German Lebkuchen

This is almost like my family recipe. In the intro, it says: “Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas ginger cookies.” So I thought this must be different from mine, because there is no ginger in my family recipe. Gee, there is no ginger in this recipe, either. Really need to change the intro, because it isn’t a “ginger cookie.”

Great recipe! You can use powdered sugar or chocolate for glazing.

Wow, these are delicious! only addition were a few raisins and dried currants, as well as a little bit of cardamom. The spices really made this. loved the lemon glaze. The longer they set, the better they get. Thank you so much. For ease, I did do them in round cookie form then flattened them with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Made it really easy. Because there is no oil or fat in these, even on the silpat, they had to cool a bit longer to make removal easier.

Thank you so much for this reliable and delicious recipe. I had never made this type of gingerbread before, and another recipe was a complete fail. This dough is workable but stays chewy and smooth. I chilled the dough and made traditional cutout hearts, half with royal icing and half with dipped chocolate. They were a huge hit. Can’t thank you enough!

The cookies were a bit too sweet. Next time I will use regular sugar instead of brown sugar.

Best authentic German gingerbread recipe! This dough is very sticky and you MUST refrigerate overnight. I leave it in my stainless mixing bowl and cover. I make these as bar cookies since it would be impossible to roll and cut shapes. Place a Silpat on cookie sheet and place all the dough on top. Try to spread dough out so it’s not a big ball. Cover with parchment paper and roll flat to about 1/4 inch with hands and rolling pin. It will be stiff but be patient. Peel off parchment when done. Score into squares with sharp knife and place almond slivers. Dough softens as it warms and it should be easy to gently press almonds into place. Bake 30 minutes or until smells done. Outer edges will be more well done than middle cookies. Key is to try to make edges slightly thicker than middle when pressing dough flat. Remove from oven and use sharp knife to score cookies into squares again so they are easy to break apart. Then cover with glaze while warm. Enjoy!

Absolutely scrumptious! I read all of the previous reviews before I made them and then decided what to do. The dough is very sticky, I refrigerated it for two days. When I took it out, I greased my hands with vegetable shortening and made small balls. I flattened each ball gently. I baked them at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes until they were firm to touch. I spread the glaze on them after they were completely cool. They have a nice firm texture, similar to a ginger snap and the taste is wonderful. I am very excited to take them to my church event in 2 days.

I had lost my original recipe from back when, this is the closest I’ve found! Excellent cookie.

This has been my favorite for quite a few christmas seasons! Made again today. Don’t change the recipe at all! But, pickout the nasty green peel pieces. And forget rolling but refrigerate then roll in 1inch balls. Not traditional but so much easier. Mine take 12 minutes at 375 degrees. I cool for 5 minutes before icing. Don’t eat right away. Allow to season for best flavor.

Traditionally the dough is never put in the fridge but in a cool, dry place for several days. I have done just that using this recipe with good result. I have a huge issue with 400F/200C. This is way too high! The cookies will burn without ever baking. Instead, try 325F/160C for 10-12 minutes for a much better result.

Wanted to try something new this Christmas and so looked for German Christmas Cookies and came up with this one. Wasn’t sure about it because it has no shortening in it but WOW – this one will become a tradition on our home. Great with some hot coffee on a cold day. I used chopped dried apricot because I could find the candied fruit peel. I think dates would work too.

I lived in Germany for 3 years and really miss good Lebkuchen from the Christmas Market, especially the one in Heidelberg. I Just tried this recipe and it’s WAY better than I was expecting. Has the same texture I remember and the flavor is not too spicy but mellow. I used white sugar instead of brown (figuring why bother using brown with so much molasses). I also divided the recipe and made half of it with an additional cup of ground almonds and a tsp of almond extract just to see the difference. Both ways were perfect and I will be gifting these to my friends as well as adding them to my “must haves” for Christmas. Yes the dough is sticky but if you roll them into balls and flatten them (greased hands help), and use parchment paper on your cookie sheets, then they make the cutest little circles and bake in about 10 minutes at 375F. (I didn’t even bother to chill, just used my cookie scoop aka tiny ice cream scoop on the soft dough then rolled in my hands and used plastic wrap to press on top into rounds to keep my hands clean).

Was a little sweeter than I like. Would like to try it again with reduced amount of brown sugar.

Yummy, yummy! Dough is not intended to make fancy shapes. Also MUST chill for few hours before rolling out. I prefer to press dough out into floured jelly roll pan (not greased) and cut into bars after baking. Then glaze/frost before taking bars out of pan. Need to separate layers in container with wax or parchment paper.

These Lebkuchen are delicious, but quite a bit of work. The dough was very tempermental but it could have been because I was trying to make little gingerbread-type people out of them. With enough flour and a lot of patience, they came out better on the second try. Royal icing with a little lemon extract was perfect for decorating my little Lebkuchen people!

My Grandmother always made these for us. So I took some tips from her. I put the dough in a plastic bag with flour to chill over night. When we are ready to make the cookies, we just take the bag of dough out of the fridge, and roll them into balls and bake them on a greased cookie sheet. It is fairly sticky though, most recipes like this are. But this way, you don’t have to worry about rolling out the dough, and making a sticky mess 🙂 Also, we wait for the cookies to cool, then dip the top in the lemon glaze, that way more glaze stays on the cookies, and doesn’t just slide off of them because they’re so hot 🙂

Though I’m only a little bit German, I first had Lebkuchen in German class. I didn’t know what I thought of it at first but over the years I find to love it. I used this recipe for a German projekte and it was loved by all! Thanks, this is the best!!

These cookies are the best, I made a double batch of cookies and 1 of icing and still had some left over. I am taking 3 dozen for our cookie exchange next week. I am very pleased with this recipe. I remember having these as a kid so thanks for the memory too.

This is the second year I have used this recipe. The Lebkuchen turn out wonderful and my german father can’t get enough of them, says they remind him of when he was a boy. My husband loves them just as much! They are great with coffee, and good with or without the fruit.

well, I am no expert, but when I made the dough it was very very sticky – totally unrollable. Needed more flour. Then once the cookies are made, they are etremely sweet. not the traditional German flavour by my reckoning.