Marzipan and Christmas belong together like peanut butter and jelly. At least for me. Ok, you can eat marzipan actually all year round, but around Christmas, it makes sense the most for me ;) It’s basically everywhere you look right now. Little (fake) marzipan fruits, confectionery, cakes, and pastries – it’s being used everywhere right now. Here as well in these delicious Espresso Marzipan Chocolate Cookies… that was quite obvious, right?! ;)
If you are not familiar with German Christmas cookies you probably won’t recognize the connection to a classic German Christmas bake here. These cookies are based on or let’s say “inspired” by the classic Frankfurter Bethmännchen – cookies made with a marzipan/almond dough, small delicious treats everyone loves around Christmas. The base is similar, but I added some chocolate, espresso powder, and pistachios to the mix – and the result is even better than the original cookies. Sorry, if you are a Bethmännchen fan and think this is an abomination ;P
I bake a lot around Christmas. It’s a tradition here in Germany to have a big plate with Christmas cookies on the first Advent Sunday, which is 4 weeks before Christmas… so the baking actually starts in late November already. I have a bunch of classic recipes I always bake, but besides that, I gave myself the task to create and try at least 1-2 new recipes each year. These cookies here are the result of last year’s experiment and I think they turned out pretty good! Same for these Matcha Crescents. I think we should all be a bit more adventurous when it comes to trying new recipes – not only for Christmas cookies ;)
By the way, here is a small overview of my favorite German Christmas cookies – many classics, but also some variations I created over the years. Check them out…
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
8.8 oz. (250g) marzipan for baking
1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
1 oz. (30g) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. instant espresso powder
1 medium egg
1 tsp. heavy cream
2-3 tbsp. pistachios, chopped
250g Marzipanrohmasse
60g Puderzucker
30g Mehl (Type 550)
2 EL Kakao
1 EL Instand Espresso Pulver
1 Ei (M)
1 TL Sahne
2-3 EL Pistazien, gehackt
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Shape about 25 small balls and place them on the baking sheet. Brush with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with some chopped pistachios. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down on a wire rack.
2. Den Ofen auf 150°C (300°F) vorheizen. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen. Aus dem Teig etwa 25 Kugeln formen und flachdrücken – funktioniert am besten mit angefeuchteten Händen. Auf das Blech setzen und mit der Eigelb-Sahne-Mischung bepinseln. Ein paar gehackte Pistazien auf jedes Plätzchen streuen, etwas festdrücken und dann für 20-22 Minuten backen. Aus dem Ofen holen und auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen.
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Espresso Chocolate Marzipan Cookies
- Prep Time: 00:15
- Cook Time: 00:22
- Total Time: 00:40
- Yield: 25
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: German
Description
Delicious sweet Chrismas cookies with a little kick: Espresso Chocolate Marzipan Cookies. So good!
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Enjoy baking!
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
