We have a massive collection of Christmas Cookie recipes in Central Europe. Seriously, you would be surprised by the amount of different cookies our ancestors were able to create in time. From spiced Lebkuchen, to soft Coconut Cookies and Sugar Baiser, the choice is endless! Coming from a rich Christmas Cookie tradition, I am still surprised at time by new cookie discoveries. This is because many cookie types and variations are typical regional traditions but the Internet revolutionized everything and we get to discover new cookie recipe ideas and so it came that I stumbled upon a German cookie variation known as Bethmännchen.
Bethmännchen are sweetened marzipan based cookies decorated with 2 almond halves and finished with a bright appetizing layer of Egg yolk. The name Bethmännchen comes from the family of Bethmann and apparently these cookies originated in Frankfurt Germany. Once upon a time there was a city counselors wife and her 4 sons. She would make these Cookies and decorate 4 sides of the cookie with halved & peeled Almonds. One son diseased and from that day onwards she would only decorate 3 sides of the marzipan cookie and that is the way they are still decorated.
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Since we always make big amounts of different cookie variations just before Christmas, we end up a bit tight in time. In that case quick but great tasting cookies can save my pre Christmas preparations enormously. Bethmännchen are super easy to make if you have marzipan, honey and peeled almonds waiting for you in the kitchen. Raw marzipan can be commonly bought in stores in Europe but if that is not the case in your area then you always have the option to make your own easily at home and for that I will be sharing here a step by step guide on how to make homemade marzipan.
I hope you will enjoy the recipe as much as we do. You can’t go wrong with the preparation so if you have kids then this is a great fun activity to celebrate the merry time of the year. Even if the kids nibble the cookie dough before it is baked, it’s alright because marzipan can be safely eaten raw.
- 400 grams raw Marzipan
- 3 Tablespoons Honey
- 90 peeled Almond half's
- 2 Egg Yolks
- First peel your almonds by keeping them soaked in water over night or you prepare a small pot with boiling water and drop them into the boiling water for minimum 30 seconds or until you can see the skin is detaching from the nuts. Half your almonds and keep aside.
- Chop your Marzipan paste into smaller bits and add the honey. Mix it all well to a smooth dough.
- Form the dough into a smooth long and lean roll and cut off one inch pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and form them all into cone like shapes with 3 sides.
- Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius!
- Keep your almonds ready and the mixed egg yolks.
- Carefully push on each marzipan piece on all the three sides 3 halved almonds but so that the almond peaks are on top. Brush your Bethmännchen with the egg yolks.
- Bake for about 10-13 minutes in the oven or until the peak of the cookies are changing light brown.
- Let cool and store in a cool and dry place. In a cool climate store in a metal box + Apple skin to keep them moist. In a tropical climate store in a airtight container.
We have an amazing giveaway lined up this week thanks to our fabulous sponsors, KitchenAid, OXO, King Arthur Flour, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar. Four lucky winners will win one of the following:
Prize #1: 1 (one) KitchenAid 9-Speed Hand Mixer plus 1 (one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #2: 1 (one) OXO gift set including the following: 1 (one) 3-in-1 Egg Separator, 1(one) Cookie Press, 1(one) Autumn Cookie Disk Set, 1(one) 3 piece Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) Bowl Scraper, 1(one) 2 Cup Adjustable Measuring Cups
Prize #3: 1 (one) King Arthur Flour gift set including the following: 1(one) King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour -5lb bag, 1(one) Snowflake Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) King Arthur Flour Pure Vanilla Extract, 1(one) Sparkling Sugar Collection, 1(one) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Wafers – 16oz and 1(one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #4: 1 (one) Silpat Halfsize Mat and 1(one) 4lb bag Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
This giveaway is open to US residents from November 11, 2013 through November 16, 2013 11:59pm EST and will be picked from random draw. The winners will be notified via email and have 72 hours to respond, if not their prize is forfeited and another winner will be chosen.
How to Enter:
Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment with your favorite cookie to bake during the holidays or for cookie swaps.
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More cookie Recipes!
- Bethmännchen cookies by Masala Herb
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- Chocolate Cookie Thumbprints with Sweet Pepper Jelly by Omeletta
- Chocolate-Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies by i heart eating
- Earl Grey Icebox Cookies by Crumb
- Giant Ginger Cookies from Jen’s Favorite Cookies
- Simple Snowman Cookies from It’s Yummi!
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
- Homemade Thin Mints by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies by Like Mother Like Daughter
- Miso Sesame Cookies by NinjaBaking.com
- Peppermint Cream Thumbprint Cookies by Beyond Frosting
- Salted Caramel Stuffed Toffee Chip Cookies by The Cooking Actress
- Sandwich Cookies by Texana’s Kitchen
- Shortbread Christmas Mouse Cookies by Cravings of a Lunatic
The Bethmännchen cookie was mentioned at Copykat.com. Discover more cookie ideas!
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Cute cookies! I’m sure they are addictive.
Cheers,
Rosa
oooooh!!! such pretty little cookies!
These cookies are so cute!! I love the story behind them, even if it is a little bittersweet. I don’t work with marzipan very often, is it really pretty simple to make from scratch? (Did you say you had a recipe for it and I just missed it here?)
Didn’t know aobout this but it sounds so good and looks cute with almonds presed to the marzipaan like that, we hav esomething like this made with almonds but in balls and we call it potato 🙂 planning t do that for my blog in christmas time.
Great tip on how to peel almonds! And a great cookie. You really do come from a heritage of excellent cookies – we want more, more! 😉 (Kidding – you share quite a lot of cookie recipes.) Anyway, really like these – thanks.
These are such delicious and cute cookies, I could eat one batch in a second 😀
Cheers
CCU
My daughter is going to flip for these. She, and I, love marzipan!
G’day Helene, your cookies looks great, true!
Thank you for today allowing me to learn something new!
Cheers! Joanne
Helene, I love this idea! How easy to make and they look elegant on your plate!
I didn’t see the recipe for homemade Marzipan anywhere, as stated would be. Did I miss it?
no you didn’t. It will be live in the next days.
I liked this recipe so much, its so easy and so much tasty as well, thanks for sharing such a nice recipes.Nice photography,intresting.
Hi Helene, Those are cute cookies and are so easy to make. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Love it!
These look just perfect for popping straight in my mouth, Helene! I was just recently researching how to make homemade marzipan and it looks quite straightforward. I look forward to your instructions.
What interesting little cookies! I love marzipan and almonds so I bet these cookies would disappear very fast in house!
Lovely little cookies… the only problem… I would eat the whole plateful. 🙂
I’ve never heard of these before, but the recipe sounds delicious! And I love the story behind them.
These are very delicious!!! I baked a batch last year, but didn’t come out as good as yours.
These cookies are so cute! I have never heard of them before, very cool!
What a delicious cookie. I love marzipan and all things almonds, so I will definitely try these beauties!
These are so gorgeous Helene. I just love these cookies. Thanks so much for being such a great part of Cookie Week. xx
I absolutely adore marzipan esp niederegger. So these cookies are a must make for me.