Lebkuchen
If ever there were a cookie that signifies Christmas to me, it is a spicy little one called Lebkuchen. It's an old family recipe passed from my Grandma to my Mother to me, and now to my daughter. My Grandma was German and she made these each year, as did my Mother. This recipe seems a little difficult , but it breaks down easily due to the mixing one day and baking the next.
Lebkucken
½ cup honey
½ cup molasses
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅓ cup candied pineapple
⅓ cup chopped pecans
In medium size saucepan, mix honey & molasses. Bring to a boil. Cool. Stir in brown sugar, egg and lemon juice. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg and add to honey/molasses mixture. Stir in the candied pineapple and pecans. Chill dough overnight. Roll on floured board ¼" thick, keeping rest chilled. Cut with diamond shape cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees or until no imprint remains when cookie is lightly pressed; about 10-12 minutes. Store in an air tight container for 3-4 weeks to soften.
The hardest part about these cookies for me is the resting period. I hang my head when I say, seldom do my cookies make the entire resting period. Usually by the second day, even with the best of intentions, I've begun the nibbling. And so it starts...ever so innocently.
The glaze used for Lebkuchen is a simple sugar and water mixture. To make it easy, I suggest using a candy thermometer. Mine is not fancy...not that I wouldn't like a new fancy one, but it serves it purpose well by taking out the guess work.
Sugar Glaze
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup powdered sugar
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer 3 minutes or bring to 230° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. Use a pastry brush to paint on cookies. Makes about ¾ cup of glaze.
Labels: cookies
By: Sharon Pickering | 12/07/2006 at 8:04 PM | If you want, you can leave a comment by clicking here.
There
I can see these are serious cookies,(so satisfying in a soulful way) They will be made and go with us to DC in a week!
hey annie, i see you've been busy in that little cookie factory of yours! these sound really good, pineapple & pecans...yum.
lebkuchen is the word we use for the honey cake we eat at new years. here is a neat article about lebkuchen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen
waiting to see what is going to come out of your kitchen next!
@anonymous, you will not be let down. After baking and glazing, put in an airtight container until ready to eat. If they don't soften up enough, add a cut apple for a day.
@burekaboy, well, around my house, Christmas is the time my kitchen turns into a cookie factory. That reminds me... I have to do another post about another cookie! A new one this year, but will be added to my Christmas line up for sure.
Okay so I'm a little behind reading blogs in my RSS reader ...
But I couldn't help but stop here, even though obviously late to the party.
I did lebkuchen for the first time last year, it's posted here -- the recipes are SO different!
@alanna, Glad you finally made it! And your lebkuchen adventure looked like fun!