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Small sourdough stollen bites on a decorative wooden board.

Sourdough Stollen Bites

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.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
18 hours
Total Time 19 hours 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Christmas, German, Sourdough
Servings 64 stollen bites
Calories 60 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

For Sourdough Levain:

  • 125 g sourdough starter
  • 125 g strong bread flour
  • 60 ml milk
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar

Brandy Soaked Fruit

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

Calories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 1gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.05gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 12mgPotassium: 41mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 78IUVitamin C: 0.05mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 0.2mg
Keyword Sourdough Marzipan Bites, Sourdough Stollen, Sourdough Stollen Bites
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