German Lebkuchen, a traditional German Christmas cookie, is a delightful treat that combines the flavors of gingerbread, honey, and warm spices. These cookies are typically made with a mixture of flour, sugar, honey, spices, and nuts, and are often decorated with icing or marzipan. Lebkuchen can be made in a variety of shapes, including hearts, stars, and circles, and are often enjoyed with a cup of coffee or tea. For an extra special touch, these cookies can be sandwiched together with German baking wafers called Oblaten, creating a unique and delicious treat that is sure to impress your friends and family.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
AUTHENTIC GERMAN LEBKUCHEN
This recipe is over 150 years old and has been baked by my family for many generations for Christmas. They are much easier to make than other lebkuchen and ingredients have been updated to what's available now. They are made with almond flour, hence are gluten free and also contain no dairy.
Provided by Ruth
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European German
Time 1h10m
Yield 25
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange backoblaten (German baking wafers) on top, leaving a 1-inch space between them.
- Combine almond flour, sugar, eggs, ground hazelnuts, candied lemon and orange peel, ground cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and ground cloves and mix into a firm dough.
- Shape mixture into balls. Arrange balls on the prepared wafers; press gently to flatten into 1/2-inch-high rounds.
- Bake in the preheated oven until light brown in color, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Place chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Cover the top of each lebkuchen with chocolate.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 211.4 calories, Carbohydrate 24.8 g, Cholesterol 23 mg, Fat 11.7 g, Fiber 2.4 g, Protein 4.1 g, SaturatedFat 1.4 g, Sodium 9.3 mg, Sugar 17.1 g
EASY GERMAN LEBKUCHEN RECIPE
These soft Lebkuchen Cookies are a classic German favorite!
Provided by Cate, International Desserts Blog
Time P1DT50m
Number Of Ingredients 26
Steps:
- Combine the ground spices in a small bowl or jar.
- Cover and set aside.
- This recipe makes a little more spice mix than you need for these cookies. Feel free to add more spice mix to the cookies if you'd like a stronger flavor.
- Wash oranges and lemons.
- Zest the citrus using a microplane.
- Heat water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add zest and stir.
- Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Strain out the liquid and let the candied zest cool in a small bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- This recipe will likely make a little more candied zest than you need for these cookies. Feel free to add more if you'd like a stronger flavor.
- Use a food processor to grind the almonds and hazelnuts until they're like crumbs. (But be careful that you don't grind so long that they turn into nut butter! It's ok if you have some larger nut chunks.They don't all have to be the same size.) Set ground nuts aside.
- Add the brown sugar, Lebkuchen Spice Mix, baking powder, and salt to a mixing bowl (or the food processor or the bowl of a stand mixer). Mix with a whisk or spoon until combined
- Add the candied zest and mix again.
- Add the nuts and mix.
- Add the spice mix and stir.
- And then add the honey and mix again.
- Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, then add the eggs to the dough and mix again.
- The dough should be pretty thick at this point.
- At this stage you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. Or you bake your cookies right away.
- When you're ready to bake your cookies, pre-head your oven to 325F/160C.
- Place the Oblaten wafers on a lined baking tray (if using).
- If using the 70mm size, spoon 2 tablespoons dough onto the middle of each wafer. If your dough immediately flattens out and spills out over the wafer, add more ground nuts (try grinding another 1/4 to 1/2 cup).
- Ideally you want the baked cookies to cover the entire wafer while keeping a domed shape. You can use lightly damp fingers to gently spread the dough towards the edge of the Oblaten. I just barely spread the dough towards the edges.
- For the cookies you want to eat plain (no glaze), you can press almonds into the dough at this stage. I totally forgot to do that so my plain cookies are very plain (still tasty, though)!
- Bake the cookies for 20-22 minutes or until the edges are browned. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.
- Add powdered sugar, water, vanilla extract, and rum extract (optional) to a small bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Adjust powdered sugar and water as needed. The sugar glaze in the recipe below should be enough to glaze half of the cookies, so double it if you want to use it for all of the cookies.
- Chop the dark chocolate and add a bit of oil (vegetable, coconut, etc). Slowly melt the chocolate in the microwave on 15-20 second intervals or in a double boiler on stove (or place a glass bowl over a saucepan that has simmering water it in). Stir frequently. When 3/4 of the chocolate has melted, simply keep stirring to melt the rest. If you want all of your cookies to have a chocolate glaze, double the recipe.
- Use a pastry brush to apply the sugar or chocolate glaze to the top of the cookies. You can also dip the cookies in the glaze (I found it easiest to use the pastry brush).
- Add almonds (whole blanched, slivered or sliced) to decorate the top of the cookies before glaze sets.
- Let the glaze dry on the cookies for 12-24 hours. Store in an airtight container with wax paper between layers of cookies. They'll keep for at least a couple weeks, longer in the freezer.
GERMAN LEBKUCHEN WITH GERMAN BAKING WAFERS OBLATEN
The cookies are baked on a thin, edible wafer called oblaten. Oblaten are crisp, white wheat wafers that are available in specialty food shops. If you do not have a specialty food shop that handles oblaten, check with a local religious supply house. Wafers that are used for communion come in various sizes, including 2 3/4 and 3-inch diameters, and can be used for lebkuchen.
Provided by Olha7397
Categories Dessert
Time 40m
Yield 48 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 17
Steps:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large bowl, beat or whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water over low heat and heat, whisking until the mixture is thick and very warm (about 130 F) Remove from the water bath and continue beating until the mixture is cool.
- Combine the almonds, flour, zests, and spices in another bowl.
- Stir into the egg sugar mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Place the oblaten on baking sheets 2 inches apart.
- Spread 1 rounded tablespoonful of the cookie dough on each oblaten, spreading to the edges of the wafers.
- Let the cookies stand, uncovered, for 1 hour before baking so that the top will dry.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are crusty on the upper surface, but still moist in the center.
- Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
- In a small bowl, stir the sugar and lemon juice together to make a thin glaze.
- Spread over half of the cooled cookies.
- Place the chocolate into a glass bowl and heat in the microwave at high power for about 2 minutes, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the remaining cookies.
- Decorate with the almonds.
- Makes 42 to 48 cookies.
- The Great Holiday Baking Book Beatrice Ojakangas.
EASY GERMAN LEBKUCHEN
Make and share this Easy German Lebkuchen recipe from Food.com.
Provided by Az B8990
Categories Bar Cookie
Time 1h10m
Yield 32 pieces, 32 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- •Preheat oven to 350°F.
- •Grease a 15 X 10 X 1-inch baking sheet.
- •In large mixer bowl, beat egg and oil. Add brown sugar and beat well.
- •Add honey and molasses. Mix well.
- •Mix together flour, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda. Add to egg mixture and beat till well mixed.
- •Stir in almonds and candied fruit and peel. Dough will be very thick.
- •Spread in baking pan. Use back of spoon to spread, dipping spoon in water so that dough doesn't stick to spoon.
- •Bake for 15 - 23 minutes or until done.
- •with a sharp knife, score into bars immediately upon removing from oven by just cutting through the top crust.
- •With mixer, in small bowl, beat egg white, powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
- •Spread icing over warm bars. Decorate with candied fruit. Cool completely.
- •Cut through completely at the score marks to cut into individual bars.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 108.1, Fat 2.2, SaturatedFat 0.3, Cholesterol 6.6, Sodium 34, Carbohydrate 21, Fiber 0.5, Sugar 13.8, Protein 1.6
GERMAN LEBKUCHEN
A German honey Christmas cookie made with molasses.
Provided by HILARY2000
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European German
Time 8h20m
Yield 36
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- In a large bowl, beat the egg, brown sugar and honey until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice; stir into the molasses mixture. Stir in the almonds and candied fruit peel. Cover or wrap dough, and chill overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into 2x3 inch rectangles. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. While still warm, brush the cookies with the lemon glaze.
- To make the glaze: In a small bowl, stir together the egg white, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Brush over cookies.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 119.9 calories, Carbohydrate 26.6 g, Cholesterol 5.2 mg, Fat 1.1 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Protein 1.7 g, SaturatedFat 0.1 g, Sodium 24.1 mg, Sugar 14.6 g
Tips:
- Mise en place: Before you start baking, make sure you have all of your ingredients and equipment ready. This will help you stay organized and avoid any mishaps.
- Use fresh, high-quality ingredients: The better the quality of your ingredients, the better your lebkuchen will taste. Look for fresh, organic ingredients whenever possible.
- Follow the recipe carefully: Lebkuchen is a delicate pastry, so it's important to follow the recipe carefully. Don't skip any steps or substitute ingredients, as this could affect the final product.
- Be patient: Lebkuchen takes time to make. Don't rush the process, or you'll end up with a subpar product.
- Enjoy the process: Baking lebkuchen is a fun and rewarding experience. Take your time and enjoy the process, and you'll be sure to create a delicious and memorable treat.
Conclusion:
German Lebkuchen is a delicious and festive treat that is perfect for any occasion. With its unique flavors and textures, lebkuchen is sure to please everyone. So next time you're looking for a special treat, give Lebkuchen a try. You won't be disappointed!
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