Inga’s Favorite Recipe: “Schneehörnchen” (Snow Horns)
Inga Bowyer, founder and owner of Germandeli.com, shared her favorite Christmas cookie recipe with German World:
Ingredients for Dough: 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast, 2 tsp. vanilla sugar, 2 tbsp. warm water, 2 cups unbleached flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup butter, 2 yolks from large eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, Powdered confectioner’s sugar (liberal amounts to roll out dough)
Preperation: Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla sugar to the warm water in a small bowl. Add the yeast in the warm water and stir briefly. Allow mixture to sit while you combine the remaining vanilla sugar to the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the butter, egg yolks, sour cream, vanilla extract and the yeast mixture. Starting in the center, gradually work the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Don’t overwork the dough. Allow dough to sit in a cool place. Roll the dough.
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Ingredients for Meringue Filling: 4 egg whites from large eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cups finely chopped walnuts, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, powdered confectioner’s sugar (liberal amounts for sprinkling onto baked cookies)
Preperation: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip egg whites until they are foamy. As you continue whipping the egg whites, add sugar one spoonful at a time until the egg whites hold a peak. Fold in the chopped nuts and the almond extract.
Evenly distribute the filling on each of the four dough rounds and spread evenly. Cut each round into 8 wedges and roll up from the large end. Place each cookie on parchment paper, 16
cookies per cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with powdered confectioner’s sugar.
See more recipes in our Christmas Special