Authentic Bethmännchen - Marzipan Almond Cookies

A glas cake platter with Frankfurter Bethmännchen placed on top.

5 from 7 votes

Authentic Bethmännchen - Marzipan Almond Cookies

Try this delicious speciality from Frankfurt. It is a cookie formed into a ball of marzipan with, icing /confectioners sugar, almonds and rosewater

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1

Servings cookies

Calories 37kcal

Author Marita

Equipment

Ingredients

50 g whole almonds
200 g marzipan 8 oz
80 g ground almonds ¾ cup
1 egg
80 g powdered sugar / icing sugar 2.8 oz/ ¾ cup
2 tablespoon flour
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon rosewater
2 tablespoon orange liquor (you can substitute with Amaretto if you prefer)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Add a little water (about 500 ml into a saucepan and add the almonds to it. Bring the water to a boil for no longer than 2 minutes. Then quickly strain the almonds. You will find that the skin just slips off the nuts. With a knife (now is the best time as they are softened) slice the almonds in half lengthwise. Spread them on a paper towel to dry.
50 g whole almonds
Separate the egg and place the egg yolk and egg white into separate bowls. Place the egg yolk in the fridge until needed.
1 egg
Sieve the icing /confections sugar to avoid any lumps. Roughly chop the marzipan in smaller pieces. Mix with the sugar, flour, ground almonds, egg white and orange liqueur and knead to a homogenous dough.
200 g marzipan, 80 g ground almonds, 1 egg, 80 g powdered sugar / icing sugar, 2 tablespoon flour
Next form the dough into an even roll and with a knife cut of equally size pieces. (I weighted them to ensure that they were equal and for me they were roughly 20 g each).
Form the dough pieces into balls and place them on the baking tray. (My balls had a rough 3 cm diameter)
Press three almond halves into each ball. (see picture)
Now mix the milk and egg yolks. Apply the egg wash with a pastry brush on the cookies. I like to also apply a further tablespoon or rosewater (affiliate link) or orange liquer onto the cookies before baking.
4 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon rosewater
Preheat your oven to 170°C or 338°F top to bottom heat and bake your cookies for approximately 15 minutes.
Leave to cool. If desired you can dust them with icing sugar before serving.

Notes

I strongly recommend checking on the step by step instruction pictures on the main post.

Recipe Variations

There are not one recipe for these iconic Frankfurter cookies but every Frankfurt family has their own. Here are some ways you can adapt the recipe:

without egg - to make vegan Bethmännchen simply omit the egg in the dough. Instead of coating the cookie with egg wash, you can brush it with a little lemon juice and (soya, oak or almond) milk instead. Naturally, the bethmännchen is without butter.
without flour - You do not have to use the flour in the recipe. Lots of recipes don't but I like adding it for the consistency and flavour. (Otherwise, I think it gets to sweet). This will make the cookies gluten-free.
without rosewater (affiliate link) - You do not have to add
the rosewater (affiliate link) into the dough nor brush with it. It is traditional to use rosewater (affiliate link) but not obligatory.
non-alcoholic bethmännchen - If you do not want to use liquor, it is fine. For me the best liquors are orange liqueur (affiliate link) or amaretto (affiliate link). But you can leave it out.

Storage Instructions

These traditional cookies from Frankfurt will stay fresh for up to 4 weeks. It is important that you leave them too cool entirely before placing them in a cookie tin (affiliate link).

This will prevent them from sticking together and preserve their look. Ideally, you will store each type of cookie in a separate cooking tin. If you want to store several kinds of cookies in the same tin, I would advise you to separate them with baking parchment so the flavours do not merge.

Nutrition