Basler Brunsli

The Basler Brunsli is a brown Christmas biscuit with a strong connection to Basel. Hence the name, as the word “Brunsli” comes from the Alemannic “bruun” for brown. The biscuit is mentioned earlier in Winterthur, but the recipe was first published in 1750 by Eugen A. Meyer in Basel. Since then it has been considered one of the most important biscuits in the Basel area, along with Leckerli and Anisbrötchen. There it is not only eaten at Christmas time, but also at other festivities such as weddings, for example. The dough, based on almonds and chocolate, is coarse, dry on the outside and moist on the inside.

As far as I know, Basler Brunsli are gluten-free. When making them vegan, I therefore made sure to keep it that way. I replaced the eggs with cornstarch and water. Although you could also make the recipe with chocolate powder, I recommend chocolate. It just gets better. As Brunsli contain neither butter nor cow’s milk, they are easy to make vegan.

Vegan baking is usually easier as you only differentiate between dry and wet ingredients. A vegan Guezli dough is therefore much quicker to make.

When baking Guezli, my experience is that they don’t really get crispy on silicone mats. The silicone mat retains moisture, especially on the underside. As a result, the Brunsli remain moist on the outside and inside, which is not desirable. Therefore, in this case, you should use baking paper or another alternative that eliminates this disadvantage, so that the Guezli become nice and crispy.

Basler Brunsli

The Basler Brunsli is a brown Christmas biscuit with a strong connection to Basel. Hence the name, because the word "Brunsli" comes from the Alemannic "bruun" for brown.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
baking time 5 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course sweets
Cuisine Switzerland
Servings 2 baking trays
Calories 48.7 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 pinch cinnamon
  • 300 g ground almonds
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 120 g chocolate, 75 % cocoa content
  • 50 ml water

Instructions
 

  • Mix all the dry ingredients together.
  • Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and mix with the water into the dry ingredients and knead into a dough.
  • Chill for a short time.
  • Roll out the dough on sugar (approx. 1cm), cut out with the desired cookie cutter, place on a baking tray and leave to dry for several hours (preferably overnight).
  • Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 3-5 minutes at 180 °C convection oven.

Notes

Do not place the Brunsli on a silicone mat, as this retains the moisture.

Nutrition

Serving: 10gCalories: 48.7kcalCarbohydrates: 3.1gProtein: 1.2gFat: 3.3gSaturated Fat: 0.7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.6gMonounsaturated Fat: 1.8gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0.53mgPotassium: 51.07mgFiber: 0.85gSugar: 2.36gVitamin A: 0.04IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 15.13mgIron: 0.43mg
Keyword almonds, Chocolate
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