Christmas cookie calories: 54 German cookies compared

At a glance

332–558 kcal

per 100 g, range across 54 cookies

558 kcal

Nut spritz cookies: the most per 100 g

332 kcal

Brown Lebkuchen: the fewest

66 kcal

one Vanillekipferl (12.1 g)

42% less

sugar per cookie in our recipes

5% more

calories per cookie, same size

Butter and shortcrust cookies

All values per 100 g of baked cookies. 13 of 20 butter and shortcrust cookies have 500 kcal or more.

Macaroons, cinnamon stars and meringues

The sweetest are meringues, with 90.5 g of sugar per 100 g – at 387 kcal.

Lebkuchen, honey and anise cookies

21 of 22 gingerbread, honey and anise cookies have under 450 kcal per 100 g.

For one cookie: kcal per 100 g × weight in grams ÷ 100.

Calories per cookie

A cookie from our recipes weighs 7.6 g to 13.8 g once baked. With BLS values, that means:

Bigger cookies have more. How we get the cookie weight is explained under “How we calculated”.

Less sugar doesn’t mean fewer calories

Our cookie recipes are sweetened with honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar, and use less of it. For cookies of the same size, they have 42% less sugar – but 5% more calories.

Cookie by cookie, our recipes have 10 to 62% less sugar. Calories range from 3% fewer to 22% more.

Sugar has 4 kcal per gram, fat has 9. Where there’s less sugar in the dough, there’s more butter, flour or nuts – so on average the calories barely change.

For us, sweetening with honey or maple syrup means less sugar and no refined sugar. Not fewer calories.

What about stollen?

Per 100 g, every stollen in the table has fewer calories than any of the butter and shortcrust cookies above – 413 kcal at most.

How we calculated

• Cookies: every Christmas cookie listed in the German Nutrient Database (BLS) 4.0 by the Max Rubner Institute, in its basic form. The SmarTasty app uses the same values.
• Left out: versions with a chocolate coating or a nougat or cream filling (unless that is the only form, as for Dominosteine, Liegnitzer Bomben and chocolate nut Printen), everyday biscuits with no Christmas link, gluten-free and low-protein specialities, and anything with more than 0.5 g of alcohol per 100 g.
• Values per 100 g edible portion, baked, as calculated in the BLS. Energy uses EU conversion factors; sugar = all sugars, including from honey, syrup and fruit. Rounded.
• Cookie weight: from our recipes, dough divided by the number of cookies in the recipe. We weigh raw, the BLS measures baked. So we take out the water that evaporates during baking: our cookie then holds as much water as the BLS cookie.
• Comparison: traditional = BLS value × cookie weight. Our recipe = nutrition on the recipe page divided by cookies per serving, calculated from the ingredients with BLS values.
• The comparison only includes cookies with both: a BLS entry and a SmarTasty recipe for the same cookie that states the cookie count. That’s 7 cookies. Percentages = total across all 7 pairs.
• Values per cookie are estimates: homemade cookies vary with the recipe and size.
• Licence of the BLS data: CC BY 4.0. Selected, rounded and converted per cookie by SmarTasty.

Use the table and charts

You’re free to use the table and the charts, in articles, on blogs and on Pinterest. Just credit the source like this:

SmarTasty, Christmas cookie calories, data: BLS 4.0 (Max Rubner Institute), smartasty.app/christmas-cookie-calories

Charts to download

• All 54 cookies by calories (PNG, 1000 × 1500, for Pinterest)
• Traditional vs honey- and maple-sweetened (PNG, 2400 × 1350)

Questions about the method, or values for your article? Email kontakt@smartasty.de.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories are in a Vanillekipferl?

According to the BLS, 543 kcal per 100 g. A 12.1 g crescent, the size in our recipe, has about 66 kcal and 3.3 g of sugar.

How many calories are in a cinnamon star (Zimtstern)?

473 kcal per 100 g (BLS). A 9.8 g star has about 46 kcal and 3.9 g of sugar.

Which Christmas cookies have the fewest calories?

Per 100 g: Brown Lebkuchen 332, Fine honey cake 337, Anise drops 350 kcal. Meringues have 387 kcal, but 90.5 g of sugar.

Which Christmas cookies have the most calories?

Per 100 g: Nut spritz cookies 558, Hazelnut balls 553, Nut triangles 545 kcal.

Do cookies made with honey or maple syrup have fewer calories?

No. In our comparison of 7 cookies, our recipes with less sweetness from honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar had 42% less sugar but 5% more calories per cookie. Honey and syrup are sugar too, and less sweetness usually means more butter, flour or nuts.

Can I use the table?

Yes, including in articles, on blogs and on Pinterest. Please credit the source: “SmarTasty, Christmas cookie calories, data: BLS 4.0 (Max Rubner Institute)”.

The values describe baked goods; they aren’t dietary advice. SmarTasty is not a substitute for medical or dietetic advice.