Bready or Not: Lebkuchen
It’s my understanding that there are likely thousands of Lebkuchen recipes in the world, and here is mine.
This traditional German Christmas cookie is like a gingerbread cookie, but is a lot more complex due to the spices used and the citrus mixed in.
Even the glaze adds to that wonderfully fresh citrus flavor, as it has a bit of lemon juice mixed in.
The only somewhat odd ingredient is chopped-up candied orange. I actually cut up a whole-slice version that Trader Joe’s sells at the holidays, but otherwise candied orange should be found near fruitcake ingredients at many grocery stores.
Note that this cookie dough needs to chill for a full day. That gives the flour time to develop and for the spices to really do their thing.
And trust me, you want their thing done. These are awesome cookies, sure to delight and surprise anyone who digs in.
Modified from a recipe printed in Cooking Light Magazine, December 2008.
Bready or Not: Lebkuchen
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup ground almonds sifted
- 1/2 cup candied orange slices chopped, or candied orange peel
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 15.75 ounces
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan on medium heat, constantly stir together the brown sugar, honey, butter, and molasses until the sugar is dissolved. Make sure it doesn’t come to a boil. Transfer the mixture to large bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
- Add the espresso powder and egg to the cool sugar mixture. Follow that up with the ground almonds and candied orange bits.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the rest of the dry ingredients. Gradually combine the two bowls until just mixed. Lift it up and knead it for a minute or so to make sure no flour remains at the bottom.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for at least a day.
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide dough into 4 portions. Keep the other portions chilled while rolling 1 out into a 8×6-inch rectangle. Cut (a pizza slicer or bench knife are great) into 3×1-inch bars. Transfer to baking sheet, setting them an inch apart.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until firm. If cooking both sheets at once, switch their positions about halfway through.
- As soon as the cookies are out, mix up the glaze. Drizzle glaze back and forth over the warm cookies. Let glaze set for an hour before packing up cookies in sealed containers.
OM NOM NOM!
Giftmas 2020: Help the Edmonton Food Bank!
I’m taking part in Giftmas again this year, an annual effort coordinated by Rhonda Parrish for the benefit of the Edmonton Food Bank. I don’t need to state the reasons why helping food banks is more important this year than ever before. We need to help each other. We can’t connect in person, but we can connect with a few bucks that will help fill bellies and add warmth to the world through kindness. If you’re American like me, your dollars will deliver extra bang with each buck, too. $1 = 3 meals.
Rhonda asked Giftmas participants to post on the subject of connections. For me, this year has featured an evolving connection with my son.
He turned fifteen in March. We didn’t get to do his annual birthday trip to IKEA, where he loves following the handout map and the big arrows on the floor, as he has since he was a preschooler. He’s autistic. He loves maps and numbers, and IKEA is all about those things.
Last year, he started high school. It was not a transition without hiccups. He needs routine and quiet. He struggles to understood the chaos of other people. The lead-in to his birthday was the start of virtual high school. It was… tumultuous, to say the least. The kid who needs routine, losing all semblance of it. Me, I’m diagnosed OCD and not much better at handling this stuff than he is, but I have to be the cool-headed parent because if I crack, he will really crack.
I’m also the at-home parent as I do this writer thing. I was the one who had to talk him through the fear, the unknowns. I had to talk myself through, too.
As April chugged along, as masks became the thing, his school days began to find more of a groove. He did, too. He actually found it easier to focus on his work in the online school format. I enjoyed having him around, too, preparing lunch for him and checking in during breaks to see how things were going. It became a situation that bonded us more, as we talked at lunch about the new COVID-19 case numbers for the day and what they meant for our family.
We’ve continued to work through, day by day, as his sophomore year began in the fall. He started out online, then got to return to school for two days a week for three weeks before an outbreak shut his school down in early November. Soon after that, rising case numbers for Arizona forced his entire district to return to online learning to finish out 2020. He’s handled these transitions oddly well. I’m proud of him. This year has been hard, but he has grown in this time. So have I.
That said, I selfishly would like fewer growth-through-adversity moments in 2021, for our sakes and for everyone else, too.
Thank you.
Follow the entire blog tour through RhondaParrish.com and her social media.
Bready or Not Original: Honey Spritz Cookies
These Honey Spritz Cookies are perfectly sweet, and with some added sanding sugar, will make cookie plates bright this holiday season!
I have a love and hate relationship with my cookie press. Sometimes I try to use it for recipes and it is a disaster. Not so with this recipe!
This dough was soft and dreamy to work with. I can only hope that you have a similar experience.
As I used a tree-shaped disc to make my cookies, I added some green sanding sugar. The fun thing about this recipe is that you can make it any time of year and customize it to the season.
Really, the most difficult thing about this recipe was rearranging my fridge to fit in the cookie sheets for their chill time.
Bready or Not Original: Honey Spritz Cookies
Equipment
- cookie press
- 2 large cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sanding sugar or coarse sugar or other edible decorations
Instructions
- Place two cookie sheets in fridge to completely chill.
- Arrange oven racks at top and bottom of oven, then set to preheat at 350-degrees.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, honey, and vanilla. Gradually add in the dry mixture until just combined. Dough will be super-soft.
- Cookie presses vary in how they work–fill the device with dough, however required, and add decorative disk or nozzle. Press out cookie dough directly onto the cold cookie sheets, spacing 1-inch apart.
- If desired, add colorful sanding sugar or other decorations. Bake for 7 minutes. Switch placement of cookie sheets within oven. Bake for another 7 minutes, until set. Let cool on pans for about 5 minutes then transfer to racks to completely cool.
- Store in sealed containers at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Noel Cookies
We made it to December! Let’s celebrate with these Noel Cookies.
These cookies are a fun mixture of textures and flavors. Chopped nuts crust a soft cookie, everything complemented by a zing of jam.
I used good ol’ Smuckers strawberry preserves for this recipe and avoided large chunks of fruit. Really, use whatever jam you like!
I was a bit concerned about how these cookies would travel to my husband’s work. I didn’t want jam to get everywhere and make a sticky mess. I found, though, that the dabs of jam stayed put and that waxed paper between the stacked cookies kept everything from going sticky.
These cookies will keep for at least 3 days in sealed containers. They might last longer, but you’ll need to test your restraint to find out!
Recipe modified from Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2008.
Bready or Not: Noel Cookies
Equipment
- teaspoon scoop
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup finely-chopped nuts
- 1/3 cup seedless fruit jam or preserves, avoid big chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a big bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture while also intermittently adding in the sour cream.
- Use a teaspoon scoop to measure the dough. Roll into balls, then roll each ball in the chopped walnuts. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Use the end of a wooden spoon or another kitchen tool to create a deep indentation in the middle of each cookie. Add a dollop of jam to fill each well.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set. Let cool on cookies sheet for a few minutes, then move to rack. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper between the layers. Keeps for at least 3 days.
