When I lived in Germany, I learned one very important thing: Christmas is a really big deal. Christmas markets spot the city, advent wreaths with candles sit on dining room tables, and the whole country shuts down for two and a half days at Christmas. Plus, there are Christmas cookies. I had always thought that Christmas cookies were those sad little sugar cookies that you decorate with colored frosting that no one enjoys eating. But the variety of cookies for a German Christmas was so much more interesting and exciting.

These hazelnut-raspberry macaroons come from one of my favorite cookbooks, Luisa Weiss’s Classic German Baking, one of the few cookbooks to make German baking accessible to an American audience (and pantry). This cookie is a new favorite – it’s light and fluffy, with a good mix of tart from the jam and sweet from the cookie.