The 8 best recipes for beehives or the most popular unbaked Christmas cookies

Baking Christmas cookies is a beautiful but also a demanding tradition.

Do you want to take a break from baking for a while?

Try our wasp nest recipes!

Prepare them not only traditionally with eggnog, but also in a nut, cocoa or coconut variant.

Their preparation is very easy and fast!

Wasp nests with egg cognac

A classic unbaked Christmas cookie, which is popular especially with the male part of the population.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of biscuits for the bottom of the hives
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp ground walnuts
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of rum
• 3 tablespoons of egg cognac
• powdered sugar for sprinkling

Method:

1. Prepare approximately 35 sponge cakes as bases for the beehives.
2. Grind the rest of the biscuits and mix with the ground nuts.
3. Add eggs, butter, rum and cocoa powder.
4. Mix everything together thoroughly and work into a dough.
5. Wrap the finished dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for 3 hours.
6. Then gradually press the cooled dough into the wasp nest mold.
7. Make a hole in the dough with your finger or the back of a wooden spoon and fill it with eggnog.
8. At the end, fold in the sponge and carefully turn the cake out of the mold.
9. Store in the fridge and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Traditional cocoa wasp nests

Are you a fan of old Czech classics? This recipe is just for you!

Ingredients

• 600 g of biscuits
• 240 g of powdered sugar
• 240 g of butter
• 8 tablespoons of milk
• 8 tablespoons of rum
• 4 tablespoons of cocoa
• 1 package of biscuits for the bottom of the hives

Filling

• 240 g of powdered sugar
• 240 g of butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 drops of rum penalty

Method

1. Prepare a smooth dough from the ingredients using a kitchen mixer.
2. Mix the ingredients for the filling until they combine into a smooth cream.
3. Dust the wasp nest molds with powdered sugar and press the dough into them.
4. Make a hole in the dough with your finger or the end of a wooden spoon and fill it with cream.
5. Close the hive with a whole sponge.
6. Remove the hives from the molds and let them set in the fridge.

Bee hives with vanilla

Can’t stand the vanilla flavor? Feel free to add it to this type of Christmas cookie.

Ingredients

• 200 g ground biscuits
• 150 g of powdered sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 80 g of butter
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 4 tablespoons of rum
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 package of biscuits for the bottom of the hives

Filling

• 120 g of butter
• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough until it forms a dough.
2. Dust the molds with a little powdered sugar so that the dough does not stick to them.
3. For the cream, mix softened butter with icing sugar and vanilla extract.
4. Press the dough into the moulds, make holes in it, which are then filled with vanilla cream.
5. Close the wasps’ nests with a whole sponge, turn them out and leave them in the fridge or in another cool place.

Lemon Christmas Howls

A non-traditional version of this popular unbaked cookie with a fresh lemon taste. Try it, you’ll see that you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

Base of hives

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Beehives

• 200 g of biscuits
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder
• 1 egg white
• 3 teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk

Filling

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of honey

Method:

1. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder.
2. Beat the butter with the sugar to a creamy consistency.
3. Add the egg yolk and whisk until combined.
4. Whisk in the lemon juice and finally add the dry ingredients.
5. Wrap the finished dough in cling film and leave to cool in the fridge for an hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper.
7. Roll out the cooled dough and use a round cutter to cut out the bases for the beehives.
8. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.
9. Use a blender or food processor to blend the sponges into a powder.
10. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and pulse to combine.
11. Add the butter and beat until smooth.
12. Then beat in the egg white and condensed milk.
13. Cover the container with the mixture and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
14. In the meantime, prepare the filling.
15. Put all the ingredients, i.e. butter, egg yolk, sugar, lemon juice and honey, in a bowl and beat until smooth.
16. Dust the wasp nest molds with icing sugar and press the chilled dough into them.
17. Then make a hole in the dough and fill it with lemon filling.
18. Finally, close the hive with a baked base.
19. Remove the hives from the molds and put them in the refrigerator to harden.
20. The wasps’ nests can be dusted with powdered sugar before serving.

White nests with almonds and coconut

Do you want to try something unusual? Then this light variant with almonds and coconut is just for you.

Ingredients

• 50 g ground coconut
• 50 g ground almonds
• 100 g of powdered sugar
• 80 g of butter
• 2 tablespoons of rum
• 1 package of biscuits for the bottom of the hives

Filling

• 100 ml of coconut cream
• 100 g of granulated sugar
• 50 g of grated coconut

Method

1. Mix together the coconut, almonds, icing sugar and ground biscuits.
2. Add rum and softened butter and make a dough.
3. If the dough is too sticky, add more grated coconut.
4. Let the dough rest for at least half an hour in the refrigerator.
5. In the meantime, prepare the filling. Mix the ingredients for the cream in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook briefly.
6. Fill the wasp nest molds with coconut.
7. Then take out the dough and use a spoon to shape it into a ball
8. Press the balls into the molds and make a hole in them with the end of a wooden spoon.
9. Then fill the well with cooled cream.
10. Close the wasps’ nests with whole sponges and leave to cool in the fridge.

Nut beehives

Do you love nuts? Then you must also try this excellent recipe for a nut variant of beehives. The combination of walnuts and hazelnuts gives them a delicious taste.

Ingredients

• 100 g finely ground walnuts
• 100 g finely ground hazelnuts
• 200 g of powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 2 tablespoons of rum
• 1 package of biscuits for the bottom of the hives

Filling

• 120 g of butter
• 120 g of powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons of rum

Method

1. Mix the ground nuts, sugar and cocoa.
2. Add the rum and mix until a smooth dough forms
3. Put it in the fridge for half an hour.
4. Beat the ingredients for the cream, i.e. butter, sugar and rum, until smooth.
5. Take the dough out of the fridge and use a spoon to make balls out of it.
6. Press the balls into molds sprinkled with sugar.
7. Make a hole in the dough with the other side of a wooden spoon and fill it with cream.
8. Then press the whole sponge on the end of the hive and the beehives are ready.

Gluten-free Christmas cookies

Are you on a gluten-free diet? Even so, you don’t have to give up this popular candy.

Ingredients

• 180 g of powdered sugar
• 120 g of butter
• 200 g ground gluten-free biscuits
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 3 tablespoons of rum
• 1 package of gluten-free biscuits for the bottom of the hives

Filling

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 teaspoon of rum

Method

1. First prepare the dough. Mix all the ingredients until they have a batter consistency.
2. Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour.
3. Boil the can of sweetened condensed milk in the pressure cooker for about an hour.
4. Next, whip the caramel with a spoonful of butter and a spoonful of rum into a cream.
5. Dust the molds with a little powdered sugar so that the dough does not stick to them.
6. Fill the molds with the chilled dough and make a hole in the middle.
7. Fill each hive with caramel cream, close with a sponge and turn out.

Unusual nests with matcha cream

Most often, cream prepared from egg cognac is used to fill the nests. Try a change and replace alcohol with a healthier option in the form of matcha green tea.

Ingredients:

• 150 g ground walnuts
• 200 g of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon of rum
• 1 bag of biscuits

Matcha cream

• 90 g of butter
• 60 g of powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp matcha powder
• 1 tbsp of milk

Method:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix all the ingredients for the dough except for the sponge cake, i.e. ground nuts, sugar, cocoa, egg white and rum.
2. Wrap the finished dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, prepare the matcha cream.
4. Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar to a creamy consistency.
5. Add the matcha powder and mix until thoroughly combined.
6. At the end, add milk and mix until a smooth cream is formed.
7. Dust the wasp nest mold with icing sugar and place a small piece of chilled dough in it.
8. Then make a hole in the dough with your finger and carefully fill it with matcha cream.
9. Finally, close the nest with a sponge, which you have also smeared with a small amount of matcha cream.

Tips and advice at the end

Wasp nests or bee hives can be prepared in many different ways. You can modify and change the dough in different ways according to your taste preferences.

The basis of most wasp nest recipes are dry ingredients in the form of biscuits or other popular wafers, sugar and nuts. If you like Margot chocolate bars, beehives can also be made from them. Just mash the bar and add it to the dough instead of crushed sponge cakes.

You can replace the wet ingredients, rum and egg cognac, for example, with amaretto or griotka. Plant-based milk can also be used. At the end, the already prepared nests can be topped with warmed chocolate or another topping, decorated with ground nuts or coconut, etc.