Bread Baking: Weckmann (Person-shaped Sweet Bread made at Christmastime)

 Weckmann is a man-shaped (person-shaped?) sweet bread made during the holidays. It is very traditional in Germany at Christmastime.

Weckmann:
5 1/2 cups (700g) flour
1 tbsp (1 pkg) dry yeast
1 cup (250g) warm milk or milk alternative
1/3 cup (100g) butter or margarine
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60g) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
Raisins or nuts for decoration


Put 1/4-1/3 of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and warm milk (around body temperature). Mix until combined. Allow to rise, covered, in a warm place for about 15 minutes. 




Melt butter. Mix butter, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla together. 



Add to the flour/yeast mixture. Mix with a spoon until combined. 



Add the flour half at a time. 


Mix with a spoon until you can't anymore. Knead dough until the dough is smooth, but not sticky. If the dough is sticky, add a tablespoon or two more flour. You may need a few tablespoons more or less flour than is called for, so consider holding some back. Allow dough to rise covered another 15 minutes. 



Then knead the dough quickly and either shape the dough into a person shape, or roll out the dough and use a gingerbread man cutter to cut out the dough. Then add a couple of raisins or nuts to be eyes. You can also put them in as buttons or however you want to decorate them. 








Allow them to rise another 15 minutes on a baking tray. Bake at 375°F or 200°C for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the Weckmann. The Weckmann should be golden brown, but not dark. Then brush with butter while still hot. 






Watch us make these Weckmänner on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/DFwfqAvHZ_w
Schaut zu wie wir diese Weckmänner auf YouTube machen hier: https://youtu.be/puL-ckJ8zFE

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