This is a very simple and satisfying weekday supper that is simple to adapt based on what is in the cupboard. Start the game, toss the potato in the oven, and finish at halftime!
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 108 |
| Yield: | 9 dozen cookies |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups molasses
- 1 ½ cups honey
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground anise seed
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
- ½ cup butter, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon water
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Bring molasses, honey, and sugar to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, then remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Stir in anise, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, lemon zest, and butter. Dissolve baking soda in water, then stir into the molasses mixture. Sift together 6 cups of flour with the baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Stir in molasses mixture and eggs until smooth. Stir in remaining 3 cups flour until a stiff dough has formed.
- Divide dough into 4 pieces to make it more manageable. Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thick on a well floured surface and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.
- Bake cookies on ungreased baking sheets 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 86 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 6 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 88 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 1 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I couldn’t find some of the more exotic spices on their own, so I substituted McCormick’s Chinese 5-Spice Powder (which happens to contain most of the spices). This recipe tastes exactly the way I remember gingerbread tasting in Germany. My family lived there from the time I was born until I was 8 years old, so the quest for the gingerbread of my childhood has been a long, 19 year journey. When I smelled the batter, I cried. When I gave the cookies to my older sister, she burst into tears as she ate it (from joy and nostalgia) and said they were perfect.
As I made these cookies I swore I would never make them again! Sticky, sticky, sticky! They came out tasting the best! They were soft but crispy on top! I only made half the recipe and still had 5 dozen cookies. I would recommend this to anyone who has patience and loves spicy gingerbread cookies.
Made these yesterday afternoon for a company Holiday Cookie Exchange. It actually took me about 4.5 hours to make these cookies, but I’m a slow baker and that’s alright; the time and effort was well worth it! This recipe makes a lot of cookies–which is wonderful for larger parties! Anyway, I made a few adjustments to the recipe. Instead of lemon zest, I used half dried lemon peel and half dried orange peel (cut down the amount by 1/3). The amount of spice used was increased (unfortunately, the increase was not measured). One extra egg was added for texture. Instead of rolling the dough, I took enough to fit in the palm of your hand and rolled them into balls before coating them with powdered sugar and baking on a greased cookie sheet for 8 minutes. The cookies turned out soft and chewy with a delightful mix of flavors. So far, everyone seems to enjoy these cookies! Thank you for the delightful recipe!
thanks
Glad to see so many reviews on these. I make them every year close to Christmas time. And they are lowfat! Thinner cookies would be crispier and thicker cookies would be cakier! The original recipe calls for sugar beet syrup, not molasses, but it is not available where I live … except on-line! It would give it a more authentic flavor if you can find it. – Inge
They are not spicy enough I was very dissapointed, They need some ginger and more cinnamon.
Delicious.. hope they’ll be more crunchy
I have been looking for this recipe for years. My husband was born and mostly raised in Munich. He grew up with these, but here in the states we just can’t find them. Now I can just make them. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the great recipe! I made one change. I did not add any sugar, just the molasses and honey were sweet enough. Then I made a simple glaze with lemon juice and powdered sugar which added just enough extra sweetness.
I was looking for a cake-like German gingerbread cookie recipe and these were perfect!! I made a few minor adjustments and I love the way they turned out. Since this recipe was so large, I halved the spices and used only 1/3 of the other ingredients (so mine probably came out a little spicier than the originals)–this made 44 cookies. I also add 1/3 cup of minced candied ginger pieces and used a basic powdered sugar glaze for the top — really divine!
These are delicious! I used a lemon glaze and they tasted like the ones we would buy in Germany. I will definitely make these again!
Been looking for a recipe like my grandfathers, and this is very close. I just used this recipe for the first time, and will just make a few alterations to it next time and they will be exactly like my grandfathers. Will be addimg a little more of the spices to them. My grandfathers were a little more spicey. They bring back good memories!
This is a nice, spicy cookie that is great with coffee. I tried the first sheet without oiling the pan per the recipe but found they stuck to the pan. Used a little spray oil on the next ones and they came off easily. The cookies are very soft when done and need to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes until firm enough to handle. I ground fresh anise, cardamon, and cloves plus put in a little extra of each because we like them extra spicy. Use a lot of flour when rolling out the dough. It can be sticky.
I was looking for an authentic German cookie recipe so I could send my Aunt some cookies that would remind her of her (German) mother. I don’t know whether they are authentic or not, but I was very happy with how the cookies turned out. The smell while they were baking was strong enough that I wondered if the spiciness would be overwhelming, but they tasted sublime. I made a couple of significant modifications: – halved the recipe, with no problem – substituted whole wheat flour for half of the all purpose flour – added two eggs plus enough additional flour to make up for the liquid in the eggs. I wanted the cookies to rise a bit and the eggs did the trick nicely.
This is an easy recipe to make traditional German Pfefferkuchen, or Lebkuchen. I ended up pouring the dough into cooking pans instead of rolling it out, and only realized later that when you wait a little the dough gets harder and rollable. I also frosted mine with a sugar glaze and brought them to work – they were a HUGH success!