German Almond Horns (Mandelhoernchen)

German Almond Horns - known as Mandelhörnchen - are classic German bakery cookies made with almond paste, ground almonds, and dipped ends of rich dark chocolate. Soft, chewy, and naturally gluten-free, these crescent-shaped cookies bring authentic European bakery flavor right to your kitchen.

If you love the rich, nutty flavor of almond cookies, you’ll find these Dutch Almond Macaroons also made with egg whites will satisfy your craving. These lace cookies include finely chopped sliced almonds, though you could replace with any type of almond in the dough. Whilst these classic holiday Danish Butter Cookies include ground almonds in the batter for a recipe that is both delicious and beloved.

Ingredients and substitutions for German Almond Horns

• Marzipan: The type used here is the version most readily available at supermarkets for decorating a fruit cake. The marzipan blends best if you heat it up until it’s just slightly warm to the touch.
• Egg whites: Room temperature egg whites add structure and bind everything together so are essential.
• Sugar: Confectioners or icing sugar dissolves into the cookies, giving them a great texture. It is not recommended to replace the icing sugar with a different type of sugar.
• Almond meal: Ground almonds help keep the cookies gluten free here and compliment the marzipan.
• Sliced almonds: They help compliment the flavor in the cookies and are a traditional topping for a beautiful rustic appearance. If you cannot source the almonds or don't eat them, you could substitute with flaked coconut, though this would likely change the taste of the cookies.
• Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice is used to give optimum lemon flavor. It’s best not to replace with the bottled stuff here.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make German Almond Horns:

Step 1: Whip: The ingredients together to form a loose cookie dough.

Step 2: Shape: Take a tablespoonful or ice cream scoop portion of the dough and with wet hands shape into a crescent.

Step 3: Coat and bake: Brush with egg white and coat with sliced almonds before baking until golden.

Step 4: Dip: The ends into melted chocolate and allow to set completely.

Step 5: Serve: Serve up as is or alongside a cup of your favorite hot drink.

More holiday cookies you'll love

Dutch Almond Lace Cookies (Kletskoppen)

Almond Macaroons (Makroner)

Latin Meringue Cookies (Suspiros)

German Almond Horns (Mandelhörnchen)

Sylvie Taylor

These easy German Almond Horns (Mandelhörnchen) are chewy, moist almond cookies made from almond paste, finely ground almonds, and sliced almonds for the perfect nutty crunch. Finished with glossy dark chocolate, they taste just like the cookies found in German bakeries.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Baking time total (10 biscuits per tray) 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Servings 24

Calories 144 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Almond Cookies

• 200 grams / 7 ounces plain marzipan
• 215 grams / 2 ¼ cups ground almonds
• 26 grams / 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 100 grams / ¾ cup confectioner’s/icing sugar sifted
• 37 grams / 1 large egg white room temperature

Topping

• 37 grams / 1 large egg white room temperature
• 60 grams / ⅔ cup sliced almonds
• 100 grams / 3.5 ounces chocolate roughly chopped

Instructions

 

Almond Cookies

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Warm the marzipan either in the oven as it heats or in the microwave until warm to the touch.
• Toss into a bowl with the ground almonds, sugar, lemon juice and egg white.
• Whip on low until the mixture is smooth.

Topping

• Shape into crescents and brush with the egg white for the topping and coat in the sliced almonds.
• Place on a baking tray with 1 inch space between each and bake until golden, approximately 10 minutes.
• Remove and allow sit for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling tray to cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave until smooth.
• Dip 1 centimeter or ½ inch of both ends of a crescent into the chocolate.
• Set aside to set completely.
• Serve up and enjoy!

Notes

• Marzipan: The type used here is the version most readily available at supermarkets for decorating a fruit cake. The marzipan blends best if you heat it up until it’s just slightly warm to the touch.
• Sliced almonds: They help compliment the flavor in the cookies and are a traditional topping for a beautiful rustic appearance. If you cannot source the almonds or don't eat them, you could substitute with flaked coconut, though this would likely change the taste of the cookies.
• Shaping the cookies: The mixture tends to be quite sticky so the easiest way to shape the cookies is with wet hands - more than two cookies of shaping will result in the mixture sticking to your hands.
• Cookie scoop: A cookie scoop of 4 centimeters or 1.5 inches was used for consistency.
• Size of unbaked cookies: The cookies don’t expand much during baking so the width was kept around the 2 centimeters / ¾ inch and 11.5 centimeters or 4.25 inches long.
• Best kept: They stay soft and fresh for about one week when stored in an airtight tin at room temperature.
• You can freeze these: They freeze beautifully for 2–3 months. Store in an airtight container and thaw at room temperature.

Adapted from Chefkoch.de

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcal

Keyword almond baking, cookies, gluten free, holiday cookies

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