Oma's Best Christmas "Quark" Stollen Recipe with Marzipan & Greek Yogurt ❤️

➤ by Oma Gerhild Fulson

This non-yeast Christmas Stollen recipe is the BEST in my opinion. Why? Because it's always moist, has a wonderful flavor, and is so super quick to make. 

Best of all, this Quark Stollen (but I use Greek yogurt instead of Quark) is ready to serve immediately and doesn't need to age like the yeasted Stollen. 

As well, the Stollen made with yeast, such as the Dresdener Stollen (considered the traditional German Christmas Stollen) needs to rise twice during the making process. 

And to make it extra special, I add a roll of Marzipan right down the middle, so that everyone gets a bit. Lecker Lecker!!!!

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Quark vs Cottage Cheese vs Greek Yogurt

My Mutti made a very similar stollen, but used cottage cheese that she would cream by pressing through a metal sieve. She had no access to quark in the northern Canadian city that we emigrated to. 

And, in those early 1950's, she didn't know how to make quark herself (no way to google for info, back then.)

However, if you're wanting to make this with quark, just use the same measurements as I do using the Greek yogurt. 

Or, you can easily make your own make your own quark using buttermilk.

For me, it's just much simpler to use the Greek yogurt. It's so readily available. I use the full-fat type. After all, this IS Christmas! It's not the time for a diet.

You choose how to fill the Stollen ...

There are the traditional 'fillings' for a Stollen recipe. The most traditional of all, the Dresdener Christstollen, has candied lemon peel, dried fruits and nuts. It usually has a roll of marzipan down the middle. 

You can choose to make your quarkstollen the same way. For me, I prefer to use golden raisins, dried cranberries, and almond slivers. For flavoring, I use vanilla. Marzipan? Absolutely!

Don't like the candied lemon peel or fruit? Then omit them. I did. I prefer using just raisins and dried cranberries. You choose what you'd like, keeping the total quantities about the same.

Another great addition is lemon zest. You can easily add around 1 tbsp to this mixture. Or, perhaps use almond extract instead of vanilla. Your choice.

Not adding Marzipan, ...

If you decide to make yours without marzipan, then shaping it is very easy. Make it as a longish loaf shape. Then press one side (lengthwise) down a bit.

That way, when you slice the stollen (after it is baked) the pieces will have one side higher than the other. This is the traditional shape. BUT, you can just keep it as a longish loaf. After all, looks isn't everything. :)

How to make your Stollen

Although the recipe below looks quite long, it actually is a very easy, one-bowl recipe. 

Get all your ingredients out, measure them, and you'll be able to literally throw everything together.

Once the dry ingredients are in the bowl, create a crater in the middle.

Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the melted butter and powdered sugar.)

You can first mix with a wooden spoon, or just get your hand in it right away. Feels so good!!!!

Knead it lightly until it holds to together. It will be a bit sticky, but that's ok. If it's very moist, and this will depend totally on how moist your Greek yogurt is, you can add a bit more flour.

Then take your dough and plop it onto some parchment paper. Push it into a rectangular shape. Cover with another sheet of parchment and use your rolling pin to roll to a 9-inch by 12-inch rectangle.

Pull off top parchment paper and place marzipan roll right down the middle. 

Using the parchment paper to lift one side of the stollen dough over the marzipan so that it almost folds in half, but not quite. You want the final stollen to be thicker on one side than the other. 

Carefully pull back the parchment paper. Cut off this extra paper. You will be putting the stollen with its parchment on top of the parchment paper on the baking sheet. The bits of dough stuck to this, as shown below, will burn if not removed.

And, it's easier to move the dough with the paper than trying to lift the unbaked stollen to put onto the baking sheet.

Using your fingers, moistened with water, press down the top edge so that it sticks to the bottom. Then push in the outer edges a bit to give the stollen appearance.

Once baked, let the "quark" stollen cool momentarily. Get your butter melted and have your powdered sugar ready to go. Place your stollen on top of a rack. Placing some parchment paper underneath will make clean-up a breeze.

Brush the very warm stollen with melted butter. Do NOT skimp with this. If you want, you can first poke your stollen with a wooden pick so that the butter absorbs a bit into the cake.

With the stollen still very warm and covered with melted butter, dust the powdered sugar over the top of the cake using a sieve. Make the layer of sugar quite thick. It will absorb into the butter as it sits.

As is sits, you can always dust more powdered sugar on top if you wish. 

And .... it's ready to serve. No need to let this sit for days or weeks to mellow. It's ready to go.

It does taste better the next day, but even when it's still just a tad warm from the oven, covered in the butter and powdered sugar, this is a treat!

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