“Spritzgebäck” for Christmas | German Baking Classics

Spritzgebäck is another type of the very typical German Christmas biscuits, called “Plätzchen” in German. It´s a light, crumbly biscuit which is piped, baked and dipped in melted dark chocolate! Can´t go wrong with that in my opinion!

As you might have gathered from my recent posts, I am very much in the Christmas biscuit baking spirit at the moment! Whilst I am obviously a fan of traditional Iced Biscuits or Gingerbread Men, I really love the variety of the German “Plätzchen”.
“Spritzgebäck” is another one of these classics and is made in a variety of different ways.

“Spritzgebäck” roughly translates to “Piped Baked Goods” or “Piped Biscuits” in English.

Most traditionally, you put the dough through a meatgrinder to create the Spritzgebäck´s authentic shape! However, as most people don’t have a meatgrinder in their kitchen, it´s often just made using a piping bag with a star nozzle. And that´s exactly what I do!

How do you make Spritzgebäck?

This biscuit recipe is similar to how you would make a Viennese Whirl. It´s quite buttery and smooth, unlike other biscuit recipes you might now. You need it to be of a “pipeable” consistency – trust me, piping rock-hard mixture it is no fun and won´t work – so make sure your butter is quite soft or you use spreadable baking butter or margarine.

To give the “Spritzgebäck” a little more flavour, I add a bit of lemon zest to my biscuit mix.
For decorating, I melt some dark chocolate and dip half of the biscuit into it, before decorating with sprinkles. You could also use milk chocolate if you prefer. Read my post on How to : Master Chocolate to read more about how best to melt your chocolate!
The biscuits can then be stored in a biscuit tin for 1-2 weeks (if they even last that long!😅).

For more Christmas biscuits, why not also make these Chocolate Orange Crescents, Vanilla Crescents or Gingerbread Men. Or give this Marzipan Stollen or Chocolate Pavlova with a Bailey´s Cream Filling a try.

“Spritzgebäck” for Christmas | German Baking Classics

Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 30):

FOR THE BISCUITS:

• 200g soft butter or margarine
• 100g icing sugar
• 2 sachets (16g) vanilla sugar (alternatively caster sugar)
• 3 eggs, yolks only
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 300g plain flour

FOR DECORATING:

• 250g dark chocolate (or milk chocolate, if you prefer)
• Sprinkles, chopped nuts (optional)

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

• 1 large, sturdy piping bag
• Star nozzle
• Baking sheets lined with baking paper

Method:

1. Line 2-3 large baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until soft and fluffy, either with a wooden spoon or an electric whisk.
3. Gradually add a little bit of sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon juice and zest and egg yolks (1 yolk at a time), beating well between each addition. Pour in the flour and mix briefly until well combined.
4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheets in whatever shapes you like. I like to make “squiggly” lines, but you could also pipe straight biscuits, S-shapes, bows, etc.
5. It is important to chill the biscuits for a few minutes before baking, so that they keep their shape. Do this whilst you are waiting for the oven to preheat to 180°C/160°C fan.
   You can put the trays in the fridge, or if it is as cold at this time of year where you are as where I am, just put the trays outside.
6. Bake the “Spritzgebäck” biscuits in the preheated oven for about 11 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To decorate, gently melt the dark chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of steaming water (bain-marie). See my tips for melting chocolate in one of my recent posts: How to : Mastering Chocolate – Baking Basics #2.
8. Dip half of the biscuit into the chocolate and lay the biscuit on a piece of non-stick baking paper. Decorate with sprinkles or chopped nuts and leave the biscuits until the chocolate has fully set before peeling off the baking paper.
9. Store the “Spritzgebäck” biscuits in an airtight container or biscuit tin for 1-2 weeks.