Note: This Boxemännchen recipe was originally part of my Biscuit Advent Calendar, a one-recipe-a-day email series in December. I’m gradually turning those recipes into proper blog posts so they’re easier to find. You can find the other recipes and sign up for the next round if you want here.
Today is Kleeschen (St Nicholas) Day in Luxembourg. On the night before, children leave their shoes out, and Kleeschen (St Nicholas) and his Iesel (donkey) come to fill them with presents. Sometimes Kleeschen is accompanied by the Houseker, a figure dressed in black and carrying a switch. Strictly for the naughty children, of course.
Luxembourgers take this day so seriously that primary schools are closed but it isn’t a holiday.
Children also get some presents on Christmas Eve the 24th December. But these get delivered by the Chrëschtkëndchen (baby Jesus). And traditionally they are more wholesome: books and clothes.
German custom is quite similar, the main difference being that the Christkind brings the bulk of presents on the 24th while St Nicholas hands out sweets and nuts and oranges on the 6th (so the present giving is somewhat reversed).
Yes, it can be tricky to integrate German, Luxembourgish and British customs into one cohesive Christmas…in our house Santa delivers the presents (we leave him a mince pie and a carrot for the reindeer) on Christmas Day. Kleeschen does the 6th December thing (he gets a biscuit and a carrot for the donkey). The Christkind focuses on the other kids-he’s just a baby AND it’s his birthday after all…what can you do?
The recipe I want to share with you today is for Boxemännchen. It is technically a bread rather than a biscuit: kind of like a gingerbread man but in soft yeasted dough form.
He’s so iconic here that there are multiple Christmas songs dedicated to him. He really is part of the festive lineup.
Boxemännchen can be found in every bakery here in Luxembourg during advent but it is really traditional to eat and have Kleeschen bring them on the 6th of December. They can include chocolate chips or raisins, be dipped half in chocolate, covered with sprinkles…there are quite a few possibilities.
The dough contains more butter than a regular sweet bread but less than a French brioche. They are often baked with a clay pipe in their arms. I tried to find a definitive origin for that, but none of the explanations felt entirely convincing.
If you can, use bread flour to make this or German type 550, Luxembourg/French T55.
So here we go let’s take a short excursion into bread baking. I made half the recipe below, and the picture shows the result.
Boxemännchen
A sweet bread dough man
Makes roughly 6
Ingredients
500g strong flour (4 cups)
70g sugar (1/4 cup)
100g softened butter (7 tbsp)
20g fresh yeast or 7g dry (2 tsp)
8g salt (1.5 tsp)
200ml milk (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (only if needed))
2 eggs
1 egg + 1 tbsp milk for egg wash
Decoration
sprinkles, chocolate drops, raisins,…
Instructions
Make the dough
A stand mixer really helps here but you can do it by hand too.
Knead all ingredients apart from the butter to form a dough. Then gradually add the softened butter. Keep on kneading until the gluten has developed pretty well.
With enriched dough this can take a while, and it will feel very sticky at first. That’s normal. My mixer needed about 10–15 minutes, and I had to scrape the dough back together a few times because it struggled with the small batch size. Your timing may vary.
In the picture you can see the ‘windowpane’ test: you take a little piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. You should be able to stretch it thin without tearing. For bread you’d usually continue until it’s translucent, but for Boxemännchen this is plenty.
First Proof
Leave the dough to rise at room temperature. I like to use a covered container for this so it doesn’t try out. Don’t snap the lid shut though; just place it on so a little gas can escape. It can take between 45 and 90 minutes depending on how warm it is. You can also put the dough in the fridge at this point and proof overnight.
Shape
Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Form each piece into an oval. Use scissors to snip downward about ⅓ from the top (this will create the head. You want it to be about a quarter of the Männchen). Then make a vertical cut for the legs at the bottom and a diagonal snip upward for the arms.
Second Proof
Leave the Boxemännchen to proof again under plastic wrap/a damp tea towel or other idea you have to keep them from drying out. I built a tent so the dough doesn’t touch as clingfilm tends to stick a lot. It can take a while again. You don’t want them double in size but maybe 50% bigger.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F conventional. Make the egg wash and brush each Männchen with it, then bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Decorate
Once cooled, add eyes with a dab of melted chocolate and attach chocolate drops or raisins. You can also add sprinkles or sugar pearls for buttons.
(Some people bake the decorations, but adding them afterward- to me -tastes better and keeps the colors nice.)
Enjoy!!
As a yeasted bread, Boxemännchen are at their best on the day they’re baked. They also freeze well, provided you decorate them after thawing.
PS: The small Boxemännchen in the picture above was deliberate: it was a present for our Christmas elf Frido.