Chef Elsa
Salzburger Kokosmakronen (Topfen Coconut Macaroons)
Salzburg's softer, creamier take on the Austrian coconut macaroon, with Topfen folded into the batter to keep them moist through every day of the Christmas cookie tin.
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Chef Elsa
Kürbiskernbusserl (Pumpkin Seed Kisses)
Delicate Styrian pumpkin seed meringues sandwiched with sharp Ribiselmarmelade, the Christmas cookie that proves Austria's best baking doesn't always start with flour.
Chef Elsa
Zwickerbusserl (Pinch Kisses)
Two Viennese shortcrust rounds wearing crisp meringue hats, pinched together with warm apricot jam. Three textures, three flavors, one perfect bite from the Austrian Christmas tin.
Chef Elsa
Honiglebkuchen
Dark, spiced Austrian honey gingerbread with rye flour and a whole blanched almond on top. They smell like a Salzburg Christmas market and taste better on day four than day one.
Chef Elsa
Punschkrapferl
Vienna's hot pink petit fours, soaked in rum punch and coated in shocking pink fondant. They look like candy. They taste like a Kaffeehaus that takes its drinking seriously.
Chef Elsa
Ischler Törtchen
Hazelnut shortcrust rounds from the emperor's summer retreat, sandwiched with chocolate buttercream, bathed in dark chocolate glaze, and finished with a single bright pistachio.
Chef Elsa
Spritzgebäck
Piped butter cookies pressed through a star nozzle into S-shapes and rings, their ridged edges half-dipped in dark chocolate. The simplest, most satisfying cookie in the Austrian Weihnachtsbäckerei.
Chef Elsa
Kürbiskernkipferl (Pumpkin Seed Crescents)
Styrian pumpkin seeds ground into a sandy, crumbly crescent cookie dusted with powdered sugar and scattered with green seed flecks. Styria's proudest contribution to the Austrian Christmas tin.
Chef Elsa
Pariser Stangen
Crisp, nutty meringue piped into elegant sticks and brushed with a sharp lemon glaze. The name says Paris, but the recipe belongs to Vienna's Christmas Bäckerei and nowhere else.
Chef Elsa
Florentiner
Lacy caramelized almond discs studded with candied fruit and coated in dark chocolate on the bottom, the Konditorei cookie that turns Christmas baking into something serious and beautiful.
Chef Elsa
Kokoskuppeln
Crisp Oblaten wafers layered with chocolate-hazelnut truffle and crowned with fluffy coconut domes, then cloaked in dark chocolate so glossy you can nearly see yourself in it. Viennese confection architecture in two bites.
Chef Elsa
Dotterbusserl (Egg Yolk Kisses)
Small golden cookies built on hard-cooked egg yolks and good butter, the Viennese baker's answer to Christmas thrift. Sandwiched with Marillenmarmelade, dusted in Staubzucker, and gone before the plate gets cold.
Chef Elsa
Spitzbuben (Jam Window Cookies)
Cheeky little rascals with golden almond shortbread and jewel-colored jam shining through cutout windows, dusted in powdered sugar and stacked on every Austrian Christmas cookie plate worth its name.
Chef Elsa
Rumkugeln
Dark, boozy, and rolled by hand, these no-bake rum balls belong on every Austrian Christmas Keksteller and taste even better after a few days in the tin.
Chef Elsa
Londoner Schnitten
Three layers of Viennese Christmas baking: buttery Mürbteig, tart red currant jam, and a golden walnut meringue that shatters when you bite through it. Named after London, baked in my Salzburg kitchen, loved everywhere.
Chef Elsa
Nussbusserl
Roasted hazelnut meringue kisses baked on Oblaten wafers, the Austrian Christmas cookie that disappears from the plate before you've finished arranging the rest of the Kekse.
Chef Elsa
Mostkekse (Upper Austrian Cider Cookies)
Upper Austrian cider cookies with a tangy, caramelized Most filling, sandwiched with apricot jam and dusted in powdered sugar. The Mostviertel in every bite.
Chef Elsa
Anisbogen
Paper-thin anise wafers piped, dried overnight, baked pale gold, and bent over a rolling pin while still hot. Old-fashioned Austrian Weihnachtsbäckerei at its most elegant and rewarding.
Chef Elsa
Mandelbogen (Almond Arcs)
Soft marzipan crescents pressed into sliced almonds and baked until golden, both ends dipped in dark chocolate. The quietest, most elegant cookie on the Austrian Christmas plate.
Chef Elsa
Zimtsterne
Flourless cinnamon-almond stars with a snow-white meringue cap, baked low and slow until the edges barely blush gold. The cookie tin that makes an Austrian Christmas smell right.
Chef Elsa
Husarenkrapferl
Buttery almond shortcrust rolled into small balls, pressed with your thumb, and filled with jewel-bright jam. The cookie that belongs on every Austrian Christmas plate.
Chef Elsa
Schwarz-Weiß-Gebäck
Vanilla and cocoa short doughs rolled together into spirals and checkerboards, chilled until firm, then sliced to reveal the pattern. The Weihnachtsbäckerei tradition that makes December worth the cold.
Chef Elsa
Nervenkekse (Hildegard's Spice Cookies)
Buttery spelt cookies from Hildegard von Bingen's medieval spice cupboard, warm with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Eight hundred years of wisdom in a biscuit tin, and they still work.
Chef Elsa
Marzipankartoffeln
Little marzipan potatoes rolled in cocoa and cinnamon, the bite-sized confection that tumbles out of every Austrian cookie tin from the first Sunday of Advent until Epiphany.
Chef Elsa
Mohnkipferl (Poppy Seed Crescent Cookies)
Buttery crescent cookies from the Waldviertel poppy fields, where ground seeds turn a simple Mürbteig dark, fragrant, and quietly extraordinary. Christmas baking the Lower Austrian way.
Chef Elsa
Eisenbahner (Railroad Cookies)
Buttery Mürbteig bars with piped marzipan tracks and Ribiselmarmelade gleaming between like signal lights, the Viennese Christmas cookie that rewards precision with something beautiful enough to give as a gift.
Chef Elsa
Schokokipferl (Chocolate Crescent Cookies)
Dark cocoa crescent cookies with ground hazelnuts and both tips dipped in bittersweet chocolate, the bolder sibling on every Austrian Christmas cookie plate.
Chef Elsa
Wachauer Busserl (Wachau Hazelnut Kisses)
Hazelnut butter thumbprints from the Wachau valley, brightened with orange zest and filled with tart cherry jam or a walnut half. The kind of Christmas cookie that disappears before the tin is full.
Chef Elsa
Vanillekipferl
The crescent-shaped, walnut-studded Viennese cookie that rules every Austrian Adventzeit, rolled in homemade vanilla sugar while still warm from the oven and tucked into a tin to wait for Christmas.
Chef Elsa
Nussecken (Chocolate-Dipped Nut Wedges)
Buttery shortcrust spread with apricot jam, buried under a sticky caramelized nut topping, cut into triangles, and dipped twice in dark chocolate. The Konditorei classic you can make at home.
Chef Elsa
Brabanzerl (Viennese Brabant Cookies)
Viennese chocolate shortcrust rounds filled with sharp Ribisel jelly, dipped in dark chocolate, and crowned with a single blanched almond. The kind of Christmas cookie that makes you understand why Austrians start baking in November.
Chef Elsa
Mohnkekse mit Powidl
Crumbly poppy seed shortcrust from the Waldviertel, sandwiched with dark, spiced Powidl and dusted in powdered sugar. Two of Austria's oldest regional ingredients, together in one bite.
Chef Elsa
Windbäckerei (Viennese Meringue Drops)
Piped Viennese meringues in stars, kisses, and little mushrooms, dried to a whisper in a low oven and light enough to hang on the Christmas tree if they survive that long.
Chef Elsa
Linzer Augen
Nutty, spiced sandwich cookies with three tiny windows of ruby red currant jam peeking through a snowfall of powdered sugar, the jewels of every Austrian Christmas tin.
Chef Elsa
Linzer Stangerl
Piped almond butter sticks from the Linz baking tradition, sandwiched with tart redcurrant jam and dipped in dark chocolate at both ends. The kind of Christmas cookie that makes people ask for the recipe.
Chef Elsa
Kärntner Hadnkekse (Carinthian Buckwheat Cookies)
Carinthian Christmas cookies made with earthy buckwheat flour and dark honey, rolled thin, cut into shapes, and baked until they fill the kitchen with the smell of southern Austria's mountains.
Chef Elsa
Kokosbusserl
Soft coconut clouds perched on thin Oblaten wafers, golden at the tips and chewy in the middle. Three ingredients do all the work if you treat them right.
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