructions
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Choose a round cookie cutter, that you want to use for the shortbread base. Lay it onto a big piece of parchment paper and use it as a template to draw little circles onto the paper. These will be your guide when piping the upper part of the cookie, which needs to be the same size as the shortbread!
For the poppy seed shortbread base
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Grate the marzipan. Measure out 150 butter ( 10 tbsps) and 50 g marzipan and beat in your stand mixer for about 3 minutes, adding 75 g (3/4 cup) icing sugar bit by bit along with salt and half of the almond essence. Let the mixer whip everything for 2 minutes longer.
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Mix 200 g flour ( 1 1/4 cup) with 50 g ( 3 tbsps) each of cornstarch and ground poppy seeds. Add an egg to the butter mixture and beat to combine, then add the dry flour poppy seed mix and beat to combine.
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Dump the batter onto a layer of cling film. Cover with another layer of cling film and shape into a disk. Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours. This dough can be made 2 days in advance.
For the piped upper part
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In the meantime, make the upper part of the cookie. Preheat the oven to 190 C (375F). Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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Beat 200 g (about 1 cup)softened butter with leftover marzipan for a couple of minutes. Continue to beat while adding 80 g powdered sugar, another pinch of salt and the leftover almond essence as well as vanilla. Beat in an egg.
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Mix 300 g flour ( 2 1/2 cup) with 100 g (3/4 cup) ground poppy seeds and add to the batter together with milk and 1 tbsp of rum. Beat until a smooth paste forms.
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Fill this paste into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe little circles onto the parchment paper you have prepared earlier (see step 1). To prevent the parchment paper from moving, I "glue" each corner to the baking tray with small amounts of cookie dough.
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Bake for 10 minutes. They should not really brown much. It helps to put each tray with piped cookie rings into the freezer for about 8 minutes. That way, they keep their shape better! In the meantime, pipe the next tray and freeze it once the first tray goes into the oven.
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Let cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 175 C (350F). Now roll out the rested poppy seed dough (until about 3 mm)and cut out rounds using the cookie cutter you used to draw the outlines of the piped cookie.
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Place on lined cookie trays and bake for 8 minutes. Again, they should not brown too much.
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Let cookies cool and whisk jam with rum. Now sandwich together by spreading a dollop of jam, about 1/2 tsp, onto the middle of each shortbread base. Top with the piped cookie part and press together gently!
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Store in a cookie tin in a cool place.
Recipe Notes
Make sure your butter and eggs are room temperature.
Each brand of almond essence has a different strength. You don't want to overpower the marzipan flavor, just help to boost it, so err on the side of caution.
To get the perfect piped look for your top halves, I recommend freezing the cookie trays with the piped marzipan cookies for 8 minutes before baking.
These poppy seed marzipan cookies get better with time as the jam makes them extra tender. They are best about 1 to 2 weeks after baking.
Soo, ich glaube, jetzt hast du mir endgültig den Mund wässrig gemacht, denn Plätzchen mit Schuss sind ja wohl eh das beste, oder? Ich glaub die back ich meinem Mann heute als Überraschung. Bericht folgt 😀
Hui, in meinem Post stand heute morgen aus Versehen auch noch 12 Tage bis Heiligabend, dabei sind es mittlerweile nur noch 10 klitzekleine Tage. Ich verzieh mich dann mal in die Küche um noch ein paar weihnachtliche Köstlichkeiten zu zaubern. Aber nicht, ohne mir vorher ein paar deiner superschmackofatzigen Marzipan-Kringelchen zu klauen. Leeecker <3
Liebste Grüße, Mia
Hallo Kiki!
So ich habe es getan und nicht eine Sekunde bereut. Ich hab zwar kein Händchen für Spritzgebäck (ich habs versucht…) aber die Spitzbuben die bei mir aus dem festeren Teig geworden sind, sind schon der Hammer mit Mohn und Marzipan… Danke für das tolle Rezept. Weil es so wahnsinnig toll ist, habe ich es spontan in meinen Adventskalender aufgenommen (hab dich natürlich verlinkt).
https://daskocherl.blogspot.de/2014/12/turchen-nummer-21-die-fantastischen.html
Ich wünsch dir einen tollen 4. Advent!
GLG Julia
Halloo liebe Cookie-Kiki!!
Ich mal wieder 😉
Also, Marzipan ist ja eigentlich so garnicht meins… Schnapsdrossel aber schon! Aber der Mohn… meine liebe, der Mohn ist der Grund warum ich mir diese Plätzchen speichere und ausprobieren werde. I love it! Mohn finde ich so prickelnd, dass ich über die anti-prickelnden schwarzen Punkte in allen erdenklichen Zahnritzen hinwegsehe! Hab letzte Woche für den Geburtstag meiner Mum einen Apfel-Mohn-Käsekuchen mit Streuseln gebacken, hmm 🙂 Übrigens von hier, neben dir einer meiner Lieeblings-Foodblogs: https://mal-kurz-in-der-kueche.blogspot.de/2014/12/die-lisa-kuchenflusterin-uber-die-suen.html
Liebe Grüße und wundervolle Weihnachten für dich <3
Kathi
My grandmother is from Germany and I have wonderful memories of her making these as a kid. I’ll be sure to try the recipe so I can bring those memories to life!
My grandmom would make something similar. I personally have very little experience with poppy seed baking. This sounds so wonderful
These look so professional!!! What a great addition to the Christmas cookie table!
And I love the splash of rum!
These cookies look amazing! They sound so perfect for a holiday cookie tray!
These cookies are positively beautiful. Definitely something to bring to a gathering or cookie exchange! The poppy seed with the sweet marzipan and the spiked jam filling is such a treat!
These cookies look and sound amazing, what a lovely tradition! I could easily spend every weekend baking if the result was these cookies.
I’m from a German family, but they honestly didn’t pass down too many German recipes. I’m going to add this to my recipe box and give it a shot – maybe it’ll be a new tradition!
The piping lines on these cookies are gorgeous! They would make a seriously stunning homemade gift!
These cookies are just beautiful! I’m a huge fan of almond flavoring so I know I would love these cookies!
These cookies would make a great addition to our Christmas cookie platters.
I have never heard of these cookies before. However, they sound delicious! I will be pinning for later.
Holiday baking season is upon us. It’s time to add new and delicious cookies to our baking list. These top that list and will be getting made soon.
I grew up eating German Marzipan Candies and chocolates (they are pretty popular in Russia:). Great to know that now i can make marzipan cookies myself.