This cookie comes to us from North Carolina by way of Central Europe; it’s a classic, peppery spice cookie brought to the U.S. by Moravians in the 1700s. The key to this cookie is rolling it super-thin to get that characteristic snap; it’s a lot easier to roll it that thin between waxed paper. If you don’t have the patience, go thicker, for chewy gingerbread-style cookies. Either way, these cookies would be fantastic on your holiday table.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 10 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | about 5 dozen wafers |
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper and mustard together in a medium bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until just combined and lightly fluffy. Beat in the molasses and egg yolk. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix together on low speed until dough is just combined and still crumbly, about 3 minutes. Give dough a few turns with a spatula to bring together.
- Lay out wax paper on a clean work surface and put about 1/3 of the batter on top. Lightly press down and top with another sheet of wax paper. Using your hands or a rolling pin, gently pat into a rectangle. Roll out with a rolling pin until dough is as thin as possible without breaking, no thicker than 1/16 inch thick. This is the key to these cookies: they really can’t be too thin. Gently peel back the layer of waxed paper and then replace it loosely.
- Transfer rolled batter to a flat baking sheet and freeze until firm and can easily be peeled away from the waxed paper, about 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Cut dough using a small (2- to 3-inch) fluted round cookie cutter and return to the freezer for 15 minutes to set. Transfer frozen cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until crisp and lightly, evenly colored (but not brown), about 10 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 60 servings |
| Calories | 38 |
| Total Fat | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 6 mg |
| Sodium | 22 mg |
Reviews
So happy to find this recipe for a cherished cookie. However the video and text are inconsistent. The video says use parchment paper throughout, the text says use wax paper to freeze and prepare, and then parchment paper for baking. However the technique described to get them thin is wonderful. Thank you!
A couple of options for thin cookies – make use of a pasta maker or a tortilla press to get really thin, even dough/cookies. My pasta maker gets just under 1/8 of an inch and albeit ok for me, I do prefer them half that thick so I cut the cookies and then use the tortilla press. Stack them and put in a gallon or quart freezer bag for freezing prior to baking. Good luck!
fun to make, fun to negotiate how to roll, freeze, etc. my advice for first timers is to be patient and allow the freezer to do it’s thing. i love the recipe, and was looking forward to making these again this year (i’ve got last batch in oven now).
but can i say just one thing? (i’ll take that as a “yes.”)
you copied “bake until crisp and lightly, evenly colored (but not brown)” from somewhere but it doesn’t make sense here. problem is, as you know, the batter is brown, and besides, there’s no real visual change; also, another problem is that these are certainly (as in a million percent) not baked until crisp because they only crisp as they cool. the recipe is great but things like this keep you from being the ace recipe writer i know you can be. and while you are fixing this, put a parenthetical near your “preheat oven” or even relocate the whole phrase so that is near your final freeze. i know it’s kind of obvious, but might as well be written technically correct, eh?
thanks!
This recipe was very close to the real thing. I rolled dough between parchment paper, and didn’t have a problem. My son loved them.
Time intensive and very high-maintenance, but the final cookie is worth it. I used parchment paper (not wax paper and didn’t have any “sticking” issues. I would also recommend that the butter is completely softened, otherwise the dough has trouble coming together as you roll it out.
I have been making this for almost 15 years. I roll up the dough into a log, like slice and bake dough from the store. I slice thin with a knife after it freezes hard. Works like a dream! and a delicious hit every Christmas!
I grew up in the Moravian Church, and these are NOT, I REPEAT NOT Moravian Cookies. Real Moravian Cookies do not have dry mustard or white pepper in them at all. I don’t know where Food Network Kitchen Staff got their recipe but this is by far not a Moravian Cookie.
Simplified things by covering the dough with wax paper and rolling out directly onto the cookie sheet . Was able to roll super thin this way. Cut rectangles with a rippled pastry cutter or straight edged pizza cutter.
I have made these 3 years in a row. They are good, but the recipe is lacking in respect to the wax paper. I struggled with the mixture sticking to the paper even after freezing. As a novice baker, why do they tell you to pre-heat the oven 45 minutes before you actually need it? I really would like to know the secret of the mix not sticking to the wax paper! 1/2 tsp of white pepper is plenty. The rating was only to give others a heads up on the wax paper issue. They are good cookies.
These cookies were such a big hit at work, I had people begging me for the recipe. They’re pretty easy to make (just throw a bunch of stuff in a mixer) and keep for a while — especially if you freeze the dough. Definitely try it!