Gluten Free Stollen Bars

Just like the original German bread, these gluten free stollen bars are packed with yummy nuts and fruit and covered in a blanket of powdered sugar!

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I never used to go for treats that had fruit and nuts in them. I love fruit and nuts separately, but in cookies? Or bread? I always thought, “ewww!” I don’t know why. It’s the same way I felt for brussels sprouts or asparagus. Haha!

But now? Brussels sprouts and asparagus are two of my favorite vegetables, and I see a recipe with fruit and nuts and I’m instantly drooling. I do love the way that works because I’m able to enjoy those foods I thought I hated as a kid.

These gluten free stollen bars, though. Oh my! They’re everything you could want in bar form and they couldn’t be easier.

What is Stollen?

Stollen is a traditional German yeasted bread that’s loaded with fruit, nuts, and spices. It’s usually eaten at Christmastime and quite often you’ll see it in packages in grocery stores at this time of year. Stollen has a signature blanket of powdered sugar covering it.

I’ve actually never had stollen. Before I was diagnosed with celiac, I never really had a desire to taste it. After, I haven’t seen it available gluten free. So when I saw Molly Yeh make these stollen bars, I knew I had to try to make them gluten free. Plus, I thought it would be a great way to try the flavors of stollen without attempting to make a yeast bread. I LOVE the chewiness of these bars! They have almost a brownie-like texture!!

What are the Ingredients in These Gluten Free Stollen Bars?

It’s so simple to make these bars, but there are several ingredients:

• Kim’s gluten free flour blend — just the all-purpose blend, not the bread flour blend. You can use a store bought blend if you’d prefer, such as Cup4Cup.
• Almond flour
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Cardamom (one of my favorite spices)
• Ground cloves
• Allspice
• Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Sugar
• Orange zest
• Egg
• Almond extract
• Dried cherries
• Golden raisins
• Roasted pistachios
• Marzipan — the brand I used is Solo. Odense claims to be gluten free on the front of the box, but when looking at the ingredients list, there is clearly wheat in the marzipan.
• Powdered sugar

Phew!! That’s a long list of ingredients, isn’t it? But most of them are spices and add-ins, like nuts and dried fruits. The rest are just usual cookie dough ingredients. Don’t let all the ingredients intimidate you.

Making the Bars

The method for making these wonderful bars is just like making a cookie dough.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and a portion of the butter until light and fluffy. Add the orange zest and egg until incorporated. Whisk together the dry ingredients and spices and slowly add these to the butter mixture on low. Follow this with the cherries, raisins, and pistachios. Fold the marzipan into the dough by hand.

Press the dough into an 8-inch square pan with two pieces of parchment lining it and extending out to create “handles” to lift the bars after baked. Bake the bars until golden around the edges and lightly golden on top.

While the bars are still warm, spread the rest of the softened butter all over the top and sprinkle it with the powdered sugar. I found when I did this immediately the powdered sugar melted into the butter. Just let that happen and when they’re cooled, sprinkle more powdered sugar on top (for the snowy effect).

If you’ve never had stollen (like me) or you’ve had it and you love it, you really should make these gluten free stollen bars. They’re crunchy, sweet, chewy, and oh so good, and they’re just what you’ve been missing at Christmas 🎄

Adapted from My Name is Yeh’s Stollen Bars.