Heidesand is a delicious crumbly German cookie, made from an especially sandy shortcrust pastry dough. It is a very popular cookie in northern Germany and is enjoyed all year round.
If you are looking for north German cookies in particular, then check out this Hanseaten cookie recipe.
Origins
This biscuit has its home in northern Germany. It was named after the region of Lüneburger Heide. Lüneburger Heide is about an hour's drive from Bremen and one of the most beautiful places around here. If you plan to visit then the best time is August when the heather is in full bloom. "Heide" is another word for heather in Germany. The heathland is known for its sandy earth, and I guess this is why the Heidesand biscuit was named. Also, the colour of the biscuit (when not coloured by the cocoa-like mine) is the same colour as the sand dunes of the German North Sea. An old saying says that if you place one of those biscuits onto your tongue it will dissolve in your mouth as the north sea sand does under your feet.
As I am writing this in October, I don't have a picture of the Lüneburger Heide in full bloom but thankfully pixabay could help me out here.
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When and where to eat Heidesand Cookies?
Traditionally it is known as a Christmas cookie, but the bakery near me sells them all year round. There are different variations of this recipe - but I like this one. It reminds me of the biscuits my uncle used to make in his bakery.
I think calling it a German shortbread might be misleading because the consistency is way lighter and sandier than the British shortbread. I think this is due to the lightness of the confectionary sugar. However, one thing is for sure Heidesand means as much to a person from Friesen as Shortbread means to a person from Scotland.
The beauty of this recipe is that it is so easy to make. If just pantry ingredients. It also keeps up to three weeks in an airtight container.
Recipe
German Shortbread Recipe - Heidesand
Equipment
- baking paper
- oven tray
- cling film
Ingredients
- 375 g (3 cups) flour Germany flour 405, UK plain flour, USA cake or pastry flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 120 g (1 cups) powdered sugar also known as confectioners/ icing sugar
- 250 g (1 cup) butter chilled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Instructions
Preparing the dough
- Sift the flour, baking powder (affiliate link), and powdered sugar into a bowl. This helps prevent lumps in the dough.
- Add in butter, salt, and vanilla extract (affiliate link). Knead with both hands until you achieve a smooth dough.
- Half the dough. Add the cocoa to one-half and knead until it is absorbed.1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- Divide the white and the brown dough into four equal-sized balls each.2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Take one of each and knead together until you achieve a nice marble pattern. Repeat until you have four equally sized marbled balls. Now combine them into one big roll which has a (Ø 5 cm/ 2 inch)
- Coat the roll in granulated sugar before wrapping it in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for around 1 hour. The butter will firm up again, making it easier to cut later.2 tablespoon granulated sugar, 250 g butter
Cut the cookies
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 160°C/ 320°F circulated heat, 180°C/ 356°F top to bottom heat.
- Slice the roll into little biscuits, just less than 0.5 cm/quarter-inch thick, and place onto a tray lined with some baking paper
- Bake for around 10-12 minutes. They will be a little soft when you remove them from the oven, but they will harden once cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Lauren says
My daughter-in-law is German but lives here in the UK, and her sister makes Heidesand biscuits back in Germany and gave me a recipe that I tweaked a bit. I made them for having with coffee after our Christmas meal. They were a real hit. Doubling the recipe I made several different flavours not just the marbled one, and I partially dipped in white or milk chocolate and sprinkled finely chopped hazels, pistachios or pecans and used syrups and extracts for different flavours.
ANYWAYS... they are so much better than Easter biscuits, so I have made another double recipe and wanted to ask can I roll them out and use a biscuit cutter? Probably would only do an egg shape as I think rabbit ears might just run together when they bake because there is so much butter and no egg? Help? Please? I have 5 balls of dough in the fridge ready to go! <3
Marita Sinden says
Hi Lauren, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Have a look at the Schwarz-Weiss Gebäck - which is a similar though but you can make lots of great shapes with them. As to your question, whether you can roll it out! Of course you can! It is a simple shortbread dough. If you make it egg shaped, than I would just shape your roll into an egg shape and cut them like that. As for an easy cut out cookie, I would recommend using my Butter Cookie recipe. They are well loved in my family.
Emily says
I love this recipe. I made it the first time perfectly, it reminds me of my childhood in Germany! I was wondering if I would be able to freeze the dough log so I could bake it at a later date? Thanks!
Marita Sinden says
Thank you Emily. Yes freezing the dough will work really well!
Linda D says
This was in your recipe for
Heidesand cookies.
"120 g confectioners (icing) sugar 1 cup
250 g butter 1 cup - cold"
I'm a bit confused how can 120 g and 250 g both equal 1 cup?
Thank you
Marita Sinden says
Hi Linda, thanks for your comment. Its powdered sugar. I updated the description, as I think powdered sugar is the term most commonly used. So its not granulated sugar.
I have also confected inthe imperial measurements for you. You can just change it in the recipe card. Hope this helps.
Judith says
only found your post last night and tonight made Heidesand. Cookies came out perfect, very easy to make, well explained and beautiful end results.
Earlier I also made Nut corners for the first time ever and they were much easier then I expected and are absolutely divine.
Also, your free cook book looks great and will attempt the hunter sauce tomorrow.
Thank you so much, your efforts are well appreciated by me and all my boys x4
Judith
Marita says
Hi Judith,
thanks for feedback! I am glad you enjoyed them. THanks for trying my recipes!
Nick Wolf says
Hi Marita …
Looks like just the recipe I want to try for my German parents! Question, you mention salt in the instructions (3),but I don’t see salt listed in the ingredients? Also, is caster sugar the same as granulated sugar? Thanks! Nick
Marita says
Hi Nick, thanks for your comment. Yes it is just 1 pinch of salt and I updated the recipe for you. Caster sugar is finder than granulated sugar. It is a British ingredient. Granulated sugar will work just fine. Hope your grandparents will like them.
Thanks
Marita
Nick says
Nick again. Getting ready to bake. Is the butter supposed to be soft and combined with ingredients using a mixer? Or melted? Or cold and done with a pastry cutter?
Marita says
Hi Nick, thanks for your comment. Just like with British shortbread, the butter should be cold. This will make the biscuit more crumbly. You can combine it with a mixer but with short crust pastry dough, I like to use my hands.