The Schwowebredele are part of the Bredele universe (or Bredela / Bredle / Bredala, depending on the area) — the traditional Christmas cookies of Alsace (a border region between France and Germany), these with almonds.
“Schwowe” means “Swabia” — referring to the “Swabian/German” origin attributed to this variant, although today they are fully part of the Alsatian tradition.
“Bredele“ or “Bredala” means “little cookies” in the Alsatian dialect.
“Bredele” is the generic term for Alsatian Christmas cookies. Every family has its variety, and the ingredients may vary.
“Schwowebredele” is a variant of Bredele — the one with almonds, cinnamon, and butter, with the typical sablé dough.
The classic versions include butter, almonds (or almond flour), flour, cinnamon, sometimes citrus zest or spices, and egg for glazing.
My low sugar version includes erythritol instead of sugar, and gluten-free with a mix of rice and buckwheat flour, instead of all-purpose (00) flour.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very low cost
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 40 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cup erythritol
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 egg
- to taste ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 egg yolks
Tools
- 1 Cookie Cutter Christmas
Steps
1. In a bowl, cream the softened butter with erythritol until smooth.
2. Add the egg and mix well.
3. In another bowl, combine flour + almond flour + cinnamon (and zest if using).
4. Combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture, working until the dough is smooth, firm, and not sticky. Add the milk.
Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
7. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
8. Cut out with Christmas cookie cutters (stars, hearts, trees, moons, etc.).
9. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with the egg yolks.
10. Bake for 15 minutes (or until lightly golden at the edges).
11. Let cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, store in tin boxes: this is how they stay crispy for weeks, as per Christmas tradition.
Variant with erythritol
You can also purchase erythritol from www.erbotech.it
with my 15% discount code: VG15
