Recipes · Cakes & pastries
Pfeffernüsse (German Spice Cookies)
AI-written · not yet kitchen-tested
Pfeffernüsse taste much better after a few days than fresh, because honey and spices need time. The dough is sticky and only rolls into balls easily after a night in the refrigerator. Working in too much flour gives you hard cookies.
This recipe was written with AI assistance and has not yet been kitchen-tested. Check quantities and times as you cook, and follow safe core temperatures for meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) honey
- 100 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
- 60 g (1/4 cup) butter
- 1 egg large
- 300 g (2 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
- 0.5 tsp ground allspice
- 0.25 tsp ground cloves
- 0.25 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 pinch salt
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) confectioners' sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice add a spoonful at a time
Method
- Warm the honey, brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the butter has melted and most of the sugar has dissolved. Do not boil. Let the mixture cool until lukewarm.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, pepper and salt in a bowl. Add the egg and the lukewarm honey mixture and knead into a smooth, sticky dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, ideally overnight. It firms up and the spices blend in.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) conventional, or 325 °F (160 °C) with convection, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. With lightly floured hands, divide the dough into pieces of about 1/2 oz (14 g), roll them into balls of about 1 inch (3 cm) and place them 1 inch (3 cm) apart, because they spread a little.
- Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are light brown and the balls feel firm. They may still be slightly soft inside. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.
- Stir the confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice, adding the juice a spoonful at a time, until the glaze is thick and flows slowly off the spoon. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies, let the excess drip off and leave them on the rack for about 1 hour to set.
- Store them in a tightly closed tin. After about 3 days the cookies are softer and the flavor is rounder.
Tip: The dough sticks to your hands. Instead of working in more flour, rinse your hands briefly in cold water and keep them damp: the dough stays soft and the cookies do not dry out.
Tip: Pfeffernüsse that bake too dark turn rock hard. Once the tops just begin to take color, they are done, even if the balls still feel a little soft.