"Wrong bread and butter" and an Italian classic: Munich grandmas and grandpas reveal their cookie tricks

Created: 11/29/2022, 09:40 am

Armando bakes Italian cookies.

He was one of the first Italian guest workers in Munich.

©Oliver Bodmer

Ready, set, go!

Now that the first candle on the Advent wreath is burning, the people of Munich are making themselves comfortable at home again.

And what goes better with the pre-Christmas mood than the smell of freshly baked cookies?

Munich – Grandma always made the tastiest ones – logically.

So that the valuable baking secrets are not lost, senior citizens reveal them.

So everyone can simply bake their favorite recipes - whether it's hazelnut blossoms, hussar heads or Italian cantuccini with almonds.

We watched Grandma and Grandpa kneading, cutting out and decorating.

Cookie recipes from Munich: Armandos Cantuccini

Armando was one of the first Italian guest workers in Munich.

Today he lives happily in Lehel, the 87-year-old still has the Italian charm - and he likes to bake Italian cookies in Advent!

For our readers he has a recipe for delicious Cantuccini.

"My son and daughter-in-law are always very happy about my cookies."

Ingredients:

- 250 g flour

- 175 grams of sugar

- 1 packet of vanilla sugar

- 1 packet of baking powder

- 25 grams of butter

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- 2 eggs

- 1 pinch of salt

- 12 drops of bitter almond flavoring

- 2 tablespoons almond liqueur

- 200 g peeled whole almonds

- zest of 1/2 organic lemon and 1/2 organic orange

Preparation:

1. Combine flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, baking powder, bitter almond flavoring and salt.

Then knead into a dough with butter and eggs.

The dough will be soft - don't let that irritate you.

2. Then stir in the almonds and form the dough into a ball with a little flour.

Then chill the dough.

3. Cut the dough into five parts and form each part into a roll 30 cm long and 6 cm thick.

4. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the rolls on it with a good distance between them.

Then pre-bake in the preheated oven (180 degrees top/bottom heat) for 15 minutes and allow to cool.

5. Cut the rolls diagonally into 1 cm wide pieces and place the cut surface back on the tray and bake at the same temperature for another 10 minutes.

The cantuccini must be golden brown at the end, then they are also golden.

Helga from Laim bakes hazelnut blossoms and many other types of biscuits.

©Oliver Bodmer

Munich: Helga reveals how her hazelnut blossoms are so good

16 different types of cookies - a snap for Helga.

Every Christmas for years she has been supplying the whole neighborhood with the best cookies from Laim.

Above all, the children love them all very much, Helga is like a second grandmother for them.

All of her recipes have been lovingly collected and added to over the years, explains the 86-year-old.

The filled hazelnut blossoms are a very special recipe.

Ingredients for 25 pieces:

- 200 grams of flour

- 70 g powdered sugar

- 200 g ground hazelnuts

- 1 packet of baking powder

- 1 pinch of salt

- 150 grams of butter

- 1 egg + 1 yolk

- about 75 g of hazelnut cream

- Pistachios and powdered sugar to decorate

Preparation

:

1. Mix flour, icing sugar, hazelnuts, salt and baking powder, then add butter in small flakes and egg, knead everything to form a smooth dough.

Chill the dough for about an hour.

2. Knead the dough again and roll it out thinly between two layers of foil, then cut out flowers, cut out circles from the middle of half of the flowers.

3. Brush the flowers with hole with beaten egg yolk.

Bake one after the other in the preheated oven (150 degrees circulating air) for about 10-12 minutes.

4. Spread whole biscuit blossoms with hazelnut cream.

Place cookie rings on top.

Decorate with halved pistachios and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Born in Munich, Renate bakes an old recipe that she got from her grandmother.

© Thomas Jensen

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Renate's hussar head

This recipe has been passed down through several generations.

Renate, who was born in Munich, says: "I made the hussar heads with my grandmother when I was a child, when I used to help her bake cookies." And she adds: "My grandmother was born in 1895, so it's an older recipe. Today, the 80-year-old bakes the hussar heads mainly for her three grandchildren.

"They're grown up, but they're still really happy about it."

Ingredients:

- 120 grams of flour

- 75 grams of butter

- 35 g powdered sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla sugar

- zest of half a lemon

- 1 pinch of salt

- 1 yolk

Decoration: raspberry jam, chocolate icing, powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Process the dough ingredients into a shortcrust pastry and chill for about 40 minutes.

2. Then form small balls and place on a greased baking sheet.

3. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a well in the middle of the balls, fill with jam and bake at 200 degrees for around 15 minutes.

4. Spread the cooled cookies on the bottom with chocolate icing and sprinkle on the top with powdered sugar.

Grandma HiIdegard inspires her relatives and friends not only with the "wrong buttered bread", but also with many other types of biscuits.

©Oliver Bodmer

Cookie tips from Munich: Hildegard's wrong sandwich

Grandma HiIdegard (82) used to bake well over 20 types of cookies.

They were a hit with their grandchildren, children and friends.

The pensioner from Laim now makes 15 different varieties, after all baking is always a lot of work.

Now their places are almost even more popular than they used to be.

Ingredients:

- 125 g couverture

- 80 g softened butter

- 140 grams of sugar

- 1 egg

- 100 grams of flour

- 220 g ground hazelnuts

- Flour to work with.

Molding:

- 2 egg yolks

- 1 tsp lemon juice

- 125 g powdered sugar

- chopped pistachios

Preparation:

1. Grate the couverture.

2. Cream the butter with the sugar and stir in the egg.

3. Knead in the flour, nuts and couverture, shape into rolls, refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

4. Preheat the oven (convection 160 degrees, top/bottom heat 175 degrees, gas 2-3), line the tray with baking paper,

5. Slice and bake the rolls of dough.

6. Mix the egg yolks, lemon juice and icing sugar and brush onto the bread, sprinkle with pistachios.