Like just about everything else in 2020, even getting together to bake cookies with family and friends has changed. Writer Sherry Spitsnaugle and her family got together for a virtual cookie baking party to make festive, authentic Spitzbuben together – while apart. She tells us how it’s done so we can give it a try with our family and friends, wherever they may live and shares the recipe too. Wish you could do your annual cookie exchange party online? You can – everyone makes a separate cookie recipe together, online. Then, arrange to meet somewhere central, like a park. Bring plastic containers or zipper bags and everyone exchanges cookies – from a distance. 

That’s the way the cookie crumbles – in 2020

The aroma of apple cider simmering puts me in a holiday mood as I take baking suggestions from my 12-year-old great-niece via Zoom. Sammy adores anything to do with cooking and is far more accomplished in the kitchen than her auntie.

Since there’s no gathering in person due to COVID, we’re baking together on our screens. It’s a snowy, frigid Saturday morning – ideal for making cookies and for being with family, even if it is virtually.

Baking Spitzbuben by Zoom

Today, we’re trying our luck with Spitzbuben, a jam cookie beloved in southern Germany. I learned about these little beauties scrolling the website for SouthWest Germany (number one on my list once we can travel) and reminiscing about the magical Christmas markets. I have wonderful memories of strolling along medieval cobblestone paths in fairytale villages and gazing at the exquisite-looking pastries in the market stalls and bakeries.

Spitzbuben also made their way to the cover of the recent edition of Food and Wine magazine.

Related: Hungry for more? Find out how to travel the world with family and friends with a virtual party on Real Food Traveler.

The logistics of a Zoom baking party

We have set up our laptops in our respective Colorado kitchens – Sammy and mom Kelly are in Vail; my sister Karen joins us from Lakewood; and I’m in Denver – to simultaneously follow the recipe, from measuring to mixing to staging our final creations for photos.

Using my Mom’s old mixer to make Spitzbuben, via our family Zoom baking party.

Suggestions from the young’un

This almost teenager – who loves making dinner for her parents – attended cooking camp at a local cooking school this summer and wants to be a baker when she grows up. The number one gift on her Christmas wish list is not an iPhone or clothes (actually, she would love a pony) but a stand mixer.

On the other hand, I am using a hand-me-down mixer from my Mom which has only one blade. And I definitely don’t have a rolling pin. (A bottle of wine works nicely.)

I stumble with even the first step to cream the butter and sugar. Sammy proposes I “smush the chilled butter with a fork” to make it easier to blend. She holds her bowl up to the screen to show me how well this works.

Sammy demonstrates smushing butter with a fork for the Spitzbuben cookies.

Some Spitzbuben history

Spitzbuben, also known as Hildabrötchen, originally came from southern Germany and are named after the Grand Duchess Hilda von Nassau, the last Grand Duchess of Baden.

Supposedly, the popular Grand Duchess enjoyed eating Hilda rolls and often baked them herself. She was buried at the side of her husband, Grand Duke Friedrich II in the grand ducal grave chapel in Karlsruhe, where visitors can view her ornate coffin.

Google says that the translation of the word Spitzbuben is rascal. I take to affectionately calling my family, “my little Spitzbubens.”

Making the cut

“Auntie, this dough tastes GOOD!” Sammy says, licking her lips.

We have followed the instructions to a T, including letting the dough chill for an hour (we take a break, then reconvene) and it’s time to use the cookie cutter.

Sammy improvises, but I am the proud owner of an official cutter designed for making Spitzbuben. The process is to cut out a star or heart shape in half of the cookies and a simple round shape with the other half.

My Spitzbuben cookie cutter.

Silliness and memories make the heart grow fonder

While the cookies are baking, we change backgrounds on our screens, so we look like we are all at the beach or in a Greek villa which keeps us entertained for a few minutes.

Chatter turns to remembering my Mom (Kelly’s grandma and Sammy’s great-grandma) whose rule was that we weren’t allowed in her kitchen without wearing either a hairnet or ponytail. We go the ponytail route.

Kelly recalls being in her grandma’s small-town-Kansas kitchen as a youngster. Grandma Ada had many guidelines including to unplug the mixer before cleaning the blades. We honor her memory and follow the rules.

Sammy may have an advantage—she has the rolling pin which her great-grandma used to make countless pies.

While the cookies bake, the bakers get silly.

Down time while the cookies bake – the best!

My sweet Spitzbuben shows me how to make a marshmallow snowman with toothpicks and an edible marker while our cookies bake. “Okay, get your toothpicks out,” she instructs.

We still have eight minutes to go. Sammy doesn’t miss a beat.

“Look, Auntie,” she says. “I’m putting on makeup!”  She grins mischievously as she rubs powdered sugar on her cheeks and eyebrows.

Related: Hungry for more? Get recipes for other desserts gathered on our travels from Real Food Traveler.

Spitzbuben flop? No way

The benefit of having a special cookie cutter has not helped me. The empty star shape disappears and my cookies merge into what looks like one big cookie. I lift the baking sheet to my screen to show Sammy, and we break into fits of giggles.

I think my Spitzbuben are a failure until Sammy suggests I use the cutter on the warm giant cookie fresh from the oven. This works like a charm.

Finally, we sift powdered sugar onto our masterpieces, stage them for their glamour shots, and call it a wrap. See Sammy’s cookies below and mine in the Pinterest image, above.

Sammy’s Spitzbuben, staged for their glamour shot.

Yuletide treasure

Sammy beams as she holds her finished creation up to the screen, and declares, “Look, Auntie!”

We spent the morning laughing, remembering loved ones, and making new memories.

I can’t think of a better gift.

Mother and daughter show off their cookies and a pretty Zoom background.

Spitzbuben Cookies

Recipe courtesy Tourism Baden-Württemberg

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup of cold butter (cut into small pieces)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/3 cups of flour

½ cup raspberry (or whatever preserve you love!) jam for the center

1 TBS powdered sugar

Method:

Cream together sugar and butter.

Add the vanilla extract and egg until combined. Add in flour to form a dough.

Shape the dough into a ball and wrap or cover well and put in the fridge for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough thinly and cut out the cookies. Then cut out the shape you like (star/heart circle etc) in every other cookie and place all of them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

After cooling, heat the jelly, spread it over the cookies without the cutout, then place the cutout half on top of the cookie with the jam.

Dust with powdered sugar for a seasonal look.

Pro-tips

For extra motivation and general advice on baking, visit Wendy Jo Peterson, a culinary whiz, who has published seven books including Baking Bread for Dummies. This accomplished baker lived in Germany for several years and is an expert at creating these delicious cookies. I follow Peterson on social media and love her informal and informative style.

“My friends and I share pictures of our holiday baking fun and the Spitzbuben is always top of the list,” Peterson says. “My neighbors (in Germany) were the ones who taught me how to make all my favorite German cookies. I love changing up the jam and making different flavors. I get many fun jams throughout the year with this cookie in mind!”

Order your Spitzbuben cookie cutter on Amazon, or you might find one at your local Christkindl market found in many U.S. cities. Better yet, buy one on your next trip to Germany!

Planning for 2021: Number one on my bucket list – Germany

If you’re like me, you’re making your list of where to travel as soon as it’s safe. For me, that dream is SouthWest Germany. When that time comes, I vow to savor every sip of beer and taste of bratwurst to the fullest.

— Story and photos by Sherry Spitsnaugle

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