Penelope is here to help.

Holiday Recipe: German Cookies

It's time for me to share my favorite holiday cookie recipe with my favorite readers. These traditional German cookies, called Lebkuchen, are delicious to eat with hot cocoa or tea in front of the fire, to munch on during some holiday party planning or to pack in a lunch for a special treat at school. Here are the ingredients you'll need:

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. orange zest
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/3 cup diced candied citron peel
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

For icing:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup water

To begin, combine the honey and molasses in a medium saucepan and heat until the mixture begins to boil. Remove the mixture from the heat, and add your brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and orange juice, stirring thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, add the molasses/honey mixture to these dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, so that the mixture is ultimately smooth. Last, add your candied citron and finely chopped hazelnuts. Cover the dough and store in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat your oven to 350 degrees (farenheit) and grease each cookie sheet. Your dough will be sticky, so be sure to lay down a small dusting of flour before rolling it out. Ideally, the dough should be at a thickness of about 1/4 inch before you cut it. Any shape works with these cookies, but I like to use my old Christmas tree cookie cutter to really make these cookies fit the season.

Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes. A good indicator of done-ness is whether or not the cookies hold any imprint when touched lightly. You're looking for no imprint. As for your icing, simply combine the confectioner's sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until well-dissolved, and brush a glaze over each cookie while it's still warm.

A funny side note about these holiday cookies: the first time I made them, no differentiation had been made in the recipe between the lebkuchen ingredients and the frosting ingredients, so I combined it all and ended up with some pretty bizarre cookie dough. Needless to say, I learned my lesson and made sure to distinguish between the two sets of ingredients for your benefit.

The lebkuchen are best once they've sat for a few days, so I suggest storing them in some airtight containers for a few nights before serving them at your Christmas or holiday party. They have a deliciously sweet, spiced taste, and are a family favorite each winter. Bon appétit!

Enjoy Planning.
Penelope