Virtual Cookie Exchange 2019: More German Cookies and Pattern Giveaway
Thank you so much, Carol, for hosting the Virtual Cookie Exchange once again. I have collected so many interesting cookie recipes during this blog hop, I will be busy for years trying them all out! I have only been living in North America since 2013, and German Christmas baking is very different from North American Christmas baking. And while I enjoy trying new recipes, our Christmas baking is still mostly German, and I will be sharing another of my favourite German recipes.
Today’s recipe is called “Haselnussblüten” which literally translates to “Hazelnut Blossoms”. They do not look like real hazelnut blossoms though, just flower shaped cookies with ground hazelnuts in the dough. Ground hazelnuts and almonds are staples in German Christmas baking, and while I can get ground almonds at the grocery store here, I have trouble finding ground hazelnuts for my baking. There is a store in Vancouver that carries them but it took a while to get used to having to drive 100 km for some ground hazelnuts. The recipe calls for ground cinnamon and cloves, just a pinch of each. I usually add more. It really depends on what you like, and I love the taste of cinnamon. (I also double the amount of spices I put into my pumpkin pie, not just cinnamon but also ginger and cloves.) Feel free to add more or less, depending on what you like. The original recipe also calls for some hazelnut glaze that you can buy at German grocery stores. I have never seen anything similar here, not even at the German deli, and we substitute semi-sweet chocolate for it which works just fine. My husband is usually the one who decorates the cookies, and he has developed his own system of how to use the liquid chocolate to glue the hazelnut to the cookie which always makes me laugh.
A Christmas tradition that I very much appreciate is baking cookies together with my son. I started getting him involved as soon as he could stand, guiding his little fingers with the cookie cutters, and we made cookies together every year. He turned 20 this year and is in his third year at the University of British Columbia. He will be coming home next week, and I really enjoy that he still wants to bake cookies with me… and not just eat them 🙂
A few words of caution/disclaimer: This is a German recipe. Germans measure only liquids by volume, solid ingredients are measured by weight. And everything is metric, of course. With the help of the internet I have provided the imperial measurements but there is no guarantee these are correct… it’s the internet after all. So if a number looks suspicious to you, please double check the math. Another difference are North American ranges. Having to choose between “bake” and “broil” doesn’t really translate to German full convection ovens. So please keep an eye on the cookies and decide for yourself if they need longer or are done faster in your oven than required by the recipe.
Being a longarm quilter, this is my busy season, so I haven’t had a lot of time for working on my own projects. But I came up with a little mug rug design that I call “O Christmas Tree”. The pattern will be published next week, here is a little preview. And I am also giving away five digital copies of the pattern. If you would like to win one, please leave a comment and enter the giveaway. Entries will be accepted until Sunday (December 8, 2019, 11.59 PST), and I will draw the winners on Monday and email the patterns. The patterns will only be availabe in English and with Imperial measurements. This is my first time hosting a giveaway with Rafflecopter, and I hope it all works as planned. If there are issues, please be patient and let me know, and I will try to fix them ASAP. Please scroll down to the end of the post for giveaway rules and guidelines.
Comment moderation is turned off for today to make it easier for you to enter the giveaway. But please don’t leave your email address in the comment text. It is not necessary to do so, and the spam protection software will kick in and not publish your comment, so it will have to be moderated after all. I will be happy to manually publish it but please keep in mind that I am in the Pacific time zone and will still be asleep when this post publishes.
Thank you for visiting today, and please make sure that you visit all the participants of this blog hop and look at their fabulous projects and mouthwatering cookies. Once again here is the full schedule of all five days of this event.
Giveaway Rules and Guidelines
Please take the time to read them.
-
- You must leave a comment to enter the giveaway. If you don’t leave a comment, your winning entry will be ignored and cancelled.
- You are only allowed to enter once.
- The winners will be announced either on Monday, December 9 or Tuesday, December 10, 2019.
- You must give a valid email address when you enter the giveaway. Any email returned to me loses the ability to win automatically.
- I will email the digital patterns to the winners right away. Please check your spam folders if you are announced as one of the winners and didn’t receive an email. Especially Gmail likes to send anything I send straight to the spam folder.
- No purchase whatsoever is necessary.
- You must be 18+ in order to win a gift.
- All winners are chosen at random.
- All winners will be announced on the blog via the Rafflecopter entry form and a post. All winners must allow for their first name and first initial of their last name to be announced on this blog.
- Odds of winning a prize are based on the total number of rafflecopter entries.
- This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
CATEGORIES: Blog Hop
TAGS: Appliqué, Christmas, Mug Rug
91 responses to “Virtual Cookie Exchange 2019: More German Cookies and Pattern Giveaway”
Leave a Reply to Susan the Farm Quilter Cancel reply
The recipe for the Hazelnut cookies sounds amazing. It was so nice to read that someone else doubles their spices for pumpkin pies. I don’t like a ‘pale face’ pumpkin pie and have always added more spices. I think I got a little heavy handed for my Thanksgiving pies this year but they are totally gone and were very pretty pies. I may watch the cloves a bit closer. LOL
Pumpkin Pie is one of my North American discoveries. Canned pumpkin puree isn’t available in Germany, and I have always wondered why you would want pumpkin in your pie. Ha, little did I know. The first one I tried was from a store, and I didn’t like it very much. Then I was offered homemade pumpkin pie, and it was absolutely amazing. Now pumpkin pie is my favourite pie, but it has to be homemade and it needs to be heavy on the spices. (And adding a bit of whipped cream that has a dash of rum to my slice doesn’t hurt either LOL)
Your cookie recipe sounds so good. I also love your Christmas tree mug rug.
Thank you, Karen, and thanks for stopping by.
Those cookies sound very interesting. Your little mug rug is darling. Thanks for sharing with us. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you to, Dorian, thank you for your visit.
My grandfather was German and your recipe sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome, Cindy, thanks for visiting.
The cookies look divine and the mug rug is adorable. Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Janice, thank you for your visit.
I would love to try your cookie recipes, they sound so good. I also love your mug rug. I love making mug rugs, and use them to decorate with and I love adding them to gifts for friends. Thanks so much for sharing!!
I love mug rugs too, they are quick and easy to make, and I agree, they make great gifts. Thank you for visiting today, Nancy.
I’m not of German decent but I always find myself turning to those recipes. They are way more tastier than the “plain” cookie recipes. The nuts always make a cookie have more texture and flavor. So delicious.
I agree, nuts definitely add texture and flavour. Thanks for stopping by, Anita.
That recipe sounds wonderful. I love hazelnuts and could see me attempting to grind them myself. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
You are right, Selina, I could grind them myself… have I mentioned that I am lazy? 😉 I remember that I hated grinding them (by hand) when baking with my mom decades ago. I guess I am spoiled now, knowing that I can buy ground hazelnuts and skip the grinding LOL.
Your cookies sound delish! Have you tried purchasing ground hazelnuts on-line… delivered to your doorstep would be convenient. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe and the chance to win. Blessings!
Ha! No, I haven’t even thought of that, I don’t know why. I usually google everything but for some reason grocery shopping is not on my online to do list. Great idea, thanks, Melva.
Your cookies sound good. I bet they have a great flavor and texture. And I would love to win a pattern of your cute little mug rug. Thanks for that opportunity and thanks for sharing!
You are welcome, Brenda, thank you for your visit.
Love your cookies and love your mug rug!!! Have you thought of adding some Nutella (a hazelnut spread) to the chocolate you husband uses to glue on that hazelnut?? It might bring you close to what you remember from Germany! Thank you for sharing, both the cookie recipe and the giveaway.
Thanks for the suggestion, Susan, but I don’t think Nutella will work in this case. I loved Nutella as a little girl but I find it much too sweet now, and it tastes quite different from the hazelnut glaze. It doesn’t really matter, you can’t go wrong with chocolate 😉
Yummy…I love hazelnut — these will be fun to try (plus I love a challenge…LOL!)! They look so pretty in the tin. Your mug rug is really darling–these make such great gifts for hostesses, especially!! Thanks so much! 🙂
You are welcome, Denise, thanks for stopping by.
I will definitely try your recipe, my favourite Christmas preparations are making cookies !
Right now I’m making Christmas placemats for my grandkids ! Your rug mug is cute !
Thank you, Eileen, I am glad you like it. Cookies are one of my favourite things too… unfortunately more the eating than the making, haha.
My grandfather immigrated to Canada and then to the U.S. A. from Germany. I am gluten and dairy free, so I think I will give these a try using GF and Plant based butter.
It is a relatively simple recipe, doesn’t even contain eggs. I hope it works in the gluten and dairy free version. Thanks for visiting today, Susan.
The cookies look delicious. I love both hazelnuts and almonds. I am curious. Has it been difficult for you to adjust to the switch from metric to English. It affects so many areas of life, which is probably why the US hasn’t yet switched to metric.
The mug rug is so cute.
It depends, Sharon. Canada is officially metric which makes it easier for me although with the proximity to the US, everyday life is very much a mixture of metric and Imperial. Speed limits are km/h. Distance is measured in hours anyway (and in km on street signs). I can give my height in feet and inches because I looked it up. If you told me yours, I would have to convert to metric first to figure out if you are tall or not. The same goes for weight, I have to calculate to know how heavy something is in pounds. The cooking and baking measurements don’t mean anything to me. Ounces confuse me completely, can’t handle them without Google. I am pretty good with temperatures in F and C and know if it is hot or cold without having to convert. And I am really good with inches because of all the quilting, and when people tell me the measurements of their quilts, I know how big or small they are. That was probably way too much information but you asked… 😉 Thanks for stopping by today.
I love gingersnaps! Thank you for the recipe. The mug rug pattern is very cute! Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Sarah, and Merry Christmas to you too.
Your cookies sound good. I also have a convection oven, so I will have to try them. The pattern is cute. Where do you live in Germany? My great-grandparents came from Germany. I would love to visit there sometime.
Nancy, I am from Berlin. I was born there and grew up there and lived there until 2013. I am now living about 60 miles east of Vancouver, Canada. Thank you for your visit today.
I will have to give them a try. I wonder if a food processor would work in grinding the hazelnuts? I have to laugh over your comment on the conversion. Yes, it is the internet afterall! LOL!!!! Your little mugrug is just too cute. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Happy Holidays to you too, Joan. I have a new food processor… something to think about. My old one couldn’t handle it, the nuts ended up shredded and not ground. Great idea, I will give it a try.
I love the mug rug. I have never made one so perhaps now is the time.
Yes, give it a try, Jayne. Mug Rugs are fun projects and don’t take long to make. Thank you for visiting today.
Your cookie recipe looks amazing and I love the mug rug. Thank you for this giveaway.
You are welcome, Gail, thanks for stopping by.
Good morning! Your cookies look so very pretty in the tin. I am sorry that you have issues finding ground hazelnuts. I can honestly say I have never looked for them in the grocery store, but I will be now. Your “O Christmas Tree” mug rug is so cute. Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas to you and your family. ~smile~ Roseanne
No worries, Roseanne, I didn’t mean to whine. We knew that we would have to make do without many things when we moved halfway around the world. Usually we can find a workaround, and there are so many other things that are not readily available in Germany that we enjoy here. Merry Christmas, and thank you for your visit.
Your cookies look delicious – I love nuts and chocolate. Hope the translated measurements work well. Love your “O Christmas Tree” mug rug. I think the star background really sets things off beautifully. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, LJ, and thank you. Yes, I was quite happy when I found that piece of star fabric in my stash, it was just perfect.
Your cookie recipe looks amazing! I love your cute mug rug patterns! Thanks for the recipe and the chance of winning the mug rug pattern!
You are welcome, Nina, thank you for your visit today.
Your mug rug is adorable and the cookies sound delish. I love nuts of any kind and I am anxious for the challenge to make your German cookies. Thank you, so much!
You are welcome, Carla, thank you for stopping by.
I love that mug rug. Also those cookies sound so good and I do understand the difference how the German measure varies from how we do it here in the states. I am going to try them and wish me luck.
LOL good luck, Rosemary, I am sure they will turn out just fine. The biggest challenge is figuring out how long to actually bake them. Just watch the first batch carefully, and you should be okay. Thank you for stopping by today.
Your cookie recipe looks yummy, thank you. Your new Mug Rug pattern is really cute!
Thank you, Caroline, and thank you for your visit.
Hmmm it didn’t like my name! Your cookies look delicious! Love the little Mug Rug too. 😉
Who or what didn’t like your name? The comment form or the giveaway entry? In any case, I am glad you came to visit today.
This mug rug is so cute! Thanks for the chance to win!
You are welcome, Ronnie, I am glad you like it.
Such a cute mug rug and those hazelnut cookies look so delicious! It’s so sweet that your son and husband help out with the baking. I can’t even imagine trying to change the amounts for other countries, so you did good. Thank you for hopping with us!
My pleasure, Carol, thank you for organizing the hop. So many great recipes and projects!
Thanks so much for the recipe. They look delicious!
You are welcome, Karrin, thank you for your visit.
My brother in law was from Germany so I have had a lot of German Food as my sister learned to cook a lot of the dishes but I have not had these cookies. I will have to try them. I believe you can grind your own hazelnuts in food processor. I love your pattern. It is very pretty.
Thank you, Lisa, I am glad you like it. Yes, I will definitely give the food processor a try.
Love, love, LOVE your new mug rug!!!
Thank you 🙂 And thank you for visiting today.
Your recipe looks good. My sister-in-law would love these.
Thank you for your visit, Theresa.
Yum, yum! Cookies are a sweet, fast grab snack! Thank you, Susan
Indeed they are… probably too much so LOL.
Cookies sound wonderful – and your patterns look amazing, I have been wandering all over your site!
Thank you, and I’m so glad I found you!
Thank you 🙂 And thank you for visiting today.
Your recipe sounds awesome. You couldn’t find all the hazelnut things you needed on the West Coast? Oregon is famous for their hazelnuts/filberts. Your pattern is cute, and how awesome that the son will be be home to bake. My husband’s favorite memories were making cookies with his great grandmother.
Finding hazelnuts/filberts is not the problem… the problem is me being lazy and wanting to buy bags of already ground nuts. The stores here carry flaked filberts which unfortunately don’t work at all. Yes, I know I am complaining on a very high level 😉 Thank you for stopping by today, Colette.
I will have to try these cookies. We just went through 25 lbs of flour baking cookies. It’s serious around here. Love your tree quilt.
25 lbs? Wow, that’s a lot of cookies. You are indeed serious about baking. Thank you for visiting, Christi.
Thanks for sharing your recipes. I come from a German background and love the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and molasses!
You are welcome, Susan, thanks for stopping by.
These cookies look amazing! Can’t wait to try the recipe. I love hazelnuts. Your Christmas tree mug rug is adorable! Thank you for the give-away.
Thank you, Charlene, and thank you for your visit.
My mom always bought her hazelnuts in Agassiz and then ground her own. There are many hazelnut orchards there though I understand the crop has had some disease in the last few years. We found a number of road side stands.
Thank you for the tip about Agassiz, Chris. It’s the “grinding my own” part that I would like to skip… have I mentioned that I am lazy? 😀
Ser spændende ud – tak for opskriften. Måske min mand også har lyst til at dekorere, hvis jeg forsøger at bage – hyggeligt at dele opgaverne i juletiden.
Tak for dine altid fine mønstre. God Jul.
Merry Christmas to you too, Inge Lise, and thanks for stopping by.
These cookies look amazing! Three of my favorite things combined: Shortbread, hazelnuts and chocolate! I’ve got to make these! I might melt a little Nutella in the microwave for my drizzle on the top. Hmmm, now my mouth is watering.
You could definitely try Nutella, Deonn. I imagine it could be a bit sweet for these cookies but give it a try and see if you like it. Thank you for visiting.
The cookies look so tasty, thanks for the recipe and the info about imperial measurements and temperatures, Thanks also for the chance to win the mug rug patterns.
You are welcome, Danice, thank you for stopping by.
The cookies look scrumptious! Thanks for sharing and for your generous giveaway!
You are very welcome, Karen, thank you for your visit.
I love spicy apple as well as pumpkin pie, as does our family, just not the same without some flavour! Your cookie recipe looks very interesting so will be looking for where to get ground hazelnuts in Southwestern Alberta. Thanks for sharing your recipe, mug rug idea & story of baking with your son. Love your cute mug rug! They are such fun to make, then gift.
Thank you, Dixie. I agree, mug rugs make great gifts and are fun to make. Thanks for stopping by.
Your recipes sound so yummy & your mig rugs are adorable! Many Blessings for a Merry Christmas!