Best German Spice Cookies Recipes

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES (PFEFFERNUSSE)

Steps:

• Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, brown sugar, and molasses on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture; beat until just combined. Pinch off a heaping teaspoon of dough, roll into a ball, and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining dough, spacing balls 1 1/2 inches apart. (Dough can be frozen at this point, covered tightly with plastic wrap, up to 1 month.)
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden and firm to the touch with slight cracking, about 15 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Glaze: Fit a rimmed baking sheet with a wire rack. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, milk, and kirsch, if desired. Using a fork, dip each cookie in glaze to coat. Tap to remove excess glaze and place on wire rack to dry. Repeat with remaining cookies.
• To decorate: While the glaze is still wet, top cookies with a small pinch of peppercorns, if desired. Alternatively, let glaze dry completely before mixing together luster dust and kirsch with a small paintbrush. Lightly brush tops of cookies with luster dust mixture, if desired. Let dry before serving. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the egg mixture. Stir in raisins and walnuts. , Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until surface cracks. Remove to wire racks to cool.

HOLIDAY LEBKUCHEN (GERMAN SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Cover almonds with boiling water in a bowl. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes and drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Pat almonds dry and remove skin. Allow almonds to dry on paper towels.
• Place half the almonds in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add apricots and dates; pulse until fruit is chopped. Reserve remaining 1 cup almonds.
• Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, cloves, cardamom, and salt in bowl. Beat eggs, brown sugar, honey, molasses, water, almond extract, orange zest, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add apricot mixture, blending until evenly distributed. Gradually stir in flour mixture on medium speed until dough comes together. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1/2-inch thick. Cut out cookies with a 2 1/2 to 3-inch diameter cookie cutter. Arrange cookies about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Lightly press 3 almonds into each cookie with tips towards the center to create a star pattern.
• Bake in preheated oven until cookies begin to brown, about 12 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, whisk confectioners' sugar, milk, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a bowl until glaze is smooth. Brush warm cookies with glaze and allow cookies to cool completely.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES (PFEFFERNÜSSE)

Steps:

• 1. Put honey, molasses, and butter into a small pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until hot, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Add eggs and whisk to combine. Put flour, half the lemon peel, almonds, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, cardamom, and baking powder into a large bowl and stir to combine. Add honey mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until well combined, to form a dough. Cover surface of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. 2. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Lightly oil your palms with some of the oil. Form dough into 36 balls, each about 1" wide (the dough will be very sticky, so keep your hands lightly oiled while working). Divide dough balls between baking sheets, keeping them spaced 1" apart. Bake until slightly cracked on top and just firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool slightly. 3. Meanwhile, whisk together confectioners' sugar, rum, and 5 tsp. hot water to make a smooth glaze. While cookies are still warm, use a pastry brush to coat each one with a layer of glaze. While the surfaces of the cookies are still moist with glaze, garnish each top with pieces of the remaining lemon peel. Set cookies aside to let cool completely. Eat right away or store in an airtight container, layered between sheets of waxed paper, for up to one week.

GERMAN GOSSAMER CRISP SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl stir together flour, ginger, apple pie spice, cloves, cardamom, and red pepper; set aside.
• In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add molasses and brown sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in flour mixture just until combined.
• Divide dough in half; cover and chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375°F
• On a lightly floured surface roll half of the dough at a time to a 1/16 inch thickness. Using a 2-inch round scalloped cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are browned. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes about 66.
• TO STORE: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container, cover. Store at room temperature.
• Better Homes Christmas Cookies.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, walnuts, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the vegetable shortening with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into rounds using a 2-inch round cookie cutter and place 1-1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Melt chocolate over low heat and drizzle over cooled cookies.

PFEFFERNUSSE (GERMAN SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• To make the spiced sugar:
• Sift all ingredients together into a large bowl; set aside.
• To make the cookies:
• Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, salt, allspice, and pepper into a large bowl; set aside.
• Place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until finely ground, about 25 to 30 seconds. Add the almonds to the flour mixture and stir to combine; set aside.
• Place the butter, lemon zest, and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until fluffy and combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until incorporated and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds more. Add the honey and candied lemon or orange peel (or mixture thereof) and beat until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula.
• With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just combined, about 1 1/2 minutes total. (Do not overmix.) Cover and refrigerate the dough until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• Roll the chilled dough into 24 (3/4-inch) balls and space them 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, then rotate the sheets from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the cookies are very lightly browned around the edges, about 5 to 6 minutes more. (The tops will be soft, but they will firm up as the cookies stand.) Transfer the baking sheets to 2 wire racks and let the cookies sit until cool enough to handle but still warm, about 3 minutes.
• Drop the warm cookies into the spiced sugar, making sure to coat them all over, then shake off any excess sugar and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat baking

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, beat eggs.
• Add the brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon and pepper.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt, gradually add to the egg mix.
• Stir in raisin and nuts.
• Drop by tablespoonsful 2 inches apart onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until surface cracks. (My oven cooks/bakes really hot and so I can only bake at 350 for 10 minutes).
• Remove to wire racks to cool.

GEWUERZPLAETZCHEN (TRADITIONAL GERMAN SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl knead butter, sugar and vanilla sugar with the dough hooks of your electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Stir in milk.
• In a second bowl mix flour, ground almonds, baking powder and spices.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and knead into a smooth dough. You might have to get your hands in to finish the job. ;).
• Form into a log of 30 cm/ 11 inches length and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Slice log into 5 mm/0.2 inch thick slices.
• Place on a paper lined baking sheet and press one almond into the middle of each cookie.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for about 12 minutes or slightly browned around the edges.
• Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• These will keep for about 3 weeks in an airtight container.

MA B'S PFEFFERNEUSSE (GERMAN SPICE COOKIES) RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in molasses, anise oil, and egg. Dissolve baking soda in hot water, and stir into the mixture. Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper; blend into the molasses mixture until uniform. Knead for a minute until easy to work with. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, and place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly browned on the bottom. DO NOT OVER BAKE, or they will be very hard. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES (PFERRERNUSSE)

Steps:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 180oC/375oF. Line baking trays with baking paper.
• 2. Sift the flour, spices and bicarb into a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
• 3. In a bowl, beat the butter sugar and molasses until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat to combine. Stir in the flour mixture.
• 4. Roll equal sized balls of dough (about the size of a large cherry) and place on the prepared trays. Allow a little spreading room.
• 5. Bake in the prepared oven for 12 - 15 minutes, the cookies should be golden and firm to touch (and they will be slightly cracked looking).
• 6. Cool on the trays for 10 minutes. Place the icing sugar in a bowl and gently add a few cookies at time and using clean hands, well coat the cookies (I like to shake the bowl gently). Shake off excess sugar off each cookie and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine honey, molasses, and coconut oil in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Turn off heat and set aside. -- In a bowl, combine egg and anise extract. Once molasses mixture has cooled, slow add it to the egg mixture. Be sure that the egg does not cook as you do this. Whisk everything together until well combined. -- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and spices. Add molasses mixture to bowl and stir gently until everything is combined. -- Wrap dough in plastic and place in the refrigerator until chilled, about 2 hours. -- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease two baking sheets. -- Form dough into small balls, about 1" in diameter. Roll the balls through 1/4 cup of the confectioner's sugar to coat, and then place them on the baking sheet about 1" apart.
• Note: 1/4 cup of the confectioner's sugar should be held back in a separate bowl so that the finished cookies can be garnished. Do not use the same sugar to roll the raw dough and the finished cookies. -- Bake for 11 minutes until the cookies are mostly set on the top and the edges are crisp. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.