Christmas Tree Cupcakes

If you’re looking for a dessert that is absolutely delicious but also looks great on the holiday dinner table, these Christmas tree cupcakes are it! Moist vanilla cupcakes topped with homemade buttercream frosting that almost look too good to eat!

If you couldn’t already tell, making festive desserts is one of my favorite things to do around Christmastime. A few more fun and festive desserts to try this holiday season are these Christmas tree sugar cookies, cornflake wreaths, and Grinch cookies!

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

If you’re ever unsure of what dessert to make, cupcakes are always a good choice. They’re easy, bite-sized, and always a hit with everyone. If you’re looking to take your Christmas dessert game to the next level, try out these Christmas tree cupcakes for your next get-together! Not only are they moist and delicious with the BEST buttercream frosting, but they’ll add a little extra holiday cheer to the meal!

The cupcakes themselves are vanilla-flavored, but don’t be fooled! There’s nothing simple about them! (Vanilla is so underrated!) These cupcakes are moist, rich, and buttery soft! I always like to pair my vanilla cupcakes with some buttercream frosting, but you can always go for cream cheese frosting if you want more tang! Either way, these Christmas Tree cupcakes are going to be a hit. And if you’re looking for more festive recipes to complete your meal, try this Santa veggie tray or Christmas tree charcuterie!

Ingredients You’ll Need

With grocery stores being so busy this time of year, I gravitate towards recipes with ingredients I already have at home. You may need to make a run for the holiday sprinkles, but everything else is probably in your pantry right now! Check out the recipe card below for exact measurements.

Cupcakes

Cake Flour: I like to use cake flour for cupcakes because it has a fine, light texture. If you don’t have any on hand, all-purpose flour works as well! It will just give your Christmas tree cupcakes a slightly different crumb.Granulated Sugar: Regular white sugar works great to sweeten up the cupcakes.Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Both are a must-add to make sure your cupcakes rise in the oven!Salt: Boosts the overall flavor of the cupcakes.Buttermilk: Buttermilk is the key ingredient to moist, soft cupcakes. If you don’t have any on hand, you can easily make some with milk and vinegar using my recipe here!Milk: I recommend using whole milk because the higher fat content will make your cake more moist.Vanilla Extract: Since vanilla is the main flavor here, use pure vanilla extract if you have it!Vegetable Oil: Makes your cupcakes nice and moist.Egg Whites: Help to make your batter light and fluffy and bind all of the ingredients together when baked.

Buttercream Frosting

Unsalted Butter: This acts as the base of the frosting.Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar adds the best sweetness! It also gives the buttercream frosting a smooth texture.Milk: To adjust thickness.Vanilla: Adds flavor to the frosting.Salt: You only need a pinch to give the frosting a little extra flavor.Green Gel Food Coloring: For that classic Christmas tree color!Sprinkles and Toppings: This is the fun part! Feel free to decorate your Christmas trees with whatever sprinkles, toppings, and decorations you’d like!

How to Make Christmas Tree Cupcakes

These festive cupcakes are so simple to make but will impress everyone at your holiday party. They’re so cute! It only takes a few simple steps to whip them up. Let’s get started!

Preheat Oven, Prepare Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.Add Wet Ingredients: Add the buttermilk, milk, vanilla, and oil to the dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until you get medium-stiff peaks, and then gently fold the egg whites into the batter.Add to Muffin Tin: Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill the liners only halfway full, or the cupcakes will puff over the top of the muffin tin.Bake: Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when lightly pressed. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

How to Make the Buttercream Frosting

Combine Ingredients: Add the butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir on low to incorporate and increase the speed slowly as the butter absorbs the powdered sugar.Add Food Coloring: Beat on high speed until the frosting is white and fluffy, about 10-15 minutes. Add your green food coloring until it has reached your desired color. Frost Cupcakes: Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a fluted piping tip. Pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes to resemble a tree. Add sprinkles and other toppings to decorate your cupcake trees for Christmas!

Customizing Your Cupcakes

This recipe is really all about being creative and festive, you can use your favorite cupcake base recipe (these chocolate cupcakes are a great choice!), and any frosting that will hold a stiff shape. For a fun twist, you can add food coloring to the cupcake base as well as the frosting. Here are a few more frosting recipes to try! Feel free to make a few small batches of different frosting types to give your trees some variety in color. White frosting would be great for snow-capped Christmas trees!

How Long Will My Cupcakes Last?

Since the frosting contains dairy, you’ll want to store your Christmas tree cupcakes in the fridge for best results.

In the Fridge: Whether you’re making these ahead of time or storing leftovers, your cupcakes will stay good for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

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Christmas Tree Cupcakes

If you’re looking for a dessert that is absolutely delicious but also looks great on the holiday dinner table, these Christmas tree cupcakes are it! Moist vanilla cupcakes topped with homemade buttercream frosting that almost look too good to eat!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword christmas cupcakes, christmas tree cupcakes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 42 minutes
Servings 24 cupcakes
Calories 396kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

Cupcakes

2 ¼ cups cake flour1 ½ cups granulated sugar2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt1 cup Buttermilk¼ cup milk2 teaspoons vanilla extract½ cup vegetable oil4 egg whites

Frosting

2 cup unsalted butter room temperature8 cups powdered sugar4 tablespoons milk1 tablespoon vanilla1 teaspoon saltgreen gel food coloringSprinkles and toppings of your choice.

Instructions

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the buttermilk, milk, vanilla, and oil to the dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until you get medium-stiff peaks, and then gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill the liners only halfway full, or the cupcakes will puff over the top of the muffin tin.
Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when lightly pressed. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

Add the butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir on low to incorporate and increase the speed slowly as the butter absorbs the powdered sugar.
Add your gel food coloring until it has reached your desired color. Beat on high speed until the frosting is white and fluffy, about 10-15 minutes.
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a fluted piping tip. Pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes to resemble a tree. Add sprinkles and other toppings to decorate your cupcake trees for Christmas!

Nutrition

Calories: 396kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 192mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 498IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Pomegranate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Pomegranate chocolate chunk cookies are the BEST cookies you will ever make! The pomegranate is tangy, like cranberry, with a hint of sweetness at the end. The burst of flavor when you bite into this cookie will have you coming back for seconds!

I love a good cookie. I’m a little obsessed with winter baking because it just makes the home smell so good! And it’s the one time of year when you actually want the oven to warm up the house! If you love cookie baking in the winter time, you HAVE to try these perfect-for-Christmas Grinch cookies, these gooey and delicious Butter Cookies, and these melt in your mouth Peppermint Meltaways.

Pomegranate Cookie Recipe

It’s no secret that I love cookies! It was one of the first things I learned how to make (probably like most of you), and they have always hit the spot. I especially love cookies during the holiday season, like these almond cookies and these Italian Christmas cookies. They are so easy to share, and everyone loves having a delicious cookie for Christmas!

If you have ever had a cranberry cookie, this pomegranate chocolate chunk cookie is kind of like that! Cranberries and pomegranates are similar because they are tangy and have a little sweetness at the end. I am a huge fan of cranberries, but it’s fun to switch it up! Pomegranates are so fun to eat in so many different ways. I bet you haven’t tried them in a cookie yet. They are a must-try!

Ingredients in Pomegranate Cookies

You will need the same ingredients as any cookie recipe, but for this pomegranate cookie, you will also need, well, pomegranates, of course! I also added cream cheese to the recipe, which I think you will love! You can find the exact measurements below in the recipe card.

Butter: You will want to use unsalted butter and make sure to leave it out for a few hours before you plan on making the cookies so it is nice and soft.Cream Cheese: Cream cheese is SO good in cookies. If you haven’t tried a cookie with cream cheese in it, you are in for a treat. It’s tangy and creamy and gives this cookie great texture and flavor.Granulated Sugar: Your pantry sugar will work great.Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is great in cookies like this because it has molasses in it. Molasses has a nice rich flavor and gives a deeper flavor than just granulated sugar by itself.Egg: I always use large grade-A eggs in my recipes.Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor to the dough and helps to bring out all the other delicious flavors in the cookie.All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is the easiest to work with and will be the best option for this cookie.Salt: Salt brings out the flavor.Baking Soda: Baking soda will help the cookies fluff up when baking. Baking Powder: Baking powder also helps these pomegranate cookies to rise.Semi-Sweet Baker’s Chocolate: You could use chocolate chips too.Pomegranate Arils: You will need to buy a pomegranate from the store and get all the seeds (arils) out. See my tip below for how to easily remove the seeds!

How to Make Pomegranate Cookies

This pomegranate cookie recipe is really similar to a chocolate chip cookie. The main difference is the pomegranates and adding chunks of chocolate instead of chips. You will love how these cookies taste; they are perfect for holiday get-togethers!

Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Chop the chocolate and prepare your pomegranate seeds (arils) by removing them from the fruit and set them aside.Beat: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and cream cheese together until it is light and well mixed. Add in your sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in your egg and vanilla and beat an additional 1-2 minutes.Whisk: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined. With your mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, until just combined.Fold and Bake: Fold in the chocolate and pomegranate until evenly distributed. Scoop about 2 tablespoon size rounds of dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving a 2-inch space between each one. Bake for 12-15 minutes, the cookies should be lightly golden all around, remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the hot baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.Cool: Allow the pomegranate cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes and enjoy!

Tips for Baking Pomegranate Cookies

These cookies are really similar to a chocolate chip cookie, which I bet you have made before! Here are a few simple tips that I think you will find helpful when you go to make these pomegranate chocolate chunk cookies.

Use Different Chocolate: You can use milk or dark chocolate instead of semisweet chocolate chunks. You could even try white chocolate chips or… you could use all of them! I’ve never had a cookie with too much chocolate in it!Removing Pomegranate Seeds: There is a great trick to remove all white spongy flesh. While you are taking out all the seeds, have your pomegranate underwater in a bowl. All of the white stuff will float to the top, where you can easily scoop it out, and all of the seeds will sink to the bottom! I have also heard that if you cut the pomegranate in half and hold it facing downward in a bowl, you can use a spoon to whack the seeds out. You have to hit it pretty hard!Oven Time and Temperature: Everyone’s cookies will be a little different when it comes to baking in the oven. The oven temperatures can vary depending on what kind of oven you have. Your elevation and humidity can also change how the cookies bake. So I would just keep an eye on them while they are in the oven, and once the edges start to brown, they are done!

Storing Leftovers

These pomegranate cookies taste best fresh, but they can last up to a week. You could also freeze them and save them for later! The dough also freezes well, so this recipe is great for anytime you are in the mood.

On the Counter: You can store your cookies for up to a week on the counter stored in an airtight container.

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Pomegranate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Pomegranate chocolate chunk cookies are the BEST cookies you will ever make! The pomegranate is tangy like cranberry with a hint of sweetness at the end. The burst of flavor when you bite into this cookie will have you coming back for seconds!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cookies, pomegranate chocolate chunk cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 20 cookies
Calories 130kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature¼ cup cream cheese room temperature½ cup granulated sugar½ cup brown sugar1 large egg2 teaspoons vanilla1 ½ cups all purpose flour½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon baking powder2 ounces semi sweet baker’s chocolate coarsely chopped1 cup pomegranate arils one large pomegranate

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Chop the chocolate and prepare your pomegranate seeds (arils) by removing them from the fruit, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and cream cheese together until it is light and well mixed. Add in your sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in your egg and vanilla and beat an additional 1-2 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined. With your mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the butter mixture ¼ cup at a time until just combined.
Fold in the chocolate and pomegranate until evenly distributed. Scoop about 2 tablespoon size rounds of dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets, leaving a 2 inch space between each one. Bake for 12-15 minutes, the cookies should be lightly golden all around, remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the hot baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Allow the cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 121IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg

Stollen Bread

This traditional German stollen bread is the perfect treat for the holidays! It’s a delicious sweet bread filled with cranberries, raisins, candied citrus, and a luscious almond filling.

I love German food and trying to recreate it at home! A few more recipes you’ll have to try out: pork schnitzel, German oven pancakes, and this German potato salad! (It’s one of my favorite sides!)

German Christmas Fruit Loaf (Christstollen)

This holiday season, swap out your traditional fruit cake for this tasty German version! Translated, “stollen” means fruit loaf. These are eaten all year round, but in December they’re called Christstollen. Stollen bread is soft with the perfect chew. Similar to a fruit cake, it’s also loaded with cranberries, raisins, and candied citrus for delicious fruity flavor!

What really makes stollen good, though, is its tasty almond filling. I use almond paste in this recipe, but it’s also commonly made with marzipan! Stollen is the perfect combination of flavors and textures. It’s sweet, nutty, and fruity! You’ve got to give this delicious German pastry a try for Christmas. It may just become a new family tradition!

What You’ll Need to Make Stollen

I’ve broken this list of ingredients up into a few different parts so it’s easier to organize. If you can’t find almond paste at your local grocery store, check out my tips section below on how to make it at home.

Fruit and Nut Mixture

Dried Fruits: In my stollen bread I used dried cranberries and golden raisins for the perfect combination of tart and sweet.Candied Citrus: I used both candied orange and lemon peel. If you can’t find these in-store, use my recipe here to make them from scratch!Slivered Almonds: Adds a little extra nuttiness to the stollen.Dark Rum: Added for extra flavor.

Bread

Milk: I always like to use whole milk for bread because the fat content makes it soft and tender. Be sure to use milk that’s warm to help activate the yeast!Yeast: I used active dry yeast.Sugar: Just regular granulated sugar works great to sweeten up the dough.Bread Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, so it produces more gluten and gives your stollen more chew.Large Egg: Binds all of the ingredients together!Softened Butter: I used unsalted butter because we add salt separately.Vanilla: Vanilla and sweet breads go hand-in-hand! Add some in for an extra pop of flavor.Lemon Zest: I add lemon zest for a touch of zesty flavor.Salt: Keeps your stollen from tasting bland.Spices: No Christmas bread is complete without spice! I used cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon for the perfect holiday flavor.

Almond Filling

Almond Paste: For the filling of the stollen. You can also use marzipan instead. If you can’t find either at the store, you can make it from scratch using my instructions below.

Garnish

Melted Butter: Nothing compares to a little melted butter brushed on top of homemade bread!Powdered Sugar: Stollen is traditionally made with powdered sugar dusted on top, but you can omit this if you want your bread to be less sweet.

How to Make Almond Paste

If you can’t find almond paste or marzipan at the store, don’t worry! It’s really easy to make at home. All you need are a few simple ingredients and a food processor. Add 1 1/2 cups whole almonds, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, one egg white, and blend until you reach a paste-like consistency.

How to Make Stollen Bread

I know all the instructions may be intimidating, but making stollen is actually pretty simple! It just takes a little time and patience to get your dough right.

Preparing the Fruit and Nut Mixture

Combine Ingredients: Prepare the fruit and nut mixture by combining dried cranberries, raisins, candied fruit peels, almonds, and rum.Soak in Rum: Allow the mixture to soak, stirring occasionally until you are ready to use it.

Making the Dough

Activate Yeast: In the bowl of a stand mixer combine your milk, yeast, and sugar. Let the mixture rest for about 5 minutes, it should become bubbly as the yeast activates.Combine: Add to the bowl 3 cups of your bread flour, egg, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon.Mix: Using the dough hook attachment mix the dough on low speed to incorporate all the ingredients and bring the dough together. Once dough has come together, if it is too sticky and wet, add more bread flour ¼ cup at a time. Then allow it to mix for a few more minutes on low speed. Increase speed to medium high and mix for about 3-5 minutes, this will develop the gluten.Proof: Remove dough from mixer and place in a lightly greased bowl and cover to proof until it has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.Create Bread Forms: While the dough is resting, create two rectangular forms with tin foil and place them on a sheet of parchment paper, these will help the stollen bread to keep it’s shape while baking. If you have stollen bread forms you can use those.Shape and Fold: When dough has doubled in size, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and pound to degas. Fold in your fruit and nut mixture, straining out any excess juice beforehand. Then work the dough until the fruit and nut mixture is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Allow the dough to rest, covered in the bowl for another 10 minutes.

Adding Filling and Baking

Add Almond Filling: Dump the dough back onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into two equal halves. Stretch each half into a rectangle and set aside. Take your almond paste and roll into a rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the almond paste rectangle in half and place one on each rectangle of dough, slightly off to one side.Shape and Proof: Stretch the dough over the almond paste and secure your seam on the side of the loaf. The seam is baked on the side of the loaf to create the classic stollen bread form. Be sure to secure it tight. Place the formed loaves onto your prepared forms on the sheet pan and cover, allow the loaves to proof until just under double in size. Do a touch test to see if the loaves are ready to bake by lightly poking down each loaf about 5 times. The pokes should slightly spring back but still be visible. If they spring back and the dough is still tough they need more time, if the loaf starts to deflate when you perform the test your dough is over-proofed.Bake: Once the loaves are ready, bake them at 350° Fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes. I like to rotate the pan around after about 30 minutes to ensure an even bake. You also may want to cover the loaves with foil after 30 minutes if they are browning too quickly. The loaves are ready when they are a light golden brown and temp out to 190° Fahrenheit.Add Topping: Remove the loaves from the oven and brush with melted butter, once the loaves have cooled a bit, dust each one generously with powdered sugar.

Tips for Making the Best Stollen

Here are a few of my tips and tricks for making stollen! It’s really easy to customize. You’re going to love making it for the holidays!

Use Orange Juice in Place of Rum: The alcohol in the rum you soak the fruit and nuts in will bake out, but if you are not comfortable using rum you can use orange juice as a substitute.Swapping Out Almond Paste for Marzipan: You can use marzipan instead of almond paste, I just prefer the almond paste personally.How to Make Candied Citrus: If you need to make your own candied orange and lemon peel like I did follow these steps: chop up ½ cup lemon peel and ½ cup orange peel and put into a large saucepan with 1 ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the temperature to low and allow the mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before using in your bread recipe.

How Long Does Stollen Last?

This loaf is best made the night before you intend to serve it so it has plenty of time to cool down. Enjoy within a few days. It can be stored covered at room temperature for up to a week, and in the freezer for 3 months, although I recommend eating it fresh!

At Room Temperature: Store stollen in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to 1 week!In the Freezer: Store stollen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

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Stollen Bread

This traditional German stollen bread is the perfect treat for the holidays! It’s a delicious sweet bread filled with cranberries, raisins, candied citrus, and a luscious almond filling.
Course Bread, Dessert
Cuisine German
Keyword christstollen, stollen, stollen bread
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 993kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

Fruit and Nut Mixture

½ cup dried cranberries½ cup golden raisins¼ cup candied lemon peel¼ cup candied orange peel cup slivered almonds cup dark rum

Bread

1 cup whole milk warm2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast one package2 tablespoons sugar3-4 cups bread flour1 large egg1 cup unsalted butter softened1 tablespoon vanilla1 tablespoon lemon zest2 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon cardamom1 teaspoon nutmeg½ teaspoon cinnamon

Almond Filling

1 cup almond paste

Garnish

4 tablespoons butter melted⅓  cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preparing the Fruit and Nut Mixture

Prepare the fruit and nut mixture by combining dried cranberries, raisins, candied fruit peels, almonds, and rum. Allow the mixture to soak, stirring occasionally until you are ready to use it.

For the Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine your milk, yeast, and sugar. Let the mixture rest for about 5 minutes, it should become bubbly as the yeast activates.
Add to the bowl 3 cups of your bread flour, egg, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Using the dough hook attachment mix the dough on low speed to incorporate all the ingredients and bring the dough together. Once dough has come together, if it is too sticky and wet, add more bread flour ¼ cup at a time. Then allow it to mix for a few more minutes on low speed. Increase speed to medium high and mix for about 3-5 minutes, this will develop the gluten.
Remove dough from mixer and place in a lightly greased bowl and cover to proof until it has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.
While the dough is resting, create two rectangular forms with tin foil and place them on a sheet of parchment paper, these will help the stollen bread to keep it’s shape while baking. If you have stollen bread forms you can use those.
When dough has doubled in size, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and pound to degas. Fold in your fruit and nut mixture, straining out any excess juice beforehand. Work the dough until the fruit and nut mixture is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Allow the dough to rest, covered in the bowl for another 10 minutes.
Dump the dough back onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into two equal halves. Stretch each half into a rectangle and set aside. Take your almond paste and roll into a rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the almond paste rectangle in half and place one on each rectangle of dough, slightly off to one side.
Stretch the dough over the almond paste and secure your seam on the side of the loaf, the seam will be baked on the side of the loaf to create the classic stolen bread form, just be sure to secure it tight. Place the formed loaves onto your prepared forms on the sheet pan and cover, allow the loaves to proof until just under double in size. Do a touch test to see if the loaves are ready to bake by lightly poking down each loaf about 5 times. The pokes should slightly spring back but still be visible. If they spring back and the dough is still tough they need more time, if the loaf starts to deflate when you perform the test your dough is over proofed.
Once the loaves are ready, bake them at 350° fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes. I like to rotate the pan around after about 30 minutes to ensure an even bake. You also may want to cover the loaves with foil after 30 minutes if they are browning too quickly. The loaves are ready when they are a light golden brown and temp out to 190° fahrenheit.
Remove the loaves from the oven and brush with melted butter, once the loaves have cooled a bit, dust each one generously with powdered sugar.

Nutrition

Calories: 993kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 134mg | Sodium: 881mg | Potassium: 467mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 1290IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 177mg | Iron: 2mg

Best Ever German Oven Pancakes

German Pancakes are a hot and puffy golden pancake that only requires 5 minutes of prep! This classic breakfast is always a huge hit at our house!

We love a good classic breakfast at our house. Try this Breakfast Casserole,  these delicious Quick 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls, or my Grandma’s Perfect Fluffy Pancakes for a breakfast the family won’t be able to get enough of!

German Pancakes Recipe

Breakfast is always a struggle at our house because mornings are always so busy! I love to surprise the kiddos with a delicious and hot breakfast at least once a week before school. That is why we love German pancakes at our house. They only take 5 minutes of prep with ingredients that you have on hand. This breakfast is totally doable, even for the busiest families!

My kids love to watch things baking in the oven and this recipe is the best to watch! As the german pancakes bake in the oven, they get puffy and golden. Once we take them out, I love sprinkling them with some powdered sugar and topping them with some syrup and berries. But the best part about pancakes is that you can make them however you like!

Are German Pancakes really from Germany?

German Pancakes or Dutch Baby Pancakes are not German Pancakes the way they are prepared in Germany. The American “German Pancakes” are more like a popover, either entirely baked in the oven or started in a pan and finished in the oven.

German Puff Pancakes Ingredients

If you haven’t tried this classic breakfast, you need to make it. We absolutely love it at our house, and it is so fun and easy to make! It is sure to be a huge hit with family or guests!

Flour: All-purpose flour is best for it to thicken.Eggs: This helps with the form and taste of the pancake.Milk: This helps make the batter creamy and smooth.Butter: Melt the butter before adding it to the batter.Sugar: The sugar sweetens the pancakes up!Salt: Just a pinch will help it rise.

How to Make German Pancakes from Scratch?

Make this German pancake recipe even easier by adding the batter to a blender for about 30 seconds. Start with blending the wet ingredients together first and then add the dry ingredients until they are smooth. Once the lumps are out, place the batter in the cast iron skillet.

Whisk Together: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, melted butter, salt, and sugar. Add the flour and stir until incorporated, being careful not to overmix.Bake in a Skillet: Add one tablespoon of melted butter to the bottom of a 9 or 11-inch cast iron skillet. Pour the batter into a skillet and bake for 12-18 minutes or just until the edges start to brown. Top with desired toppings.

Tips and Tricks

The best thing about baking German pancakes is watching them rise up and over the pan while baking in the oven. Getting that nice fluffy texture and high rise takes a few tips and tricks to make the perfect German pancakes.

Eggs: Fresh eggs are best! Taking the time to whisk each egg individually will also help fluff up the pancake. This does take extra time but can be so worth it!Flour: For best results, use all-purpose flour to help with the rise and thickness of each pancake.Preheating the pan: Before adding the batter to the pan, it helps to melt butter ahead of time to help the pancake rise. The butter will help as a non-stick agent, which creates a taller rise and also keeps the pancake from sticking to the pan.Golden Brown Color: German pancakes are a little tricky to know whether they are done. As it is baking in the oven, the sides of the pancake will rise about 1 to 2 inches and even creep over the top of the skillet. Once the edges and top of the German pancake is nice and golden brown, you know to remove the pancake from the oven. The middle of the pancake will be a yellow egg color. Once the pancake is removed from the oven, in a short amount of time, the German oven pancake will fall a bit. This happens as it is cooling.

Optional Toppings to Try

Traditionally adding syrup or sprinkling powdered sugar are always popular choices. Once the German pancake is baked and ready to serve, add your favorite toppings and create a delicious breakfast everyone will love.

Syrup: Buttermilk syrup or any berry syrup. Jam: Strawberry jam is my favorite!Fresh Berries: Raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries go together so well and balance out the sweet flavor of German pancakes.Powdered Sugar: Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top!Chocolate Chips: Add the chocolate chips right on top of the pancake while it is warm.Cinnamon Sugar: A little more sweetness!Nutella: This adds a delicious, chocolatey taste!

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German Oven Pancake

A hot and puffy golden pancake that only requires 5 minutes of prep! This classic breakfast is always a huge hit at our house!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine German
Keyword german oven pancake, german pancakes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 17 minutes
Servings 4 People
Calories 212kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour3 large eggs1/2 cup milk3 tablespoons melted butter divided1 tablespoon sugar1/4 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs, milk, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, salt and sugar. Add the flour and stir until incorporated being careful not to overmix.
Add 1 tablespoon melted butter to the bottom of a 9 or 11 inch cast iron skillet. Pour the batter into a skillet and bake for 12-18 minutes or just until the edges start to brown. Top with desired toppings.

Video

Notes

Updated on December 22, 2022

Originally Posted on March 21, 2019

Nutrition

Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 149mg | Sodium: 138mg | Potassium: 103mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

There’s nothing better than a cup of peppermint hot chocolate for the holidays! This peppermint hot chocolate is rich and creamy with the best minty flavor. Your family will love sipping on it all winter long!

You really can’t go wrong with homemade hot chocolate for Christmastime. With these tasty recipes, you may even want to make it year-round! Try out this white hot chocolate, cookies and cream hot chocolate, or hot chocolate bombs next!

Homemade Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Isn’t it crazy that Christmas is only a few days away? There’s no better way to relax and unwind during the busy holiday season than with a big pot of homemade hot chocolate. Today’s recipe is rich and creamy hot chocolate infused with delicious minty flavor! It’s one of my family’s favorite recipes to make around Christmastime.

Good news is, this peppermint hot chocolate takes less than 10 minutes to make. It’s a quick and easy treat that will warm you up from the inside out! Serve this hot chocolate up with some mini marshmallows, whipped cream, and crushed peppermints for a treat the whole family will love!

Everything You’ll Need to Make It

It only takes a handful of simple ingredients to whip up this peppermint hot chocolate! The best thing about homemade hot chocolate is that you can customize it however you’d like. See more variations and substitutes in the tips section below! Also, if you’re looking for exact measurements, they can all be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Milk: Feel free to use 2%, whole, or half & half. Any milk works, but the higher the fat content, the creamier your hot chocolate will be.Cocoa Powder: Whatever you have on hand will work, but if you really want to make a good pot of hot chocolate, I recommend using a high-quality Dutch process cocoa powder.Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the peppermint hot chocolate. You can adjust to taste if you don’t want your hot chocolate to be too sweet.Crushed Candy Canes: These get melted into the hot chocolate for peppermint flavor. Crushed peppermint candies work too! You can also use a few drops of peppermint extract instead.Milk Chocolate Chips: Again, I recommend using high-quality baking chocolate for the best flavor. I always go for Ghirardelli! Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds a little extra flavor to the hot chocolate and makes it taste better overall!

How to Make Peppermint Hot Chocolate

It’s so easy! This is something that even your littles can help out with. My kids love stirring in the milk chocolate chips and watching them melt into smooth, chocolatey goodness.

Add Ingredients to Saucepan: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and milk chocolate chips. Then whisk to combine.Whisk: As the mixture heats up, continue to whisk until the chocolate chips melt. Add in Candy Cane Pieces: Stir in the crushed candy canes. Heat for about 5 minutes and whisk until the candy canes melt. Continue to slowly heat until it reaches the desired temperature.Whisk in Vanilla: Remove from heat, and whisk in the vanilla. Serve and Enjoy: Serve immediately in your favorite mug, and top with your favorite hot chocolate toppings and more crushed candy cane!

Tips and Variations

Customizing your hot chocolate is part of the fun! Here are a few simple ways to switch up your tasty homemade hot cocoa.

Use White Chocolate: Peppermint white hot chocolate is one of my favorite winter drinks. You can easily make this by omitting the cocoa powder and swapping out your chocolate chips for white chocolate candy melts instead!Use Dark Chocolate: If you want your hot chocolate to be richer and more indulgent, go for dark chocolate chips instead! Whenever I’m wanting something more chocolatey and less sweet, I always go for Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips.Make it Dairy-Free: Nut milk, soy milk, and lactose-free milk all work great in this peppermint hot chocolate recipe! To make it extra creamy, you can also add in a splash of dairy-free creamer or heavy cream! You can even find dairy-free whipped cream to use on top. This is a recipe that anyone can enjoy!Make it Spiked: For an adults-only version of this peppermint hot chocolate, try swapping out the crushed candy canes for a splash of peppermint Schnapps.

How Long Does Homemade Hot Chocolate Last?

Make too much hot chocolate? No worries! Here’s how you can keep it fresh and enjoy it throughout the week.

In the Refrigerator: Store peppermint hot chocolate in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave as needed!

Print

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

There’s nothing better than a cup of peppermint hot chocolate for the holidays! This peppermint hot chocolate is rich and creamy with the best minty flavor. Your family will love sipping on it all winter long!
Course Beverage
Cuisine American
Keyword 10 minute, peppermint hot chocolate
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 323kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

4 cups milk 2%, whole, half & half (any milk works, higher the fat makes it creamier)1/4 cup cocoa powder1/4 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup candy canes crushed or peppermint candies1/2 cup milk chocolate chips1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and milk chocolate chips. Whisk to combine.
As the mixture heats up, continue to whisk until the chocolate chips melt.
Stir in the crushed candy canes. Heat for about 5 minutes and whisk until the candy canes melt. Continue to slowly heat until it reaches the desired temperature.
Remove from heat, and whisk in the vanilla.
Serve immediately, and top with your favorite hot chocolate toppings and more crushed candy cane!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 109mg | Potassium: 449mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 446IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 333mg | Iron: 1mg

Italian Charcuterie Board

This classic Italian Charcuterie board is the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Loaded with nuts, dried fruit, cured meats, and a Caprese salad, this charcuterie board is perfect for your next get-together!

Charcuterie boards are the perfect thing to make for any party or special day! It is full of hearty meats and cheeses that keep guests satisfied and the conversation flowing. I am in love with all of the different kinds of boards you can put together, like this adorable Halloween Hocus Pocus board, or this perfect for Christmas wreath-shaped charcuterie board. This simple charcuterie board is a great place to start if you are putting together your first one!

Italian Charcuterie Board

The first time I had a charcuterie board was at a nice restaurant and I didn’t even know how to pronounce it. I thought it was too fancy for me to make at home, and forgot all about it. Then I went to a friends party and there was a charcuterie board! It looked so cute and was full of things I couldn’t wait to dive into. I realized how easy they really were to make at home and have been hooked ever since! I’ve even gotten into veggie boards and dessert boards because honestly things just look so yummy on a board!

This Italian charcuterie board definitely lives up to it’s name. It has a cute little Caprese salad on it, and plenty of cured meats and yummy cheeses. I’ve included all of the steps you need to get started, as well as some ideas of what fruits, nuts, meats, and cheeses to use! The great thing about charcuterie boards, though, is that you can really put whatever you want on it! So feel free to swap out any of the items below.

Let’s Start with Caprese Salad

What is a Caprese salad? Only the best salad ever! It’s just mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze. It is seriously the best salad out there and the perfect way to start your Italian charcuterie board. You could do it front and center, or you can put it off to the side like I did. It was one of the things we ate first so I put it off to the side for that reason. I knew it would disappear fast!

TomatoFresh Sliced MozzarellaFresh BasilBalsamic Glaze

Adding Olives to Italian Charcuterie

You know if it’s an Italian charcuterie board, you HAVE to have some olives on there! I like to get olives that are in jars rather than cans because the ones in the jars actually stay good longer. I prefer Kalamata and green olives, but you could choose whatever you like best. If you don’t like olives, artichokes are a great substitute!

Kalamata OlivesGreen Olives

Meats and Cheeses

This is one of the most important elements on your Italian charcuterie board. You have to have some yummy cured meats and flavorful cheeses. Salami is a cured and aged sausage that has lots of seasoning to it, which means it’s full of flavor. I also love Prosciutto because it’s really fatty and cut really thinly. You could use coppa or ham! It’s a different taste and texture than the salami and it makes for a great mix of flavors. The cheese can be slices, cubes, or creamy. It’s great to have a salty option, like pecorino. It’s a hard cheese that has so much flavor! You could try any cheese you like, and then maybe pick up a cheese you’ve never tried before like burrata. You could also stick to the basics like parmesan or cheddar.

Meats

Black Pepper SalamiSpicy Calabrese Dry SalamiProsciutto di Parma

Cheeses

Pecorino RomanoGorgonzola Mountain

Fruits and Nuts

I like to call this the miscellaneous section! This is the part where you can really have fun with putting things on your Italian charcuterie board. I like to include nuts because I know my family will eat them. I also add crackers and crostini because they go great with cheese and meat. And then don’t forget to add some fresh and dried fruits! These are a nice break from all of the salty and savory items on your board. I love grapes, dried apricots, dried mangos, and raisins. You can really add whatever you want here because it’s your board!

Fruits

Dried ApricotsDried MangoGrapes

Nuts and Crackers

AlmondsVariety of CrackersCrostini

Putting Your Italian Charcuterie Board Together

Now it’s time to put everything on the board! This is the fun part because you really get to think about what would look nice together and how you want people to pick things up. I like to put things I know will definitely get eaten on the outside, and then people can work their way to the center. You will want to put things that can roll around in a bowl, like olives or loose grapes. Then you can even make a few salami roses to make your board look fancy. Just have fun with it, and as long as you like the things on the platter you will love eating it!

Make Caprese: On a large charcuterie board place the Caprese along the side of the board. Drizzle with balsamic glaze.Add Bowls and Olives: Place your small bowls with the olives. Then arrange your meats on the board.Add Cheese and Fruit: Add in the cheese and dried fruit.Fill in Gaps: Fill the rest of the board in with crackers, and then nuts.

Print

Italian Charcuterie Board

This classic Italian Charcuterie board is the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Loaded with nuts, dried fruit, cured meats, and a Caprese salad, this charcuterie board is perfect for your next get-together!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Italian American
Keyword 15 minute, charcuterie board, Italian charcuterie board
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

Caprese:

tomatoFresh Sliced Mozzarellafresh basil balsamic glaze

Olives:

Kalamata Olives Green Olives

Meats:

Black Pepper SalamiSpicy Calabrese Dry SalamiProsciutto di parma

Cheese:

Pecorino RomanoGorgonzola Mountain

Fruits:

Dried ApricotsDried MangoGrapes

Nuts:

AlmondsVariety of CrackersCrostini

Instructions

On a large charcuterie board place the caprese along the side of the board. Drizzle with balsamic glaze.
Place your small bowls with the olives. Arrange your meats on the board.
Add in the cheese and dried fruit.
Fill the rest of the board in with crackers, and nuts.

Eggnog Cookies

These eggnog cookies are soft, chewy, and beautifully flavored with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. They are going to become fast favorites with their heavenly eggnog glaze!

Eggnog cookies are the perfect addition to your holiday cookie repertoire. You’ll have to try my traditional Italian Christmas cookiessnow kiss cookies, and of course my homemade Danish butter cookies, for sweet treats all season long.

Eggnog Cookies Recipe

When eggnog shows up on the grocery store shelves you know the holidays have arrived! Eggnog’s distinct taste and creaminess is delectable. I know some people don’t like eggnog but once they try one of these cookies they’ll be a believer. The eggnog flavor is very subtle and wonderfully balanced with the cinnamon and nutmeg. The cookies themselves are so soft and the glaze on top is divine! My thighs will be thankful that I gave some of these away, but geez it was a hard thing to do!

Super easy to make, these cookies are delicious with a tender crumb and a soft and chewy center. The eggnog glaze gives the cookies that extra special look as well as another delicate kick of eggnog flavor. Even my husband who hates eggnog loved these cookies. The taste just screams Christmas. Grab a mug of peppermint hot chocolate, cozy up on the couch, and eat these to your heart’s content. You’ll thank me later.

Eggnog Cookie Ingredients

Eggnog is readily available from November through December and sometimes even into January. These cookies only use half a cup of eggnog so there will be plenty leftover to drink! You can even use the leftovers in these eggnog meltaways or glazed eggnog pound cake. So good!! Note: all measurements can be found below in the recipe card.

Flour: All-purpose flour works great here! Make sure you measure out your flour to keep your cookies from turning out dry.Baking Powder: Makes your eggnog cookies rise properly in the oven.Nutmeg: A classic holiday spice!Cinnamon: Adds a nice complimentary taste to the nutmeg.White Sugar: Regular granulated sugar will give your cookies the perfect sweetness.Butter: You’ll want your butter to be softened but not melted. This way, it will mix into the cookie dough more easily.Eggnog: You can use light or full-fat eggnog.Vanilla: Adds a nice mellow flavor. Replace with eggnog extract for extra flavor.Egg Yolks: Yes you read that right, just the yolks.

Eggnog Glaze

Powdered Sugar: Sift your powdered sugar to reduce lumps.Eggnog: Add slowly to the powdered sugar to get the perfect smooth consistency.

Let’s Make Eggnog Cookies!

These eggnog cookies are so quick and easy to make! Adding eggnog drizzle and sprinkling them with a touch of nutmeg gives them that elegant look, besides a touch of extra flavor. These are going to be a new family favorite. If you haven’t figured out a dessert for Christmas dinner, these cookies are the perfect choice!

Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Set aside.Butter Mixture: Cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl.Mix Wet Ingredients: Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks.  Beat at medium speed with a mixer until smooth.Combine: Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until combined.  Do not over-mix.Add to Baking Sheet: Use a cookie scoop or spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle the cookies with nutmeg.Bake: Bake 15-18 minutes (mine took 17) until the edges are lightly brown.Prepare Glaze: While the cookies are in the oven make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of eggnog.Add Glaze and Serve: Drizzle the glaze over your cookies and devour!

Tips and Tricks

Making cookies is pretty easy, but I know it can also be tricky to get them just right. Often it’s just a matter of making sure you do a few simple things to perfect them. Here are a few tips and tricks that have really helped me!

The Cookie Sheet: One of the biggest mistakes when making cookies, is spraying the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Unless a recipe tells you specifically to grease a cookie sheet, don’t. The fat in the cookies will melt while the cookies cook and spread on their own. If you spray it they’ll spread too much and become flat and overbaked. Use parchment paper to line your baking tray, not only does it ensure your cookies won’t stick, it makes for easy cleanup.Measure: Measure your ingredients precisely. Getting too much or too little of an ingredient can alter the texture and taste. Especially when it comes to the fat or the flour. Spoon flour into a measuring cup and level with a table knife to get it just right. When it comes to the fat in cookies, whether it’s oil, shortening, or butter, follow the instructions. Melted, softened, or chilled will all affect the outcome of your cookies.Mix: Follow the recipe’s instructions when it comes to mixing. Cream the butter and sugar but don’t over-mix your cookie dough. This can cause too much air to form in the dough which will cause the eggnog cookies to collapse while they bake.

Storing Leftover Eggnog Cookies

I doubt you’ll have leftovers of these tasty eggnog cookies, but if you do, here’s how to keep them tasting fresh!

In the Fridge: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I recommend letting them come to room temperature before you serve them so they’re not hard.

Print

Eggnog Cookies

These eggnog cookies are soft, chewy, and beautifully flavored with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. They are going to become fast favorites with their heavenly eggnog glaze!
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword eggnog cookie recipe, eggnog cookies, eggnog cookies recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 64kcal
Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour1 teaspoon baking powder2 teaspoon nutmeg1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1 1/4 cups white sugar1/2 cup butter softened1/2 cup eggnog1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 egg yolks

Eggnog Glaze:

1 ½ cup powdered sugar3 tablespoons eggnog

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside.
Cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl.
Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks.  Beat at medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until combined.  Do not over-mix.
Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper and sprinkle the cookies with nutmeg.
Bake 15-18 minutes, mine took 17, until the edges are lightly brown.
While the cookies are in the oven make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of eggnog.
Drizzle the glaze over your cookies and devour!

Notes

Originally posted on November 30, 2012

Updated on December 23, 2022

Nutrition

Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 214IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

The Lufthansa Innovation Hub is using Feedly to define the future of strategic intelligence

Case Study
Find out how Lufthansa Innovation Hub defines and interprets new macro-trends in travel and mobility tech

The short version

The customer: Tino Klaehne, Director of Strategic Innovation and Intelligence, Lufthansa Innovation Hub. Lufthansa Innovation Hub is “reinventing the travel of tomorrow.” Tino and his team are on a mission to lead the way for how strategic intelligence is done in the travel industry.

The challenge: No process for strategic intelligence. Gathering research used to involve sporadically visiting Google and searching by keywords. LIH needed a systematized way to gather, analyze, and prioritize intelligence in one place. 

The solution: Spotting trends faster with an AI engine. LIH integrated Feedly’s AI engine into their tech stack to track macro trends and define trends inside the category of Travel and mobility tech. They use Feedly’s AI Leo Models to build their own intelligence engine based on their own definitions and categories at the forefront of travel innovation.

The results: An industry-leading process 

An industry-leading process that is 3-5X faster than traditional strategic intelligence gathering

Regularly-publishes trend reports in the TNMT newsletter with 10,000+ subscribers

5+ former employees have introduced Feedly to their new companies

Start building your strategic intelligence process. Try Feedly for Market Intelligence to track emerging trends, monitor competitors, identify business opportunities, and share insights with your organization.

Spotting trends almost before they happen

Lufthansa Innovation Hub has used Feedly to become thought leaders in their industry. With the help of Feedly’s powerful AI search engine Leo, they have defined a new research category at the intersection of travel and mobility technology, spotting trends and shifts in the industry almost before they happen. Read more about how they did it in this case study:

THE CUSTOMER
Lufthansa Innovation Hub: “reinventing the travel of tomorrow”

With only 40 team members in a company of more than 100,000 people worldwide, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH) is a small part of the larger Lufthansa Group — but they’ve never let that stop them from having a big impact on reinventing the future of travel. Tino Klaehne, LIH’s Director of Strategic Innovation and Intelligence, explains, “We have a thought leadership strategy. We have our own newsletter and our own platform, TNMT. Our branding is neon green. We make noise.” 

The TNMT newsletter reaches over 10,000 internal and external subscribers, and the entire innovation team is dedicated to setting the standard for cutting-edge, data-driven strategic research.

Our mantra is unconventional data perspectives. Our analysts use all sorts of different data perspectives to track information from thousands of sources. We don’t produce generic desk research–we create high-quality content with a data-driven perspective.”

Tino Klaehne, Director of Strategic Innovation and Intelligence, Lufthansa Innovation Hub

THE CHALLENGE
Building a systematic approach to strategic intelligence

When Tino Klaehne first started working at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH) in 2017, things looked very different than they do today. The team was still in the early stages of developing their research processes, and their approach was ineffective and time-consuming. 

There was no easy way to store or collect interesting findings in a central location. They needed to develop a more systemic approach to strategic intelligence gathering, so they could scan the horizon and connect the dots more effectively. 

“At the time, our approach to research was really immature. People would Google a few keywords or visit a couple of websites when they had time here and there. Nothing was tracked,” Tino recalls. 

LIH needed an effective way to gather, analyze, and prioritize intelligence from millions of different sources into a single feed. They also needed a system to get alerted when key topics came up, without drowning in the noise of irrelevant data. “We wanted to really professionalize our approach. And we needed to find the right tools for the job.” 

We wanted to really professionalize our approach. And we needed to find the right tools for the job.”

Tino Klaehne, Director of Strategic Innovation and Intelligence, Lufthansa Innovation Hub

THE SOLUTION
Using Feedly’s AI Engine to research and define the future of their market: Travel and Mobility Tech

LIH was able to go one step further than just professionalizing their intelligence-gathering: They have defined their arena at the intersection of travel, mobility, and tech (TNMT).

TNMT brings together traditionally-siloed interests that cover the entire ecosystem of products and services around the travel experience, from accommodation to space travel. 

By adopting Feedly’s AI engine, Leo to discover and research new market opportunities, LIH gathers and synthesizes intelligence that covers this entire category. They can shape, test, and validate hypotheses that will define the future of travel. 

“It’s strategically powerful to be able to define our own category and be the leaders in what we’re doing. And that’s where Feedly comes in. It allows us to create our own definitions and categories, beyond standard industry definitions. We can build everything around this TNMT model and see what we find there.” 

“Blurred Travel” and other future trends

When Tino and his team identify a new “fuzzy concept” or broader trend that they want to research and define, they set up a new Feedly Board on the topic and add relevant articles from other boards. From there, one of their analysts will define which keywords to track. They will build a Web Alert and gradually refine it, adding models and muting terms to filter out the noise. 

A Leo Web Alert that Tino and his team have created to track the “fuzzy concept” of Blurred Travel, combining existing Leo Models like “Bleisure travel”, “Remote work”, and the “Travel & Hospitality Industry”.

For example, LIH has coined the model of “Blurred Travel,” a shift they’re seeing as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, where business and leisure travel are increasingly merging. “It’s really hard to search for a term if you’re the one coining it,” Tino says. “To validate our hypotheses, we try to put different models together and look at what is coming through Feedly to see what is happening out there.”

An excerpt about Blurred Travel from a recent issue of LIH’s TNMT newsletter.

Tracking innovation via venture capital investments 

LIH also uses Web Alerts in Feedly to track venture capital investments in travel and mobility tech in order to predict how the industry will evolve. “Venture capital investments are one of our key metrics to determine innovation patterns,” Tino explains. “We want to know where smart people are putting a lot of money, and to understand why it’s happening. It’s a really good proxy indicator for us.” LIH publishes the only regular report with in-depth research on this topic. 

“Venture capital investments are one of our key metrics to determine innovation patterns. We want to know where smart people are putting a lot of money, and to understand why it’s happening. It’s a really good proxy indicator for us”

They also track over 3,000 startups to keep an eye out for investment and partnership opportunities with startups in related industries, like sustainable fuel, air taxis, and the creator economy.

LIH tracks funding events in the travel industry, because they tend to be an indicator of innovation patterns. Here, they’ve set up a Web Alert in Feedly so Leo will surface articles around these models. 

Integrating Feedly into their processes and tech stack

Part of what makes Feedly so effective for LIH is the way the team has been able to deeply integrate Feedly into their processes and the rest of their tech stack. 

Tino and the LIH team use Leo Models, a collection of machine learning models that continuously read millions of articles to analyze and tag key concepts in real-time. For example, they employ the Partnerships and Funding Leo Models to keep a close eye on partnerships that other airlines are forming with startups. This gives them a clearer sense of the direction their industry is heading and what other companies are prioritizing. 

LIH also uses Feedly as the jumping off point for kickstart new projects: Employees combine Leo Models in Web Alerts, which track and find relevant content continuously. Through the Web Alerts they’ve set up, the team finds useful content and regularly adds it to Boards. 

When a new project starts, employees search those Boards to see what’s been gathered on the topic and what information is already out there, curated by their team in Feedly. They’ll then create a new Board and connect it to the Slack channel for that project to keep all relevant research in one place. 

Company onboarding at LIH even includes a Feedly tutorial. That’s how deeply we want Feedly to be embedded in our processes says Tino.

THE RESULTS
Faster, more insightful research that looks toward the future

Over the years, LIH’s reputation has grown. Their Travel & Mobility Tech newsletter, TNMT, now has over 10,000 subscribers, including both internal stakeholders and thousands of readers outside the company who rely on LIH’s analysis and research. Without Feedly, Tino estimates that intelligence gathering would take at least 3-5x longer, and wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

A recent issue of the TNMT newsletter, highlighting LIH’s research and analysis around investments into air-taxi startups.

Tino’s team is currently starting to build workflows that will make it easier for more teams to set up Feedly and other research tools to gather their own data independently. “We believe this has the potential to become a strategic intelligence layer for the entire Lufthansa Group, built around Feedly and a few other key tools,” Tino says. 

Feedly at the heart of their toolbox

LIH’s confidence in Feedly continues to grow, and they anticipate it continuing far into the future. They recently signed a three-year contract with Feedly so LIH can continue to build their future-focused processes with Feedly as their AI engine.

Even after analysts leave LIH, they continue to choose Feedly, Tino says. Feedly is such an integral part of the strategic intelligence tech stack that at least five former LIH employees have brought Feedly with them to new jobs. 

“Feedly is the core of our toolbox. We appreciate the close collaboration we have, and we really like the improvements and new features they are releasing. We feel like we’re progressing at the same time, together.” 

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Try Feedly for Market Intelligence to track emerging trends, monitor competitors, identify business opportunities, and share insights with your organization.

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Track regulatory changes in your industry

Market Intelligence
Stay on top of new or changing regulations with Feedly’s AI Engine

We heard from a lot of innovation and strategy teams that it is increasingly harder to keep up with regulatory changes.

We are excited to announce our new machine learning model that flags new and changing regulations and helps you:

Track the new laws that are affecting your market

Monitor the regulations that are affecting new technologies

Keep up with any regulatory and clinical trial developments in the biopharma industry

Curious how it works? Here is a quick tour:

The problem

Regulatory Changes – A machine learning model that flags new or changing regulations

An AI powered research experience

More relevant results than basic keyword searches

Popular regulatory changes use cases

Bonus – Quickly identify key regulatory changes sentences

Speed up your market intelligence research

Regulatory changes is one of the machine learning models included in Feedly for Market Intelligence. Start a free 30-day trial to see how Feedly can help you speed up your market intelligence.

Start 30-day free trial

Track the latest patents filed on your market

Market Intelligence
Keep up with the innovation strategies of your competitors with Feedly’s AI Engine

We heard from our market intelligence customers that it is extremely time consuming to keep up with latest patents in their industry.

We are excited to announce our new Leo Model: ‘New Patents’, a machine learning model that allows you to keep up with the innovation strategies of your competitors by tracking recent patents filed on your market.

Curious how it works? Here is a quick tour:

The problem

Our solution – A machine learning model that flags new patents

An AI powered research experience

More relevant results than basic keyword searches

Popular new patent use cases

Bonus – Quickly identify key new patent sentences

Speed up your market intelligence research

New patents is one of the machine learning models included in Feedly for Market Intelligence. Start a free 30-day trial to see how Feedly can help you speed up your market intelligence.

Start 30-day free trial

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