Heath Sand – A German Christmas Cookie

In German these cookies are called Heidesand. They are traditional Christmas cookies but you can find them all year round today. This recipe is easy and perfect.

Heidesand is a short cake, a tea cookie made of short pastry. In North Germany they are traditionally served during Christmas time.

The ingredients are simple: just flour, butter and sugar. As I eat only the gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free versions of everything. I tried my own version and I liked it very much. The cookies are exactly as I remember them: very short, friable and smooth in the taste.

The key-ingredient is the butter – in this case the ghee. You need to melt and let it brown a little bit. Then let the ghee cool out and use it for the dough. That gives the cookies a special taste.

I kneaded the cookie dough with my hand as I think with the warmth of the hand the ghee incorporates better than with a cold hook. But that is something everyone has to do as he/she likes. Like all short pastry it has to be in a cool place for an hour or so before getting the shape you want and baked. I prepared in advance two sausages, so I could cut them later in slices and bake.

If you like you can roll the slices one by one in granulated sugar (I used Xylitol) before baking, or also afterwards. I didn’t do.

My cookies are three different versions: one patch with Goji berries and grounded pistachios, one with only vanilla and one half vanilla, half chocolate (I used cacao).

In an air-tide container they could survive until Christmas if you make them early. I say could because they are too good to stay long.





Let’s cookie!

Heidesand
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
40 cookies 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
40 cookies 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10 minutes 1 hour
Heidesand
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
40 cookies 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
40 cookies 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10 minutes 1 hour
Ingredients
Servings: cookies
Instructions
  1. In a pan melt the ghee, let it lightly brown and let it cool.
  2. Put all the other ingredients in a bowl, add the melted butter and combine all the together. Form two rolls/sausages of 4 cm diameter, wrap them in a plastic foil and let them cool in a cold place for around one hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F.
  4. Now take the cookie dough rolls out of the fridge, take away the plastic wrap and cut the rolls in slices of half a centimeter/0.4 inches.
  5. Place the slices on a baking tray with parchment paper and in the oven for around 10 - 12 minutes. Check the color, they have to be golden.
  6. Take them out of the oven and let them cool out on a cooling rack.
  7. Store them in an air-tide container.
Recipe Notes

You can make them also with chocolate, or nuts, or what ever you like. 

They can be stored for weeks in an air-tide container.

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