Few things make me feel more like Christmas than brandy-soaked fruit, citrus peel and buttery dough rising slowly in a warm place. These Sourdough Stollen Bites combine everything I adore about traditional German Stollen with the gentle tang and incredible keeping quality of natural fermentation. If you love Christmas sourdough baking, this recipe is a beautiful place to start.
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Stollen With Sourdough Twist
Traditional Stollen, or Dresdner Stollen, dates back to the 15th century in the city of Dresden and has always been one of my favourite Christmas bakes (that, and a good panettone (HINT: my Sourdough Panettone). The classic sweet bread is rich with soaked fruits, citrus peel and a marzipan log tucked into the middle of the dough.
This version keeps everything people love about the original but shapes it into bite-sized squares for easier gifting, slicing and serving. The sourdough version uses a stiff sourdough starter rather than commercial yeast, which adds depth of flavour, improves the texture, and helps the stollen stay soft for a very long time. Stollen is famous for its longevity, and sourdough enhances that even further. Having said that, we like it best within the first 2 days of baking!
Christmas Sourdough ebook
Celebrate the holiday season with a unique twist this year with our 24 Christmas Sourdough recipes! Discover the magic of using active sourdough starter, sourdough discard, and leftover baked sourdough bread to create a memorable and flavoursome Christmas feast.
Fancy a different version of Stollen? Try our Sourdough Stollen Focaccia next time!
Ingredient Notes
- Sourdough starter. We start with a 100% hydration unfed starter to create a stiff starter (similar to lievito madre), which ferments slowly and develops sweeter, less acidic flavours.
- Strong bread flour. We use flour with at least 12% protein content in this recipe.
- Milk.
- Sugar.
- Dried Fruit. We used sultanas (or golden raisins), dried apricots and cranberries. Soak them in dark rum, brandy, spiced rum, cognac or even apple juice (or orange juice) for an alcohol-free option. Soaking adds moisture and prevents burnt, dry fruit.
- Mixed citrus peel. A mixture of candied lemon peel and orange peel adds classic stollen flavour.
- Butter. Essential for richness. A little extra is used for brushing after baking for that iconic sugar coating.
- Almonds (optional).
- Marzipan. Use good-quality white marzipan.
- Icing Sugar. Powdered sugar gives that unmistakable Christmas finish.
Find ingredient quantities, detailed instructions and nutritional information in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Why Use Stiffer Sourdough Levain?
A stiff starter behaves differently from a regular sourdough starter and is ideal for enriched sweet breads. Here's why:
- Lower acidity: A stiff levain ferments slowly across 8-12 hours, leading to a sweeter dough with far less tang. Traditional Stollen should never taste sour.
- Stronger gluten: The lower hydration allows the dough to develop strength, even with heavy add-ins like dried fruit and butter.
- Better structure: A stiff levain mimics the structure of lievito madre, widely used in Italian festive breads. It gives a soft dough without weakening it.
- Improved keeping quality: Stollen has a famously long shelf life. Fermentation with a stiffer starter extends freshness even further.
For enriched breads in the Christmas season, a stiff levain is the key to getting the perfect texture.
Step-By-Step Method
The Night Before
1. Mix your stiff levain: unfed starter, bread flour, milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Place in a bowl, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
2. Combine sultanas, apricots and cranberries in a shallow bowl. Pour over brandy or dark rum, mix, and let the fruit soak overnight.
The Next Morning
1. Add 300 g of the risen levain to a large mixing bowl. Add bread flour, caster sugar, warm milk and a pinch of salt. Mix until a firm dough forms (it will feel stiff at this stage).
2. Add the cubed room-temperature butter gradually, kneading until each addition fully incorporates. A stand mixer with a dough hook makes this step easier. The sourdough should just about pass the windowpane test at this stage, as we won't be stretching and folding the dough in this recipe.
3. Cover and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
4. Drain the soaked fruits well, squeezing out excess moisture.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Stretch into a rectangle and sprinkle with ¼ of the fruit, peel and almonds. Roll up, flatten, and repeat three more times to distribute the fruit evenly throughout the dough.
6. You may knead the dough to distribute the fruit further, if needed.
7. Shape the stollen dough into a ball, place in a clean large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or cling film, and leave in a warm place for 4-5 hours to finish bulk fermentation.
You may chill the dough overnight at this stage if needed.
Late Afternoon or Next Day
1. Line a 23×23 cm (9×9 inch) baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Divide the dough in half. Roll one half into a square the size of your baking tray and place it inside.
3. Arrange the marzipan sliced on top of the dough leaving no gaps in between.
5. Roll and place the second half of dough on top and pinch the sides of the dough firmly so the marzipan does not leak during baking.
Final Rise and Bake
1. Cover with cling film and allow a second rise for 3-5 hours until puffy (it takes a while as the yeast struggles through a relatively stiff stollen dough).
2. Preheat the oven to 170°C fan (190°C/375°F conventional).
3. Bake for 35-38 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.
4. Brush immediately with melted butter and cover with a generous layer of icing sugar.
5. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before slicing into bite-sized squares.
Recipe Tips
- Don't rush the levain. A properly matured stiff starter ensures beautiful flavour and excellent dough rise.
- Drain the fruit well. Excess moisture weakens enriched dough and prevents proper rise.
- Seal the marzipan thoroughly. Pinching the edges prevents sugary marzipan from leaking and burning at the corners of the pan.
- Watch the dough, not the clock. Rising times vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen. It takes hours of rising with stiffer dough, but it's worth it!
- Use good-quality marzipan. Lower-quality versions melt too quickly and lose shape.
- Dust generously with icing sugar. This gives the signature stollen look and protects the exterior from drying out.
Storage
Sourdough Stollen Bites keep extremely well:
- Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week. They keep better uncut.
- To freeze, wrap portions in plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Avoid refrigerating, as it dries out the dough.
More Christmas Sourdough Recipes
If you love festive baking, you'll find plenty more inspiration in my Christmas sourdough collection. I'll link to my favourite festive sourdough recipes below, including my original Sourdough Stollen recipe.
Sourdough Stollen Bites
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Fitted With A Dough Hook Attchment
- 23x23cm Baking Tray, ideally high-rimmed
Ingredients
For Sourdough Levain:
- 125 g sourdough starter
- 125 g strong bread flour
- 60 ml milk
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
Brandy Soaked Fruit
- 50 ml brandy or spiced rum or cognac
- 70 g sultanas or raisins
- 70 g dried apricots roughly chopped
- 30 g dried cranberries
For Stollen Bread:
- 300 g stiff sourdough levain from yesterday
- 125 g strong bread flour
- 20 g caster sugar
- 75 g butter plus a little extra for brushing
- 45 ml milk
- drained soaked fruit from yesterday
- 30 g mixed cut peel
- 20 g almonds roughly chopped
- 250 g white marzipan thinly sliced
For the Top:
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 tablespoon icing sugar a.k.a. powdered sugar
Instructions
The Night Before:
- Make a stiff levain by mixing your unfed starter with flour, milk and sugar. Place it in a semi-covered bowl and leave to rise overnight (8-12 hours) at room temperature.
- Pour brandy over your sultanas, dried apricots and dried cranberries in a shallow bowl and mix to coat. Leave to soak overnight.
The Next Morning:
- Your starter should have doubled in size. Place it in a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, milk and a pinch of salt. Mix together into a cohesive dough. It will be very firm, but don't worry. It will change once we add butter and fruit.
- Cut room temperature butter into cubes. One piece at a time, slowly work the butter into the dough, kneading it until butter is fully incorporated. The sourdough should just about pass the windowpane test at this stage, as we won't be stretching and folding the dough in this recipe. Then pop the dough back into the bowl. Cover and leave to rest for an hour.
- In the meantime, finely chop blanched almonds and weigh out the mixed peel. Drain the dried fruit and squeeze out excess brandy.
- Get the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Stretch it out into a rough rectangle and sprinkle ¼ of your dried fruit, ¼ of the peel and ¼ of almonds onto it. Roll it up and flatten again into a rectangle. Sprinkle with fruit, peel and nuts again. Roll it again, but in the opposite direction to last time. Repeat twice more. This will make sure the fruit is evenly distributed in your dough.
- Then shape into a tight ball and place into a large clean bowl pr proofing container. Cover and leave it in a warm spot rise for 4-6 hours, or until doubled in size (it will take a while - the yeast struggles through a relatively stiff sourdough dough).
You may chill the dough in the fridge overnight or move on to the next steps now.
- Line a 23x23cm baking tray with parchment paper.
- Once doubled, scoop the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and divide it into two even pieces (if you kept the dough in the fridge overnight, allow it to warm to room temperature again - cold dough will tear easily when rolled)
- Roll one half into the size of your baking dish (23x23cm) and place it into the prepared baking tray.
- Arrange the marzipan slices on top of the dough.
- Roll out the other half of the dough into a 23x23cm square and place it on top of the marzipan. Pinch the sides of the dough around the edge together to avoid marzipan leaking out in the oven.
- Cover the stollen with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and leave to rise again for 3-5 hours until just about doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan. Place your Sourdough Stollen in the centre of the oven and bake for 35-38 minutes.
- When cooked through, take it out of the oven and immediately brush with melted butter. Sift 2 tbsps of icing sugar all over the top and sides and leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Nutrition
Nicole says
I love these old-fashioned flavors and textures. The fruit works so well with the sourdough.
Jet says
These look absolutely delicious! I love the sourdough twist on classic stollen, and the flavours sound so festive. Can’t wait to try them!
Ben says
These were so good! I loved the tang of the sourdough with the sweetness of the brandy fruit.
Ieva Greber says
Thank you! So glad you liked them 🙂
Joyce says
Having a german heritage- these were so neat to make! The family loved them!
Ieva Greber says
So glad to hear! 🙂