It’s that time of year again where everyone (especially in Germany!) gets obsessed with baking Christmas biscuits!!! Today I’m sharing a recipe I came across recently, for a chocolatey version of “Engelsaugen” which translates to “Angel Eyes”. I suppose these biscuits with jam in the centre do resemble eyes… though I do still think it’s a strange name for them! Regardless, these “Engelsaugen”/”Angel Eye Biscuits” taste delicious and are definitely worth a try this Christmas!
Engelsaugen/Angel Eye Biscuits – Recipe Variations
These Engelsaugen are very easy to make and only require a few ingredients that can be amended according to your personal preference! The recipe below calls for ground almonds, but you can also use ground hazelnuts or walnuts (also very popular in Germany) for a slightly different flavour! These biscuits are also perfect for making gluten-free – simply use gluten-free flour instead of normal flour!
Finally, the jam filling can also be changed depending on what you like best. I love cherry jam and also enjoy the nut/chocolate/cherry combination, but other red jams such as raspberry or red currant jam would work really nicely, too! If possible, it is good to buy a smooth jam for this recipe, but you can always strain it through a sieve to remove any large bits of fruit or seeds, too!
More Christmas Biscuit Recipes
I love making Christmas biscuits, or “Plätzchen” as they call them in Germany. There are so many recipes I recommend you try, but I have listed some of my favourites below as a start! ENJOY, HAPPY BAKING, AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
- Vanilla Crescents | “Vanillekipferl”
- Traditional Scottish Shortbread Recipe
- Gingerbread Men
- Hazelnut Shortbread with Dark Chocolate “Haselnussbrot”
- Chocolate Orange Crescents | Schoko Orangen Kipferl
- Coconut Macarons | Kokosmakronen
- Spritzgebäck | German Piped Christmas Biscuits
- German “Baumkuchenspitzen” with Rum
- Salted Peanut and Apricot Florentines
- Christmas Light Cookies
- Coconut Star Christmas Biscuits
- German Schwarz-Weiß Gebäck | Checkerboard and Pinwheel Biscuits
- German Lebkuchen (Elisenlebkuchen) | Traditional German Gingerbread
Engelsaugen | Angel Eye Biscuits | German Christmas Recipe
Recipe
Ingredients (makes about 50):
- 100g ground almonds
- 50g dark chocolate, finely grated
- 150g plain flour (or gluten-free plain flour)
- 60g caster sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 medium egg
- 100g butter, softened
- cherry or raspberry jam (ideally seedless), for decorating
Method:
- Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat and gently toast the ground almonds until they smell fragrant. Move the almonds around the pan frequently to make sure they don’t burn.
- Next, finely grate the dark chocolate, using a small grater such as one may use for grating parmesan cheese.
- In a bowl, mix together the ground almonds, grated chocolate, flour, caster sugar, salt, softened butter and the egg until everything comes together in a smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for one hour.
- Line 2-3 baking trays with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
- Roll the chilled dough into small balls, about half the size of a golf ball. Place on the baking tray, press down gently to flatten a little, and then use the end of a wooden spoon to create a small well in the middle of the biscuits.
- Bake the Angel Eye biscuits in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Heat the jam in a small saucepan to warm it. If your jam has pieces of fruit or seeds in it, strain it through a sieve into a small bowl. Transfer the jam into a small piping bag or freezer bag, snip off the corner and use it to fill the well of each of the biscuits with the jam.
- Leave to cool until the jam has set then store in an airtight tin.
