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Alsace
Bredele
As Christmas approaches, every Alsatian kitchen fills with the scent of cinnamon, aniseed and browned butter: Bredele are baking.
Pastry or bakery speciality from Alsace.
Discover
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Alsace
As Christmas approaches, every Alsatian kitchen fills with the scent of cinnamon, aniseed and browned butter: Bredele are baking.
Pastry or bakery speciality from Alsace.
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The word Bredele comes from Old High German Brot (bread), with the diminutive suffix -ele meaning 'small'. Originally, they were tiny sweet and spiced loaves — the modest ancestors of today's Christmas biscuits. The earliest traces date back to the 14th century: ancient bredele moulds from this era have been found along the Rhine, though without any certainty as to whether they were already used for Christmas or for other festive occasions.
The first written record dates from 1570: that year, the Strasbourg magistrates banned the Saint Nicholas market. The city's housewives promptly voiced their discontent, as they could no longer stock up on the spices and citrus fruits — oranges, mandarins, lemons — essential for making bredele. This was how the little Christmas biscuits made their very first appearance in the region's written archives.
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For centuries, bredele remained the exclusive preserve of the home. Every Alsatian family had its own recipes, handed down from generation to generation. Baking begins as early as late November, on the first weekend of Advent, in a collective flurry of excitement that brings the generations together around the kitchen table. Metal tins pile up, are traded between neighbours, and offered to visitors.
It was not until the end of the 18th century that bredele production began to venture beyond the strictly domestic sphere: Fortwenger, founded in 1768 in Gertwiller, was among the first houses to bake and sell these little biscuits. In the 19th century, the arrival of biscuit cutters brought a proliferation of festive shapes — stars, hearts, fir trees — and democratised their making.
Today, bredele are one of the most recognisable emblems of the Strasbourg Christmas markets, the most iconic of which, the Christkindelsmarik, brings the place Broglie to life. Wooden chalets brim with colourful displays: golden stars, pearlescent moons, green fir trees dusted with sugar, and jam-filled hearts. Here, artisan biscuit makers champion their family recipes alongside the major houses.
Appearance
Small biscuits in varied shapes (stars, moons, hearts, fir trees, rings), golden or coated in royal icing depending on the variety.
Aroma
The scent drifting from the oven is a hallmark of Alsatian Advent — cinnamon, aniseed, vanilla, and the buttery sweetness of Butterbredele.
Taste
Depending on the variety, the spectrum ranges from very delicate and buttery (Butterbredele) to robustly spiced (Zimtstern), with aniseed freshness (Anisbredele) in between.
Texture
Generally crisp, allowing them to keep well in a metal tin — certain soft varieties (notably almond ones) being the exception.
Alsace boasts dozens of bredele varieties — recipes are handed down through families, and every household keeps its own collection. The most common include:
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the quintessential classic: butter, flour, sugar, vanilla. Cut out with biscuit cutters into fir trees, moons, stars and hearts, and glazed with egg yolk.
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green aniseed. Round and domed, they feature at their base the crackled 'foot' formed by drying overnight before baking.
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the 'Swabians': ground almonds, cinnamon and lemon zest, cut out with biscuit cutters and glazed with egg. One of the four varieties cited by all sources.
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dough pushed through a mincer or piped with a nozzle into fluted bars, S-shapes or wreaths; regular ridges along their entire length.
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flourless: ground almonds, cinnamon, egg white, beneath an opaque white glaze. The most famous variety outside Alsace.
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pressed in carved wooden moulds with highly intricate motifs; one of the oldest types of bredele, known since the 16th century.
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small vanilla and almond crescents, rolled in icing sugar.
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the 'rascals': two shortbread rounds, the top one pierced with three holes revealing redcurrant jelly.
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the same principle, but with a single cut-out window in the centre revealing raspberry jam, and a dusting of icing sugar.
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sawtooth-shaped fingers, formed on a corrugated baking sheet; butter and lemon zest.
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small domes of grated coconut folded into whisked egg whites, their tips browned in the oven.
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roasted hazelnuts in the dough, often with a whole hazelnut placed in the centre.
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made with cocoa, sometimes coated in dark chocolate.
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rolled oats and cocoa, with a rustic, bumpy surface.
with biscuit cutters for classic shapes, a piping bag or mincer for spritz, and a carved mould for Springerle.
certain varieties must dry undisturbed at room temperature before baking to develop their characteristic crust.
in a gentle oven for a short time. Constant vigilance is essential: bredele must remain pale to golden, never browned.
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Bredele are enjoyed at room temperature, accompanied by an Alsatian mulled wine (Glühwein) or a spiced Christmas tea. For adults, a glass of Gewurztraminer vendanges tardives or eau-de-vie de poire Williams works wonders with the spiciest varieties. Children happily dunk them in hot chocolate. Given as gifts in decorative tins, they travel well — ideal ambassadors of Alsace for friends far and wide.
Bredele do not carry any PGI (IGP) or PDO (AOP) label — their recipe is free, varied and uncodified.
Large artisan house
Artisan
Artisan
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