As you will see from this list, marzipan can be used in various ways to create unique treats or simply eaten all on its own. Some recipes even call for baking it into cookies or using it as a cupcake frosting!
Marzipan really does lend itself well to creativity. After having browsed through this marzipan recipes list, you may even venture to come up with your own idea.
Table of Contents
What is Marzipan?
Marzipan is a confectionery paste consisting of finely ground almonds that have been sweetened with powdered sugar or honey and sometimes held together with raw egg whites. Some variations will use honey or other binding ingredients in place of the raw egg white. It can be used to decorate cakes because of its pliability, but can also be eaten as-is or coated in chocolate, etc.
It is not to be confused with almond paste, which is less sweet and mainly used as a filling.
Marzipan Recipes
#1. Basic Marzipan Recipe
If you’ve never made marzipan before, this is a good place to start. This easy tutorial tells you exactly how to make basic marzipan with tips and tricks! Make sure to have almond flour on hand – also known as almond meal.
Photo and recipe credit: Plated Cravings
#2. Marzipan Nut Balls
You can whip up these marzipan nut balls in only 15 minutes, so they make a great last-minute sweet snack or bite-sized dessert! The added flavors of cinnamon and orange zest are a nice touch.
#3. Hausfreunde with Caramelized Cashews
This recipe uses marzipan as a way to add an extra layer to shortbread cookies. Apricot jam is spread onto each cookie, topped with a marzipan round, dipped in chocolate and then sprinkled with chopped, caramelized cashews. That is a whole lot of yummy in one bite!
Photo and recipe credit: Lavender & Macarons
#4. Chewy Almond Marzipan Bars
If you are craving something sweet and chewy, these almond marzipan bars should satisfy! They are topped with toasted almonds to provide a crunchy outer layer, but the inside of these bars is soft and chewy; a great texture combination.
Photo and recipe credit: Sweet & Savoury Pursuits
#5. Marzipan-Stuffed Almond Sugar Cookies
Have you ever tried a stuffed cookie? These sugar cookies are filled with an orange blossom water-scented marzipan paste and rolled in crunchy sliced almonds. Yum!
Photo and recipe credit: Love and Olive Oil
#6. Dark Chocolate Marzipan Cookies
These cookies are loaded with chopped dark chocolate, dark chocolate chips and chunks of marzipan. A sprinkling of sea salt flakes after baking finishes off this decadent treat. Need I say more?
Photo and recipe credit: The Sweet and Sour Baker
#7. Marzipan Cinnamon Challah
This cinnamon marzipan challah is a beautiful 6-strand braided bread filled with a cinnamon-marzipan mixture. The recipe includes step by step photos for this soft and fluffy dessert bread.
Photo and recipe credit: Dough Eyed
#8. Vegan Marzipan Truffles
Would you believe these vegan truffles take only 5 minutes to make with 2 ingredients? You begin with pre-made marzipan, shape them into balls and dip into melted chocolate. Chopped toasted almonds and flaked almonds are an optional topping.
Photo and recipe credit: The Loopy Whisk
#9. German Baked Marzipan Bites
These marzipan bites are called ‘Bethmännchen’ in Germany and there is a little family history story to go with the Christmas treat that you can read on the post. You are basically going to bake some marzipan into cookies and top them with blanched almonds.
Photo and recipe credit: foodandjourneys.net
#10. Mohn Marzipan Kringel
These German poppy seed marzipan cookies filled with jam would look so beautiful on the Christmas dessert table. They can be made well ahead of time and actually get more delicious with age.
Photo and recipe credit: Cinnamon and Coriander
#11. Keto Marzipan
Here is another recipe for basic marzipan, but it’s keto-friendly! Instead of powdered sugar to sweeten the marzipan, this recipe calls for erythritol and sugar-free almond extract to keep it keto.
Photo and recipe credit: Hungry for Inspiration
#12. Marzipan Cherry Cake
Almond and cherry make for a great flavor combination. The marzipan in this recipe is layered in between an almond sponge cake with candied cherries.
Photo and recipe credit: Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
#13. Marzipan Buttercream
This marzipan buttercream actually turns out quite smooth with some extra blitzing and looks beautiful piped onto cupcakes, Christmas cake or mince pies.
Photo and recipe credit: Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
#14. Chocolate Marzipan Truffles
These marzipan truffles are made with either dark or milk chocolate and drizzled with white chocolate. You could also flip those around and use the white as the base instead. Either way, they look beautiful!
Photo and recipe credit: Daring Gourmet
#15. Fig Lemon Marzipan Bundt Cake
If you are also a fan of figs, then this marzipan bundt cake is a must try! It is flavored with limoncello – an Italian lemon liqueur and figs. The marzipan is rolled into balls and baked into the cake so that each slice will contain one. Neat idea.
Photo and recipe credit: Tin and Thyme
#16. Spiced Christmas Cupcakes with Marzipan Frosting
If you are looking for a Christmas marzipan dessert idea, why not try these spiced cupcakes with white-chocolate marzipan frosting? They will certainly give you and your guests some good Christmas feels.
Photo and recipe credit: A Mummy Too
#17. Raw Christmas Cake Bites
As you can see by these vegan raw cake bites, marzipan desserts tend to have the look of elegance and style. The marzipan paste is moistened with maple syrup and coconut oil, rather than raw egg whites.
Photo and recipe credit: Spamella B
#18. Easy Chocolate Marzipan Recipe
Elevate your basic marzipan by simply adding some cocoa powder. This recipe shows you how to make the marzipan from scratch, even grinding the almonds yourself. Once the chocolate marzipan has firmed up a bit in the fridge, it is shaped into balls and rolled in chocolate sprinkles; a nice take on marzipan!
Photo and recipe credit: Santa Barbara Chocolate
#19. Clean Eating Marzipan Candy
Instead of giving chocolates on Valentine’s Day, you could surprise that special someone with some homemade marzipan heart candies. Find a cute heart candy mold, fill it with some easy homemade marzipan, freeze and pop them out. At this point you could even dip them into chocolate or just get to wrapping them in colored foil paper.
Photo and recipe credit: The Gracious Pantry
#20. Ganache-Filled Marzipan Truffles
These marzipan truffles take it up a notch with some ganache filling and a dark chocolate-pistachio coating. Ooh la la!
Photo and recipe credit: Floating Kitchen
#21. How to Make Marzipan (and Marzipan Pyramids)
If you are the super creative type, you can come up with all sorts of marzipan designs – like these marzipan pyramids! The texture of the marzipan looks similar to sand and they can be dusted with gold luster dust for the full effect. They are no-bake and if you don’t want to use raw egg whites, this recipe suggests using a few tablespoons of water and brandy instead.
Photo and recipe credit: Tikkido
#22. Simnel Cake
Simnel cake is an Easter cake with a couple layers of marzipan or almond paste. Marzipan balls are placed around the edge of this cake, giving it a cool presentation.
Photo and recipe credit: Attachment Mummy
#23. Marzipan Fudge Roll
This fudge roll uses a layer of rose-water flavored marzipan with a layer of chocolate fudge, rolled together and sliced to create a delicious chocolate swirl treat.
If you enjoyed this marzipan recipe list, please share!
Frequently Asked Questions
Almonds!
Marzipan is made of a sweetener, like icing sugar or honey, egg white (as a binder) and almond meal (finely ground almonds).
Marzipan is sweet from the icing sugar and has a nutty taste from the ground almonds.
Marzipan has more than a few potential origins: Persia (Iran), Germany, Spain, France and Italy.
You should be able to find it in the baking aisle of the grocery store in tubes or at online stores. You can also make it yourself at home.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Check out What to Do With Leftover Pumpkin Pie Filling
I absolutely adore marzipan so this post with all it’s delicious recipes will keep me going for a nice long time. Total yum!
Thanks! And thank you for your contribution as well. 🙂