The German Christmas Cookbook

Rooted in the holiday traditions of Germany’s Black Forest, this collection brings together festive baking and celebratory winter cooking, with both sweet and savory recipes for the Christmas season. While many entries follow well-established traditions, baker and author Jürgen Krauss brings a few quiet personal touches to the table.

Best known in the U.S. as a fan favorite on The Great British Baking Show, Krauss draws here on the holiday traditions of his childhood in Germany’s Black Forest. While most of the recipes stay close to established classics, a few include quiet adaptations—his jam-filled Linzer cookies, for instance, use a cocoa-based dough, and his version of Black Forest bread substitutes coconut oil for lard.

Alongside classic cookies like walnut-coffee crescents and yogurt stollen, the book includes recipes for spätzle with cheese and onion, chicken in white wine sauce, and smoked pork  wrapped in bread dough. There are suggested menus for Christmas Eve meals—when German families traditionally gather to exchange gifts—and a final chapter with treats from Christmas markets, like roasted almonds and mulled wine.

Step-by-step instructions are clear and direct. Photos are inviting, with a mix of finished dishes and personal scrapbook-style images that reflect the author’s own holiday memories.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.