Cranberry Streuselkuchen

A soft and fluffy base, topped with a thick layer of cranberries, and finished with buttery, melt in your mouth streusel, this Cranberry Streuselkuchen is the perfect holiday breakfast!

Is this a cake, breakfast bake, bars?

Technically Streuselkuchen is a cake; however it can be eaten the way a coffee cake would be for breakfast or as a snack with a cup of coffee. The size the streuselkuchen is cut is up to you. If eating it for breakfast I would cut it into 12 pieces rather than 24.

Fresh or Canned Cranberries?

Fresh cranberries are the only way to go with this recipe. They need to be cooked down first in order to cook out some of the liquid and concentrate their flavor. Canned cranberries tend to have a lot of additives and other ingredients that aren’t necessary.

Can this be made in advance?

Yes, but it tastes best the morning/day it is baked because is is a yeasted dough. That being said you could assemble it and leave the stresusel in a separate bowl, place it in the fridge overnight, then add the streusel on and bake it in the morning.

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Tips for making Cranberry Streuselkuchen

1. When making yeasted dough, ensure that you allow your mixer to fully knead the dough. This is a relatively soft dough so it may not fully clean the sides of the bowl but you should be able to poke it without the dough sticking to your finger.
2. It is important to cook 3/4 of the cranberries to reduce some of their liquid as well as add a little sweetness to the cranberries.
3. When adding the streusel on top of the cranberries, leave a 1/2″ border around all edges clear of any streusel. This is because as the dough grows in the oven, the streusel will fall off the side of the dough and off the pan.
4. Allow the streuselkuchen to cool fully before cutting into it.

Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for this Cranberry Streuselkucehn! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
• Sugar: This recipe uses granulated sugar in the dough and streusel.
• Milk: The streuselkuchen uses milk as the liquid in the dough; however, it will also work with non-dairy milks such as almond or light coconut milk.
• Butter: The butter adds moisture to the dough as well as the streusel!
• Eggs: I use standard large eggs from the store. There are two whole eggs in the dough.
• Yeast: In this recipe, instant yeast is used. However, if you are using active dry, simply bloom it in the warmed milk for ten minutes before adding it to the dough.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor to the streusel.
• Cranberries: While not traditional, the tartness of cranberries works well to balance out the sweetness of the streusel.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup or honey can be used to sweeten the cranberries. I like to use maple syrup because of the warmth of it’s flavor.
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds a little warmth and flavor to the cranberries.

How to make Cranberry Streuselkuchen

Make the dough

• In the bowl of a stand mixer add in the flour, yeast, and sugar, then whisk to combine.
• Then add in the butter, egg, vanilla, warmed milk, and salt. Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough on medium low speed until smooth and it no longer sticks when poked.
• Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl (can be the same mixing bowl). Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic and place somewhere warm to rise for an 30-45 minutes.

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Cranberry Layer

• Pour 650 grams of the total cranberries into a large sauce pot with the maple syrup, water, and cinnamon.
• Place over medium heat and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a boil and the cranberries begin to pop.
• Reduce the heat to low and and continue cooking until it becomes a thick jam like consistency, 5-10 more minutes.
• Remove from the heat and pour into a large shallow bowl to cool. Stir in the remaining cranberries.

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Streusel

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla, and butter. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it is fully combined and the mixture can clump together.

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Assemble

• Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line 1 baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Briefly knead the dough by hand or with a machine to knock the air out. Place the dough into the center of the lined baking sheet.
• Gently press and stretch the dough out to all four sides and all four corners. If it continues to shrink back, let it rest for 5 minutes and then continue stretching it.
• Spread the cranberry mixture over the entire surface of the dough.
• Sprinkle the streusel over the cranberry layer, leaving a 1/2″ border around all of the edges.
• Leave the dough to rest for 15 minutes.

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Bake

• Once rested, bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the pan after 15 minutes to ensure even baking and browning.
• Once baked place the pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes at which point you can slide it off of the pan and cut it into servings.
• Optionally drizzle the top with a powdered sugar glaze.

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