How to Bake Pfeffernüsse
Yields: 8 dozen
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins
Ingredients needed to make Pfeffernüsse:
For the spiced sugar:
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cookies:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup honey
- ½ cup toasted almonds, sliced
- ¼ cup candied lemon peel, finely chopped
- 2 tsp orange zest, finely grated
- 2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
Cooking instructions for Pfeffernüsse:
- To make the spiced sugar, stir all the ingredients together and sift them into a large mixing bowl; keep it aside.
- To make the cookies, dump the sliced almonds into a food processor and pulse them for half a minute or until they grind into a fine powder.
- Add a knob of butter and grated zests into a stand mixer and cream the mixture, using the paddle attachment, at moderate speed for a minute or until it fluffs up.
- Stir in the brown sugar and continue to beat for another minute or until it blends into the mixture.
- Crack the egg into it and whisk it into the mixture for half a minute more.
- Add a splash of honey, followed by the chopped candied peel and beat for 1 minute or until they are distributed evenly throughout the mixture.
- Fold the flour into the mixture gradually, while beating it into the mixture at low speed, until they blend together to form a smooth dough.
- Cover and leave the dough in the fridge for an hour or until it becomes firmer.
- Meanwhile, position a couple of racks midway within the oven and heat it up to 350 degrees F.
- Spread parchment papers across a couple of baking sheets and keep them aside until the dough is ready.
- Split the dough into 24 equal portions and roll each of them into balls.
- Place them onto the lined baking sheets, spaced 1 ½’’ apart, and bake them for about 8 minutes.
- Rotate the sheets by 180 degrees and bake further for another 5 minutes or until they brown slightly along the edges while the surface remains soft.
- Transfer the cookies into bowl of spiced sugar and flip them over until well coated.
- Shake off any excess mixture and arrange them on a wire rack to cool down to room temperature.
- Bake rest of the cookies and smother them with spiced sugar in a similar fashion and store them in airtight containers for as long as 3 weeks.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
