Berliner Brot is a dark, chewy German Christmas cookie made from a cocoa, honey and cinnamon dough packed with whole hazelnuts, baked in one thin slab and cut into bars while warm. A thin sugar glaze brushed on straight from the oven gives each bar a shiny top, and the bars mellow and soften in a tin over a few days. Makes 90 pieces in about 1 hr 15 min.
Prep20 min
Cook25 min
Cooling30 min
Total
1 hr 15 min
Yield
90 pieces
Ingredients
Adjust yield
pieces
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with a rack in the middle.
Beat the eggs and granulated sugar with a mixer until thick and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the honey, melted unsalted butter and whole milk.
Whisk the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice, baking powder and salt together. Stir them into the egg mixture with the grated bittersweet chocolate, then fold in the whole hazelnuts. The dough will be thick and sticky.
Spread the dough evenly into the parchment-lined half-sheet pan with a wet offset spatula, pushing it into the corners, about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.
Bake until the slab is set, the top looks dry and the center springs back lightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.
While it bakes, stir the powdered sugar and water into a thin, smooth glaze. Brush it evenly over the hot slab as soon as it comes out of the oven.
While still warm, cut the slab into 1 x 2 1/2-inch (2.5 x 6 cm) bars with a large sharp knife, cutting straight through the hazelnuts. Cool completely in the pan, about 30 minutes, then recut along the lines and separate the bars.
Tips
Cut while warm; once cold the slab turns firm and the whole hazelnuts make clean cuts hard.
Toast the hazelnuts at 350°F (175°C) for 8 minutes beforehand for a deeper flavor.
The bars are firm at first and soften to a pleasant chew after 2 or 3 days in a closed tin.
Good with black coffee.
Made this?
Log it to keep your bakes, ratings and notes together in My Kitchen.
How long does it take to make berliner brot (german hazelnut spice bars)?
Plan on 20 minutes of prep and 25 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 90 pieces.
How should I store berliner brot (german hazelnut spice bars)?
Store in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 4 weeks.
Can I make berliner brot (german hazelnut spice bars) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Despite its name, Berliner Brot is usually traced to the Bergisches Land near Cologne rather than Berlin; it is a dark spiced Christmas dough with whole nuts baked as a slab and cut into bars. Serve it with black coffee.
Variations
Bite-size: cut the slab into 1-inch (2.5 cm) squares for about 200 pieces.
Rum glaze: make the glaze with 30 ml (2 tbsp) dark rum instead of water.
Almond Berliner Brot: use 200 g (1 1/3 cups) whole unblanched almonds instead of the hazelnuts; bake time unchanged.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 90 servings this recipe makes.
52Calories / serving
2.0gFat
8.1gCarbs
0.9gProtein
5.1gSugar
Whole recipe (90 servings):
~4680 cal ·
180g fat ·
729g carbs ·
81g protein ·
459g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
Recipe Rating
0 commentsNo comments yet — be the first to share how this turned out for you.
Leave a comment