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Christmas Chocolate Raisin Stollen Bread

food
5
food
115 mins
bread
side dish
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by Natasha
Published on 09 December 2022
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The holidays are the time to eat and indulge in some delicious foods from all around the world. In America, you might eat some gingerbread cookies, in the United Kingdom, you might eat some fruit cake, and in Germany, you might come across a lot of stollen during this time of year.

THE ORIGIN OF STOLLEN

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas bread that’s usually filled with dried/candied fruits and coated with powdered sugar. They taste relatively sweeter than the average bread but not as sweet as a real cake. The dried fruits inside also gives chew and bursts of flavour.

The name stollen refers to the shape of the bread that’s similar to stone. This bread became popular around Christmas time for the first time during the 1400s as one of the foods that were sold at a Christmas market.

CHOCOLATE RAISIN STOLLEN

Even though the original stollen flavour is pretty popular, I believe the chocolate version is just as delicious. The dark cocoa powder balances out the sweetness from the raisins and the powdered sugar on top. Not to mention that the base of this bread is originally sweet already, by adding cocoa powder into the mix, it won’t taste too sweet.

This chocolate raisins stollen recipe is great for those who don’t have a huge sweet tooth, like me. I also think this chocolate stollen is great for gift giving! Some of you might get tired of giving out cookies or cakes every year, but this Stollen recipe is perfect for you to give out to your loved ones. For once, they’ll be able to try something new yet authentic.

HOW TO ENJOY STOLLEN

Since stollens are usually in a loaf size, meaning it’s pretty big, you can slice them up and add butter, jam or honey on the side. It’s a delicious light dish to have rather than the overly heavy sweet snacks you usually get. It’s also a great way to gift someone for Christmas! That’s because the powdered sugar on top is highly reminiscent of the Snowy German mountain!

So go and make some for your friends and family to enjoy!

Some tips that might be useful:

  • You can choose to make it into the original flavour, just substitute the amount of cocoa powder with some flour.
  • You can use other types of mixed fruit but raisins are the easiest to find which is why I chose that.
  • Serve with some butter, jam or honey on the side.

Some terms you might need to know:

Christmas Chocolate Raisin Stollen Bread

by Natasha
servings
4 people
prep time
90 mins
dish type
Bread
cook time
25 mins
course
Side dish
total time
115 mins

ingredients

  • for the stollen dough - Bowl A

    • 80 gramall-purpose flour
    • 1.5 tspyeast
    • 2.5 tspcastor sugar
    • 33 grambeaten egg
    • 55 mlwarm water

  • for the stollen dough - Bowl B

    • 80 gramall-purpose flour
    • 20 gramcocoa powder
    • 0.3 tspsalt
    • 35 gramunsalted butter(in room temperature)

  • for extras

    • 100 gramraisins(for filling)
    • 5 gramunsalted butter(as needed, for brushing bowl)
    • 10 gramflour (as needed, for dusting)
    • 10 grampowdered sugar(as needed, for topping)

instructions

Make the stollen dough

  1. To make bowl A, combine all-purpose flour, yeast, and castor sugar.
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  2. To make bowl B, in another bowl, add all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and unsalted butter.
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  3. In bowl A, pour warm water on top of the yeast. Then add the beaten egg and mix everything together with a spatula until a wet dough forms.
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  4. Now add bowl B to the Bowl A of the wet dough and mix again with a spatula until a dough starts to form.
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  5. Place the dough to a work surface and knead the dough until it’s smooth.
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  6. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin and add the raisins and spread it all over the flat dough.
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  7. Roll the dough inwards and roll it sideways into itself.
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  8. Knead the dough once again until all the raisins are evenly spread throughout the dough. Shape into a ball.
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  9. Grease a bowl with some unsalted butter
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  10. Place the dough into the greased bowl. Cover the top of the bowl with cling wrap and let it rest for 35 mins.
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  11. Degas the dough by lightly punching the dough.
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  12. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap the top with cling wrap and let it rest on the counter for 15 mins.
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  13. Dust a work surface with some flour and dust the dough with some flour. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until about a 24x20cm rectangle.
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  14. Shape the dough by folding the long end inwards about 4 cm. Then roll the 20cm side into itself until it forms a log. Pinch the ends to seal it.
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  15. Place a baking paper/mat onto a baking pan and transfer the dough to it. Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 25 mins.
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  16. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
  17. Bake for about 25 mins. or until hollow when the stollen is tapped on the top.
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  18. While still hot from the oven, generously dust with powdered sugar until the surface of the top is fully covered.
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  19. Let it cool for 15 mins. before serving and slice it to enjoy!
bread
side dish
chocolate
bread
stollen
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Natasha
Bake it till you make it!