NATIONAL BAKE COOKIES DAY - GERMAN PFEFFERNÜSSE

I was reading Gita Bantwal 's post today and she asked us to share our favorite cookie recipe.  My wife Phyllis is out baking cookies tonight with her friends while I am writing this post.  Here is a cookie recipe that comes from my great grandmother.  They are quite a hit with our guests.  If you don't have a full spice rack you will after you make these cookies.  Here goes:

Gather these ingredients

1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons anise extract
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a 1 to 1-1/2 quart pot, combine the molasses, honey, and butter.  Place the pot over low heat, stirring often until the butter has melted, all the ingredients are completely combined, and the mixture is creamy.  Do not boil.  Remove the pot from the heat and pour into a bowl.  Allow bowl to reach room temperature.

While the mixture is cooling, sift together the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, black pepper, and salt in a separate bowl.  When the molasses mixture has reached room temperature, stir in the beaten eggs and the anise extract.  With a large wooden spoon, gradually stir in the sifted dry ingredients until everything is thoroughly combined into stiff dough.  Chill the dough in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.                   

After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease several baking sheets.  Roll the dough into small balls (about 1/2-inch in diameter).  Don't make them any bigger.  Place the balls on the greased baking sheets, spacing them at least 1 inch apart, as they will spread slightly.

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes (I use 12.  Don't over bake or they will get hard). The cookies may have some small cracks..  Using a thin spatula to remove the cookies from the baking sheet, move them to a rack to cool.  Once the cookies have cooled completely, place confectioners’ sugar in a plastic container. Put in some cookies and securely cover.  Then shake.  The cookies will come out nicely coated.  Store in an airtight container.  Allow the cookies to “age” at least 24 hours before serving (a few days to a week is even better).  The spicy task becomes more pronounced as they age.

 

I hope you like them as much as we do.

                                                                                                              

 

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