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German Pastry Chef, home

Pastries and Cookies

Florentine Wreath Cookies

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Piped spritz cookie wreaths with a golden caramelized almond center

4.9 (8)out of 5, 8 ratings

Prep
10 min
Bake
30 min
Total
40 min
Makes
20

🌟 A warm welcome to my baking kitchen, dear baking friends! 🌟

I'm Kuchenfee Lisa, and today I'm taking you into the magical world of Christmas baking. With more than 10 years of experience as a pastry chef, I've brought you a very special cookie recipe today, perfect for the festive season!

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Together we're making spritz cookies with a caramelized nut filling. This recipe isn't just delicious, it's also simple and super quick to make. You're going to love it!

We use the spritz dough right away, without chilling it first. The dough is piped into a tempting little wreath and the center is filled with a heavenly nut filling. It tastes like Florentines or the crunchy topping of a Bee Sting Cake: a lovely touch for your Christmas table.

If you're looking for baking ideas that are easy but impressive, you've come to the right place. Let's dive into the world of baking together and create some magical treats for the holiday season!

Don't forget to share the recipe with your baking friends. Everyone is welcome in my kitchen, so grab your aprons and let's get started!

Let's bake together and enjoy the magic of Christmas baking! 🎄✨

Ingredients

Makes 20

Cookies

  • 1large egg
  • 1 stick110 gunsalted buttersoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter (European-style unsalted butter is closest); in the UK, unsalted butter.
  • ½ cup60 gpowdered sugarVery finely ground sugar for icings and dusting. In the US: powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar); in the UK: icing sugar.
  • 2 tspvanilla sugar1 packet = 2 tsp (8 g). Sugar flavored with vanillin (artificial vanilla), sold in small packets of about 8 g. In the US use 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar for each 8 g packet; in the UK, vanilla sugar sachets, or 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar per sachet.
  • 1 pinchsalt
  • 1 â…“ cups170 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • 1 pinchbaking powderGerman baking powder is sold in 15 g packets, each meant for about 500 g (4 cups) of flour. In the US and UK use regular baking powder (1 tbsp plus ¾ tsp per 15 g packet).

Almond caramel filling

  • 1 ½ tbsp20 gunsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp35 ggranulated sugar
  • 2 ½ tsp12 gmilk
  • 1 ½ tsp10 ghoney
  • ¼ cup35 galmondschopped

Method

Almond caramel filling

  1. Bring the butter, sugar, milk and honey to a boil, stirring regularly. Let everything boil for 2 minutes.

  2. After 2 minutes, take the pan off the heat and stir in the almonds.

  3. Let the mixture cool until it's lukewarm and you can portion it with your fingers.

Spritz dough

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) convection (fan).

  2. Mix the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until everything is creamy.

  3. Work in the egg.

  4. Work in the flour and baking powder until everything comes together.

  5. Spoon the dough into a piping bag and pipe wreaths onto a large baking sheet (about 16 × 14 inches / 40 × 35 cm) lined with parchment paper. A US half sheet pan (18 × 13 inches) works too.

  6. Shape the cooled almond caramel into small balls and place them in the center of each wreath.

  7. Bake until the cookie part is golden. The time varies; as a rough guide it should take 10 to 15 minutes, but with delicate cookies like these you always bake by eye.

    After baking, let the cookies cool completely before you take them off the baking sheet.