This German recipe dates back 100 years. Every Christmas, I use it. Black coffee is typically offered with it so that you may soak the cookie in it. Since the anise and lemon flavors go so well together and the lemon flavor is greater at that point, I prefer to eat them when they are still warm.
| Servings: | 25 |
| Yield: | 50 cookies |
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 4 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 drops anise oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until very light and fluffy. Stir in the anise oil and lemon zest. Add the flour and baking powder; mix until well blended. Cover and chill dough for 3 to 4 hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Use a springerle rolling pin or board to make the designs. Cut into 1 1/2 inch rectangles, place onto a cookie sheet, and let them sit out overnight, uncovered, in a cool dry place.
- The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown. Allow cookies to cool, and store in an airtight tin for 1 week to blend the flavors.
Reviews
For years I was search for a recipe that was like my grandmother’s. This is really close. I think she used the anise seed but I follow the recipe exactly and they always turn out well. Thank you for sharing this. We now have this cookie to follow with our family tradition.
Fantastic!! Thank you for sharing this! My first batch was excellent! I had never made these before, but wanted a special cookie for Christmas, and this was great since its connected to my German Heritage. 🙂 I added at least double or triple to Anise liquid flavoring. I guess I like the flavor strong. I also added at least a tablespoon of fresh ground anise seeds (just used a small mortor and pestel). My second batch was made with almond extract. It was good, but not as flavorful. Also, on both batches, I doubled the rind and used orange rind too since I was low on lemons. They came out very tasty! My second time making it, I think I added too much flour. I was making up cake flour using measurements of corn starch and regular flour. They were very hard and low on flavor. I’ll try it next time with cake flour. I’ll definitely try this again! Its fun that there is such a long history behind this cookie recipe. I’m searching for a Springerle rolling pin now. 🙂
My family and I love this recipe! Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. Thank you to the lady who posted this recipe.
Way too much flour…
My nana used to make these… Love them!! seems like the longer they sit the better they are…
i love theses cookies, my aunt makes them every year she makes them with real anise seeds instead and they are 10x better than useing the oil but this recipe is still pretty good!!!!
The recipe is good; in Italy we also have aniseed cookies, but they are ring-shaped (they seem small donuts), and are made with the seeds (not whit the anise oil). The italian recipe have only flour, EVOO, sugar, white wine and 1 tbls. of anise seeds.
These keep for a long time. When i was a child my mom would pack up a large coffee tin and ship it to my brother in Vietnam. I was the only cookie that would keep for such a long time. My German mom would make these in November so they would be ready to eat over the holidays.
I truly loved this cookie. It was an easy and convenient recipe. I thought I would make the dough and let it sit in fridge overnight. Unfortunately, I came down with a bad cold and dough had to sit a couple of extra days. I thought it might have an ill effect on the cookies. I rolled out the dough in the morning, let it sit out all day, baked at night. Truly wonderful. The subtle flavors, the texture and the scent in the kitchen was fabulous! This is now a Christmas tradition. BTW, I did substitute the extract for the oil. And as the recipes states, do not let the cookies brown, it looses the nice texture. Bravo!
These truly improve over time. They had a very unique texture that I found surprisingly addictive. I am not normally a fan of anise, but these cookies were really good. I don’t have a springerle rolling pin, so I just used a cookie cutter to make circles. Instead of the oil, I substituted ground star anise. (Will try the oil next time.)
Thank you Judy! This cookie is a Christmas tradition in our family. I love this recipe it’s so easy and the cookies are yummy. Though I wasn’t sure about letting the cookies sit in a tin for a week. So I tried them many ways: straight out of the oven (Good), after being stored two days (Very Good) and stored 4 or 5 days (Excellent). We love the wonderful yet subtle taste of lemon. There is no wonder why this recipe has lasted 100 years. **The only drawback was I couldn’t find anise oil at the time I was baking so I substituted 1 1/2 tsps. of anise extract. It suited our tastes perfectly.**
I have been looking to find this recipe for years. My mom used this for sending to relatives during World War II and the korean war. The only difference is she used anise seeds with it all.