30 pieces

This is my adaptation of the famous German Christmas cookies, Pfeffernüsse. The idea for the dough is a recipe from Anna Olson’s food channel. I have changed some ingredients (for example, I omitted aniseed). You can improvise by using generously your favorite Christmas spices.

Products you need for the dough:

3 cups flour (sifted)

2/3 cup of sugar

6 tbsp. liquid honey

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 tbsp. baking soda

a pinch of salt

a pinch of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Products for the icing (optional):

1 dark cooking chocolate (how much is at your discretion, as you may want to have chocolate glazing on some cookies only)

1 cup powdered sugar

vanilla to taste

a dab of unsalted butter (on the tip of a knife)

poppy seed for sprinkling

Preparation of the dough:

I mix soft dough with all the ingredients.

Then shape balls of around 4 cm in diameter.

Put them in a tray, the bottom of which I have previously lined with greased baking paper.

Bake about 30 minutes at 150°C degrees.

Optionally, I decorate some of the chilled cookies with the glazings and sprinkle poppy seed on top (only on the white).

Preparation of the icing:

Chocolate – I use cooking chocolate, melted in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

 Sugar glazing – stir the icing sugar, vanilla and butter with 3 tbsp. water. The mixture is then slightly heated on the hotplate, for just a few seconds with constant stirring. I use the glazing immediately because it hardens quickly. If this happens, put it on the hotplate for seconds, if necessary, add a few more drops of water.

Tips:

When baked, the cookies double in size. Therefore, before baking them, arrange them at a sufficient distance from each other.

The baking time depends on the oven and the baking dish. Check constantly when baking.