Chocolate Chip Stollen Food

STOLLEN

Steps:

• In large bowl, dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Beat in granulated sugar, the salt, eggs, egg yolk, 1/2 cup butter and 1 3/4 cups of the flour with electric mixer on medium speed 10 minutes, scraping bowl constantly. Stir in remaining flour, the almonds, citron, cherries, raisins and lemon peel. Scrape batter from side of bowl. Cover and let rise in warm place 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until double. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.) Cover and refrigerate egg white.
• Stir down batter by beating about 25 strokes. Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Grease cookie sheet. Place dough on well-floured surface; turn to coat with flour. Divide in half; press each half into 10x7-inch oval. Spread with 1 tablespoon butter. Fold ovals lengthwise in half; press only folded edge firmly. Place on cookie sheet. Beat egg white and 1 tablespoon water; brush over folded ovals. Cover and let rise in warm place 45 to 60 minutes or until double.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
• In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Spread glaze over warm stollen.

ALMOND-FILLED STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine candied fruits and 1/2 cup rum; let stand, covered, 1 hour., In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine milk, butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, almond extract, remaining rum, yeast mixture and 4 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Cover and let stand in a warm place, about 30 minutes., Beat in eggs. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Drain candied fruit, reserving rum for glaze. Reserve 1/2 cup candied fruit for topping. Stir almonds and remaining candied fruit into dough., Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch down dough; divide into 3 portions. On a greased baking sheet, roll each portion into a 12-in. circle. Crumble one-third of the almond paste over one-half of each circle. Fold dough partially in half, covering filling and placing top layer within 1 in. of bottom edge. Cover with kitchen towels and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and water; brush over loaves. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if tops brown too quickly. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , In a small bowl, mix reserved rum with enough confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over stollen. Sprinkle with reserved candied fruit.

TRADITIONAL STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Add the raisins, candied fruit and almonds. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. , Punch dough down and divide in half; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll or press each half into a 12x7-in. oval. Fold a long side over to within 1 in. of opposite side; press edge lightly to seal. Place on greased baking sheets; curve ends slightly. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Combine confectioners' sugar and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; spread over stollen.

GERMAN STOLLEN

Steps:

• TO MAKE THE DOUGH, combine the candied fruits, raisins, currants, candied cherries, citron, and rum in a bowl, and mix to coat all the fruits with rum.
• Marinate at least 1 hour.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the yeast with 3 cups of the flour, the sugar, and salt.
• In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk to boiling over medium-high heat.
• Remove from the heat.
• Add butter and stir until the butter is melted and the mixture has cooled to very warm (130 F.).
• Add the milk mixture and eggs to the flour mixture and beat until the mixture is smooth, satiny, and has an elastic quality to it.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining flour a cup at a time and mix until the dough is stiff.
• If using a mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes at low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl.
• Or turn out onto a floured board and knead, adding flour as necessary to make a light and springy dough.
• Knead or mix in the fruit-rum mixture.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet or cover with parchment paper.
• To fill and finish the stollen, punch down the dough and divide into 2 parts.
• On a lightly oiled surface, pat each half into an oval about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide at its widest point.
• Brush each oval with 1/2 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar.
• Make a crease down the length of each oval.
• Fold each loaf in half lengthwise along the crease to enclose the sugared surface.
• Place the loaves on a baking sheet spaced well apart.
• Cover and let rise until puffy, but not doubled, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Brush each loaf with 1/2 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean and dry.
• If the stollen begins to brown excessively, cover lightly with foil to finish baking.
• While the loaves are still hot, brush each loaf with 1/2 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar.
• Drizzle each loaf with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons brandy or rum.
• Remove from the sheet and cool on a wire rack.
• Brush with the remaining butter.
• Wrap the loaves in plastic, then in foil and store in a cool place for 2 to 3 days until ready to serve or freeze up to 3 months.
• Makes 2 loaves.
• NOTE; Citron is a semitropical citrus fruit that looks like a large, lumpy, yellow-green lemon.
• It grows six to nine inches long, is very sour, and has a thick peel that is candied and used in baking.
• It is available in the baking section in supermarkets and specialty foods stores during the Christmas season.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Steps:

• Evenly position 2 racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. (on convection setting if you have it.) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets. (If you only have 1 baking sheet, let it cool completely between batches.)
• Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on medium power until melted. (Alternatively melt in a small saucepan.) Cool slightly. Whisk the sugars, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon; take care not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.
• Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the pans. Bake, until golden, but still soft in the center, 12 to 16 minutes, depending on how chewy or crunchy you like your cookies. Transfer hot cookies with a spatula to a rack to cool. Serve.
• Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.
• For a Rocky Road Bar:
• Lightly butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Make the batter as per cookie recipe and fold in 1 cup chopped walnuts along with the chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake until the edges are light brown and the batter sets, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly and cover surface with 4 cups marshmallows and 1 cup chocolate chips. Broil at least 8 inches from the heat until marshmallows turn golden brown, about 2 minutes. (Keep an eye on the marshmallows, and turn the pan frequently--they go from golden to char in a wink.) Cool, cut and serve.

BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
• Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

GRANDMA GELDNER'S GERMAN NUT STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix 3 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar well.
• In a saucepan, heat milk, vanilla, and 1/2 cup butter slightly until butter melts. Cool with an ice cube.
• Add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix by hand for 2 minutes.
• Add 1/2 C flour and eggs and mix until well blended.
• Stir in remaining 3/4 C flour and hand mix until dough is smooth.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Roll out dough into two oblong shapes and spread 1 Tbsp melted butter on each piece.
• Sprinkle cinnamon and spread nuts onto both pieces of dough, to 1/2" from the edge.
• Roll up jelly roll fashion along the long side of the dough, and crimp ends shut. Seal ends and opening along dough with wet fingers, so that dough does not open up during baking.
• Place both on an ungreased cookie sheet, and allow to rise uncovered in a warm place until double in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 20 minutes, until light golden brown.
• Allow to cool and frost with desired frosting.

CHOCOLATE CHIP STOLLEN

Steps:

• Put 1 kg flour in a very large bowl, make a crater, add about a tablespoon of sugar and the yeast into the crater and stir in the milk to make a creamy starter dough (You won't stir in all the flour, just some of it to make a thick "sauce". Cover and keep warm for 20 minutes.
• Mix the rest of the sugar with the eggs, the vanilla bean, the lemon zest and the salt until creamy. Combine with the starter mixture. Cover and let rise in a warm area for about 40 minutes.
• Knead the 400 g of butter and the other 200 grams of flour with the spices. Combine with the risen dough, kneading thoroughly. Let rise for another 30 minutes.
• Knead in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. Let rise about another 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 2 parts and form a long log out of each. Roll this a little flat, so that it is about a an inch and a half or two inches thick, making a long rectangle. Fold a third of the long side towards the middle. Repeat with the other part of dough.
• Place on a baking sheet covered with parchement. You will need to separate the loaves. Do this by rolling up baking parchement loosely and covering it with aluminum foil, placing it between the two loaves. I recommend doing this to the outside of the loaves, two, otherwise the loaves will spread and not rise properly. You could also use a special form, but these are hard to get. Let rise for another 20 minutes. The Stollen should double in size.
• Bake at 200° C for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• While the stollen is still warm, melt the 150 g of butter. Spoon over one stollen and sift the powdered sugar over it, covering it completely. Repeat with the other one. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and store for two weeks before eating, so that the flavor develops. (You can eat it right away, if you'd like).