Pfeffernüsse - German Peppernut Cookies
This is absolutely one of my favorite Christmas Holiday memories from my youth. My father started making these right after Thanksgiving and packed them in airtight containers to be bagged and brought out for sale the first of December. I have always loved these, and it took finding his journal from the 1930's to find the formula. As much as I love them, I've only made them at Holiday, as "each to it's Season" is important to me. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.This is one cookie that you don't want eat "just out of the oven" After coating the cooled, baked cookies with peppermint syrup and tossing them in powdered sugar, they need to be stored for at least 48 hours. During that time the syrup will harden, forming a crunchy shell on the outside and the inside will be spicy, moist and just a bit chewy. Place these in an airtight container and they will last for several months.
Ingredients
The Cookies
- 1 cup Honey (340g)
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar (100g)
- 1/2 cup Almond paste (115g)
- 1/2 cup Orange marmalade (115g)
- 1 Large egg
- 4 cup All purpose flour (490g)
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda (2.5g)
- 1/2 tsp Salt (3g)
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon (8g)
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves (1.5g)
- 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg (1/5g)
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom (1.5g)
- 1 tsp Ground ginger (3g)
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper (1.5g) finely ground
The Peppermint Syrup and Powdered Sugar Coating
- 1 cup Granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup Water (199ml)
- 2 tsp Peppermint extract 8g)
- 3 1/2 cup Powdered sugar (454g)
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Combine and sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and black pepper
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the honey, sugar, almond paste, orange marmalade and the whole egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a smooth dough is formed.
- Break off pieces of dough about the size of a chestnut (approximately 21g) and roll into a ball. Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 325° degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookie is lightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool completely. At this point, you may store the cooled cookies in an airtight container for a day before continuing to the step of coating them with the peppermint syrup and powdered sugar
Peppermint Syrup
- Mix the sugar and water and cook over medium heat, bring to a slow boil, and continue until all the sugar has dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool, then add the peppermint extract.
Coating the cookies with syrup and powdered sugar
- Pour 1/2 of the peppermint syrup into a mixing bowl. In a second shallow bowl or deep sided platter (a roasting pan also works very well) sprinkle 1/2 of the powdered sugar.
- Using your hands, toss a large handful of the cooled cookies in the peppermint syrup. When the cookies are completely coated with the syrup (after about 15 seconds) scoop them out of the syrup (still using your hands) and allow the excess syrup to drain off.
- Next, toss the cookies in the powdered sugar until they are completely and thickly coated. Set these aside on a baking sheet large enough to hold in a single layer. Repeat this process until all the cookies are coated, adding more syrup and powdered sugar as needed.
- When the cookies have dried, and the "sugar shell" has hardened, you may find that some of the cookies need an additional toss in the powdered sugar. This is common.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container. These cookies need to age a few days to become moist and just a bit chewy. If kept in the airtight container, they will last several months.