Christmas cookies: Cookies are part of Christmas - whether vanilla crescents, cinnamon stars or Springerle. But how healthy are the pastries and do they always have to be expensive ingredients?

What alternatives are there to sugar?

People in Germany consume around 35 kilos of sugar per year. In order to reduce this considerable number and, if possible, halve it, you can pay attention to the following, among other things > When baking, you can usually stick to the following rule of thumb:

20 percent sugar can be safely eliminated from almost all recipes. Furthermore, a quarter of the remaining sugar can be replaced.

Honey and pureed dried fruits, such as raisins and dates, are suitable sugar alternatives for natural sweetness. Coconut blossom sugar is ideal for speculoos or gingerbread because of its malty taste. However, significantly more coconut blossom sugar is needed to achieve the same sweetness.

Butter may contain mineral oil components

According to a current study by the magazine Öko-Test from December 2022, saturated mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOSH) or aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH) were found in numerous butter products. Possible sources for this are the packaging - although it is wax-coated, it does not completely prevent mineral oil residues in the butter - or residues from mechanical production.

Both substances are considered possibly carcinogenic.

Production of vanilla crescents

The vanilla crescent dough consists of flour, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla pulp, ground almonds and a pinch of salt.
The dough needs to be kneaded vigorously until it is smooth. Then it is formed into a roll and ends up in the fridge for 30 minutes so that it can be processed better later. The dough is cut into slices, which are then shaped into moons. They go into the oven for 15 minutes. After the baking time, the still warm vanilla crescents are rolled in vanilla sugar.

Making cinnamon stars

For the dough, mix the raw marzipan mixture with three egg whites, powdered sugar, sugar, cinnamon and ground almonds. Sprinkle the work surface with the remaining almonds to make the dough easier to roll. After cutting out the egg white icing goes on top. It consists of powdered sugar, lemon juice and egg white. The stars go into the oven for ten minutes.

Christmas cookies with tradition: Springerle with few ingredients

In the Dannemann family bakery in Kornwestheim, the traditional cookies have been baked for generations - according to an old recipe. The dough consists of three or a maximum of four ingredients: granulated sugar, eggs and type 550 wheat flour, explains baker Iris Dannemann.
Sugar and eggs are beaten into a light mixture. After ten minutes the dough is foamy. To prevent the egg foam mixture from collapsing, the flour must be stirred in by hand. The dough needs to chill for at least two hours.
After cooling, the dough is rolled out to about a centimeter thick. For the typical taste, she sprinkles the baking tray with aniseed. The shapes – so-called models – press the motifs into the dough.
Finally, the Springerle are cut out in a circular or rectangular shape. After that, they need to dry at room temperature for a day. They go into the oven at 180 degrees for around twelve to 13 minutes.

Source and author: SWR-Marktcheck / Stefanie Waldschmidt

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