Clementine Stollen Cookies
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These cookies are Roxanne Lecrivain’s mini version of stollen, the traditional German Christmas bread studded with dried and candied fruit and filled with marzipan. Stollen’s “not hard if you follow the steps,” she says. “You put everything in the mixer. Or you can do it by hand. It’s instant yeast, so you just put it all together — warm ingredients so the flour doesn’t seize up. The fact that [the ingredients] are at room temperature means it blends well together.”
Her California touch is candied citrus made with clementines from a neighbor’s tree.
The winning cookies from the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off include sweet potato whoopie pies, mini versions of the Christmas bread stollen, orange-flecked frosted ones, cookie bark, cream wafers, spiced molasses cookies and more.
Make the candied clementine segments and peel: With a peeler, peel the clementines; aim to get just the peel and avoid peeling too much pith with it. Remove and discard the remaining pith from the clementine by hand. Separate the segments.
To remove bitterness from the peels, put the the peel (not the segments) in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; simmer the peels for 15 minutes, then drain the water.
Add the clementine segments, sugar and about 4 cups of fresh water to the same pot with the peels. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer until the segments are translucent, at least 1 hour.
Remove the candied clementine segments and peel to a baking sheet lined with a rack and either discard or store the syrup for future use (delicious to sweeten tea!). Let the candied clementine dry for 24 hours if you can, or you can use it immediately. Store extra in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator.
Make the marzipan: Mix the powdered sugar, egg white, almond flour, salt, almond extract or orange blossom water, and rum, if using, with a stand mixer or in a mixing bowl by hand until well incorporated. Taste as you go (depending on the extract you use, you might want to add more). You can keep your extra marzipan, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator to use within a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Make the rum-soaked fruit: The night before or at least an hour before baking, soak the dried and candied fruit. Cut the dried fruit in rough pieces (not too small, so you keep the texture). Warm up the rum for 30 seconds in the microwave, then stir in the spices. In a bowl, mix the chopped dried fruit and rum. Cover and let rest overnight. If you’re using it the same day: You also can heat up the mixture for 40 seconds in the microwave, mix again, cover and let rest for at least an hour.
Make the dough for the cookies: In a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a standing mixer, mix together the flour, sugar and yeast, then add the milk, butter, egg, zest and vanilla. Knead in the stand mixer with the dough hook or by hand for at least 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and holds together. Lightly oil another bowl. Form a ball with the dough and let the dough proof in the oiled bowl, covered, until it about doubles in size, at least 30 minutes (up to 45 minutes if it’s a cold day).
Strain the soaked fruit in a colander (if your fruit is well soaked and does not drain much, note that the cookies may need a little more baking time). You should have about 230 grams (1 1/4 cups). Add the soaked fruit and chopped pecans to the dough. Knead again until it forms a cohesive mass with well distributed fruit and nuts (a few pieces of fruit might fall off from the dough a bit, but that’s normal), about 3 to 5 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes covered.
Prepare the marzipan balls: Cut and weigh 22 pieces of marzipan of 6 grams each. Shape each piece into a small ball and set aside.
Shape and bake the cookies: Weigh your dough and divide it into 22 pieces; each piece should be about 49 grams per cookie. Put a 6-gram ball of marzipan inside each cookie and close a ball of dough around it. Set each cookie on its seam on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rest for about 30 minutes in a large plastic bag, making sure the top of the bag does not touch the cookies.
Heat the oven to 310 degrees. Decrease the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake the cookies until very lightly golden and dry to the touch, 30 minutes. Transfer right away to a rack (use a dish towel not to burn your finger tips) and cool for 10 minutes.
Dip the cookies: Put a third of the powdered sugar in a wide shallow bowl. Dip each cookie in the melted butter, or brush them with the melted butter. Then roll the cookies in the powdered sugar, making sure all sides of the cookies are coated. When the powdered sugar is too sticky with butter, discard and add more sugar to the bowl. When all cookies have been dipped, roll them again in a second coating of sugar only. Decorate each with a slice of candied clementine. The cookies are best enjoyed the next day and will stay good, still tasting fresh, for multiple days (if they last that long)! Happy holidays!
