This time and time again, the Germans go fantastic for their Christmas biscuits! Today sharing a recipe for another classic Schwarz-Weiß Giveback. Those with a bit of knowledge of the German lingo might already roughly know what it translates to as black-and-white biscuits.
How these biscuits get their name is pretty obvious half of the biscuit dough is colored white the other half is chocolate flavored and therefore brown (not quite black. But that´s the name okay? Braun-Weiß Geback doesn´t have the same ring to it!).
You can find Schwarz-Weiß Geback in various patterns, and today telling you how you can make pinwheels or a checkerboard design!
Schwarz-Weiß Geback Two Ways
As said (and you can tell from the pictures) shows in this post how to make Schwarz-Weiß Geback two ways! The first is pinwheels, which are lots easier to make, and the second, more complex version, is checkerboarded! You can choose to make one version or the other if you are feeling particularly adventurous even try making both at once!
Schwarz-Weiß Geback Pinwheels
The pinwheel variation of Schwarz-Weiß Geback is fairly easy to make. All you have to do is roll out the vanilla and chocolate-flavored dough into two large rectangles, about 0.5cm thick. Brush the lid of the chocolate dough with some egg white, then place the vanilla dough on top of it. Make foolproof the pieces of dough that don´t cover one another exactly, but there is a roughly 1.5 cm overhang of vanilla-flavored dough on the side further away from you. This will leave a 1.5cm border of chocolate dough at the edge nearest to you, which is the end you will start rolling. Before rolling, make sure, to brush a little egg white over the vanilla dough to help it stick. Fold the border over the overlying piece of dough to start you off, then roll the dough up into a tight spiral. Cover in clingfilm and freeze for about 30-60 minutes until firm enough to slice easily.
Schwarz-Weiß Geback Checkerboards
The checkerboard pattern is a little trickier to make the pinwheels, but it certainly leaves an impression! The vanilla and chocolate doughs are moved out into a lengthy rectangle until about 1.5cm wide and then cut into 1.5cm wide strips. You will require to cut 5 dark stripes and 4 light strips. The strips are then stuck together in a checkerboard pattern using a little egg white. Start by making the bottom row by sticking one strip of vanilla dough between two strips of chocolate dough. Do the opposing for the double row, and repeat the first step for the top row to create a checkerboard effect. Finally, you can thinly roll out some of the remaining vanilla dough and utilizes this to encase the checkerboard log. This optional step helps keep the 9 strips together and will give you nice straight, clean harshnesses!
More German Christmas Biscuit Recipes
For more German Christmas biscuit recipes, check out some of my other favorites below:
• Vanilla Crescents Vanillekipferl
• Traditional Scottish Shortbread Recipe
• Gingerbread Men
• Hazelnut Shortbread with Dark Chocolate “Haselnussbrot”
• Chocolate Orange Crescents Schoko Orangen Kipferl
• Coconut Macarons Kokosmakronen
• Spritzgeback German Piped Christmas Biscuits
• German “Baumkuchenspitzen” with Rum
• Salted Peanut and Apricot Florentines
• Christmas Light Cookies
• Coconut Star Christmas Biscuits
• German Schwarz-Weiß Geback Checkerboard and Pinwheel Biscuits
• German Lebkuchen (Elisenlebkuchen) Traditional German Gingerbread
Schwarz-Weiß Geback Black-and-White Pinwheel and Checkerboard Biscuits
Recipe
Ingredients:
• 125g caster sugar
• 250g butter, cut into chunks
• 375g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste
• 20g cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp boiling water
• 1 egg white for sticking biscuits together
Method:
- Starts considering your sugar, butter, and flour into a mixing bowl. Use your hands to work the mixture, squeezing the butter between your hands and incorporating it into the sugar and flour.
- Once the mixture starts coming together, add in some cold water, a teaspoon time until the dough comes together. Shortly knead on your work surface for a minute or two until smooth.
- Separate the dough into two identical portions. Add the vanilla to one and knead into the dough until incorporated. Mix the cocoa powder with 2 tbsp of boiling water to create a thick paste. Add this to the other portion of dough and knead until fully incorporated. Wrap both portions of dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours (you can also leave it overnight).
- Pull the dough from the fridge. You can use all of the dough to make either pinwheels or checkerboard biscuits or uses half of both doughs to make the two different variations! Follow the teachings beyond to make the two patterns, using the egg white to stick the individual dough layers or strips together.
TOP TIP Use a RULER and a PIZZA DOUGH CUTTER to cut your dough into ribbons/rectangles! - Wrap the pinwheel biscuit roll or checkerboard biscuit log in clingfilm and freeze for almost an hour.
- Preheat the range to 180°C and line two big baking trays with baking paper.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuit log into slices about 0.8-1cm thick. Then place them on the prepared baking trays.
- Bake the Schwarz-Weiß Geback in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Release from the oven and leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes to firm up. Carefully move the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.
