Gluten Free Christmas Stollen

CC#1 and I both received doctor’s orders to reduce carbs and sugar in our diet. Easier said than done, even for a family in which soda has always been a controlled substance and refined grains and flours have been quite limited in my cooking. But both Daddy and girls have a sweet tooth. One of our favorite Christmas sweeties is Stollen, full of butter, sugar and boos. I happened to have found a good alternative: a recipe from Youtube by a German lady (Weltverborgen) which promises to be better and healthier than regular old Christmas Stollen. This is the lady who turned a can of black beans into very good looking (but not so tasty) dinner rolls so she has plenty “street cred”. With some modifications, the loaf is now wrapped for the two-week wait before we get to taste it.

Ingredients:

• 300g chopped dates, prunes, apricots

• 40g raisins

• 70g rum-soaked raisins and cranberries

• 30g candied orange peels and candied ginger, chopped

• 160g mixed nuts (almonds, walnut, pecan, pumpkin seeds)

• 65g oat flour

• 65g flax seed flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 120g cold water

• 20g soaking rum for dried fruit

Instructions:

• Mix nuts and dried fruits

• Add oat flour, flax seed flower, and baking powder and mix well by hand

• Add fluids and mix well by hand

• Let sit for at least 10 minutes and mix again by hand

• Shape into a boule and place on parchment paper on baking pan

• Bake at 335F for 60 minutes

• Optional: Melt 2 tbsp of butter and brush on surface of bread, roll in sugar and wrap tight for 2-week wait.

Post-script: This healthier GF stollen is absolutely fantastic and I would consider replacing our normal stollen.