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plate of swirl cookies with marzipan seen from above.
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4.67 from 3 votes

German Walnut Marzipan Cookies

Walnut marzipan cookies, German-style. Pretty swirl cookies, incredibly delicious and perfect for the holiday season.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time42 minutes
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: German
Servings: 50
Calories: 87kcal
Author: Adina

Equipment

  • 2 cookie sheets
  • Food processor or electric mixer with hook attachments

Ingredients

Cookie dough (Note 1):

  • 250 g all-purpose flour 9 oz/ 2 cups
  • 70 g granulated sugar 2.5 oz/ ⅓ cup
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 egg large
  • 125 g unsalted butter very cold 4.5 oz/ ½ cup
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract Note 2

Marzipan filling:

  • 50 g granulated sugar 1.7 oz/ ¼ cup
  • 150 g ground walnuts 5.3 oz/ 1 ¼ cups
  • 1 egg white
  • 25 g marzipan paste 0.8 oz/ ¼ cup grated and loosely packed, Notes 3, 4

Instructions

Cookie dough:

  • Combine: Place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse shortly to mix the ingredients. Add egg, cubed butter, and vanilla extract. Pulse a few times until you obtain rough crumbs.
  • Knead: Turn the pastry onto the working surface and knead quickly to form a ball.
  • Refrigerate: Wrap the ball in plastic and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

  • Mix sugar, ground walnuts, egg white, and grated marzipan until you obtain a paste.

Make cookies:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Flour the working surface and the rolling pin.
  • Roll the pastry into a rectangle (40 cm/ 16 inches and 22 cm/ 8.5 inches wide). Halve the pastry lengthwise to get two long strips of pastry.
    Halve these strips widthwise as well.
    In the end, you should have 4 pastry strips, each about 20 cm/ 8 inches long and about 11 cm/ 4.5 cm wide.
  • Fill dough: Divide the filling between the pastry strips and spread all over using a knife or your fingers (I found it easier with the fingers, messier but easier). Roll the pastry strips into sausages. Cut each sausage into about 4 mm/ 1.5-inch-thick slices.
  • Bake: Place the slices on the prepared trays. Bake for about 12 -15 minutes until golden.

Notes

  1. Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
  2. You can replace vanilla extract with 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar if available.
  3. Marzipan or almond paste: The kind used for baking, not the expensive one, sold to be eaten as it is. The marzipan paste can be eaten as it is, but it is less delicate, less expensive, and is meant to be used in baking or for decorating cakes.
  4. Marzipan is often called almond paste in North America, although the two are not quite the same thing. However, you can substitute marzipan with almond paste in this recipe.
  5. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. Freeze them between layers of waxed paper for up to 3 months. Defrost on the counter.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 21mg | Sugar: 7g