Yesterday on a call with my son in England, Anna, their AuPair joined in. Anna is from Austria, which is home to today’s recipe, Kletzenbrot. She had not heard the name of this bread before but as I described it to her she said that it sounded like Christstollen.

There are however, there are three big differences between this recipe and the one we made last Saturday. First, the nuts are hazelnuts, not almonds. Second, this one uses half rye and half wheat and not bread flour. But the main difference is the use of dried pears in this bread. In addition to wheat, rye, and hazelnuts, some recipes call for other dried fruits and spices like cinnamon, aniseed, cloves, and/or fennel.

Dried pears at the fruit market. Image by holzijue from Pixabay

Kletzen are pears that are grown in Austria and Bavaria exclusively for drying. The plural form of pear in German is Kletzen and is the ingredient that lends its name Kletzenbrot. It is packed with natural sugars offering long shelf life and good energy. This bread stores well so that for hundreds of years, farmers in the Alps made it an important winter energy source.

Kletzenbrot Recipe

Ingredients

Active Rye Start

  • 1/3 cup rye sourdough starter
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 3/4 cup water

 Instructions

Pre-Ferment

  1. Mix starter with water and flour.
  2. Cover overnight, but at least 8–12 hours.
  3. It should be light and bubbly when ready.

Fruit Soaker

  • 1 1/2 cup dried diced pears
  • Juice from two Oranges
  • 3/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
  • 1 1/2 tsp rum flavoring

Fruit Soaker

  1. Place the fruit and nuts into a saucepan, add the rum extract, orange juice (save the peels for zesting) and enough water to cover the mixture.
  2. Bring the entire mixture to boil, then simmer for 45 minutes.
  3. Strain out the fruit reserving the liquid for the dough.

Dough

  • 1 c Rye sourdough starter
  • 1 3/4 Whole Wheat Flour
  • 3/4 cup fruit soaker water
  • 2 Tbls Rye Malt*
  • 3/4 tsp Salt
  • Fruit and Nut  Soaker

Dough (Long-Ferment 8–12 hours)

  • Prepare the sourdough by mixing the ingredients listed together except the salt and other spices
  • Cover and set aside for 30 min.
  • After 30 minutes, mix salt into the dough, but no other spices
  • Allow the dough to rest 30 min then pester every 30 min for a total of three more times.
  • Knead in fruit and nut soaker
  • Let rise until double in bulk (8–12 hours).

* If you don’t have roasted rye malt on hand, My Daily Sourdough Bread suggests you “substitute it for cocoa powder but make sure you add some (appr. 1-2 tablespoons) sweetener (honey, maple or agave syrup) to compensate for the bitterness.”

Final Dough

  • Zest from 2 oranges 
  • 1/2 tsp cloves 
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Annise
  • 1/2 tsp coriander 

Final Dough

  1. Following the long ferments, roll the dough out to a 1/2 inch thickness in an 18 x 12 rectangle
  2. Sprinkle with spices, cinnamon sugar, and citrus zest
  3. Fold the two longest sides of the rectangle over the middle in thirds as if you were wrapping a baby in a blanket or form dough into a boulle.
  4. Place the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet or stone. 
  5. Allow to proof for an additional 45 minutes, then place a pan of boiling water on the lowest rack of the oven.
  6. Put the bread into a preheated 465°F oven to bake for 15 minutes
  7. Then reduce heat to 425°F, bake for another 20 minutes, loosely covering the loaf with parchment or foil to prevent browning too quickly.
  8. While the bread is hot from the oven, brush it with melted butter and dust it heavily with powdered sugar. 
  9. Return to the oven for three minutes to set the coating.

Kletzenbrot is a great food gift for the holidays. Tell us how yours turned out in the comment section below.