
Totenbeinli
Totenbeinli (literally: small dead legs) are Christmas biscuits that are particularly characterised by their hazelnut flavour. They are therefore sometimes also called Nussstängeli (literally: small nut bars). This pastry originates from Graubünden and used to be served at funeral feasts. Hence the macabre name. Today they are one of the classic Swiss Christmas biscuits.
They are quick and easy to prepare. I veganised the recipe based on the popular Swiss school cookbook (Tiptopf). Like the Mailänderli, the Spitzbuben and the Sables, it is a dough based on butter and white flour.

Personally, I replace butter with coconut fat, but you could also use margarine or vegan butter. It’s a matter of taste. I use coconut fat because it is the least processed. Olive oil or other vegetable oils are rather unsuitable for baking because they have a strong flavour of their own or cannot be heated as high because they are extra virgin.
White flour can be replaced well with smoked flour. There is almost no difference in colour, especially in the Totenbeinli, as the hazelnuts make the dough look brown anyway. If you want to avoid gluten, you can easily replace the white flour with a gluten-free flour mix; from the supermarket or homemade. I haven’t noticed any differences in baking.
Vegan baking is usually easier as you only differentiate between dry and wet ingredients. A vegan biscuit dough is therefore much quicker to make.
When baking biscuits, I have found that they don’t really get crispy on silicone mats. The silicone mat retains moisture, especially on the underside. This makes the biscuits rubbery and tough. Therefore, in this case, you should use baking paper or another alternative that eliminates this disadvantage, so that the biscuits become nice and crispy.

Totenbeinli
Ingredients
- 75 g fat, e.g. coconut fat
- 150 g sugar
- 50 ml water
- 2 tbsp psyllium husks, or cornstarch
- ½ lemon, zest
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch clove, ground
- 1 pinch salt
- 100 g hazelnuts, ground
- 250 g smoked flour, or glutenfree flour mixture
- 1 handful whole hazelnuts, optional
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and knead into a dough. Make sure that the fat mixes well with the flour and that a homogeneous mass is formed.
- Chill for a short time. Not too long, otherwise the dough will become too hard and difficult to select.
- Flour the dough (approx. 1 cm), cut finger-length sticks and place on a prepared baking tray.
- Bake for approx. 14 minutes at 180 °C in the middle of a preheated oven.
Notes
Do not bake the Totenbeinli on a silicone mat, as this retains the moisture.
Nutrition

