German Heidesand Cookies

Heidesand or heath sand are traditional German cookies, shortcrust pastry usually made with brown butter, rolled in sugar, sliced and then baked. Really simple but really good.

These heidesand cookies were probably the first cookies I had many years ago when I first came to Germany and I celebrated my first Christmas here.

My husband’s grandmother who still lived in the house at the time used to make lots of different but all very traditional cookies every December. German cookies like Vanillekipferl or Spitzbuben.

She would pack them in tins and keep them all through the holiday season, we would still get to eat some in January. I didn’t bake anything in those days so my husband was very happy to have his grandma making these treats for him. Me too, actually.

Last year was the first time I have made these heidesand cookies using the original recipe. This year I have changed things little bit and I have to say I liked this version of heidesand even more than the original one.

I didn’t brown the butter anymore, but instead, I flavored the pastry with some marzipan and lemon zest. I absolutely love that lemon zest-marzipan aroma in these cookies, you definitely do not want to miss it.

More Christmas cookies?

German Walnut Marzipan Cookies

French Palmiers

Almond Cookies without Eggs

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Ginger Snaps Recipe – Candied Ginger Cookies

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German Heidesand Cookies

Yield: 35

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Heidesand or heath sand are traditional German cookies, shortcrust pastry usually made with brown butter, rolled in sugar, sliced and then baked. Really simple but really good.

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Ingredients

• 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ scant ½ cup soft unsalted butter
• 50 g/ 1.7 oz/ ½ cup icing sugar
• 25 g/ 0.8 oz/ ¼ cup grated and loosely packed marzipan paste
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 organic lemon, only the zest
• 125 g/4.4 oz/ 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Mix together the soft butter, icing sugar, grated marzipan paste, vanilla sugar, or extract and grated lemon zest using a handheld mixer. The mixture should get creamy. Sieve the flour over this mixture and incorporate it. Form a long pastry roll, about 4 cm/ 1.6 inch thick. Halve the roll, wrap each half in plastic foil and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
3. Whisk the egg yolk with a fork and brush the pastry rolls all over. Place the granulated sugar on a plate and toss the roll to coat in sugar. Cut the rolls into ½ cm/ 0.2 inch slices. Place the pastry slices on the baking trays and bake for about 10-15 minutes until the cookies are golden.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 35 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 77Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 22mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.