Pfeffernüsse: Iced & Spiced Christmas Cookies
My personal favourite Christmas cookie is the Pfeffernüsse. They are best made at least a few days before you want to serve them. The flavours develop over time and the sugary crust hardens. The inside cookie also softens slightly, combining texture and flavour into the perfect bite-sized Christmas treat.
These are basically an iced gingerbread cookie and are a great gift idea, especially for the hard-to-buy-for family members. The flavour is slightly spicier than traditional gingerbread, as the spice blend includes pepper. However, these biscuits are not at all savoury and despite being coated in sugar are also not sickeningly sweet.
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Pfeffernüsse
Measure out all the bowl ingredients. Then, mix to combine and set aside.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Combine the sugar, honey, butter & cream. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved. Don’t let the mixture boil or you’ll end up with caramel toffee.
Move the saucepan off the heat and add the dry ingredients you measured out in step one. Mix with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula.
Stir in the egg and mix well. At this point, the mixture will be quite sticky.
Tear off a roughly square piece of glad-wrap (plastic wrap / cling film). Turn out the dough onto the glad-wrap and shape into a vaguely rectangular shape.
Wrap and put in the fridge to cool for 4hrs. Can be left overnight but no longer than 2 days before baking.
Preheat the oven to 180oc (350of) and line a large baking tray with baking / parchment paper
Remove dough from fridge and unwrap. Divide dough in quarters and roll each quarter into logs. Keep rolling until the logs are long skinny snakes about an inch thick.
Slice off cubes of the dough and roll into balls as you go, placing onto the lined tray.
Bake for roughly 15 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. These cookies can be eaten as is, dusted with powdered sugar or glazed per the following directions.
In a medium sized bowl, measure out 3 cups powdered sugar. Icing mixture can be used interchangeably for this recipe and is better for those in humid climates as it is less likely to clump.
Add 3tbsp hot water and whisk well until the glaze is smooth and shiny. If the glaze is too runny, add some more sugar. If it’s too dry add a few drops more water. Be careful, as a little here goes a very long way.
Set out a baking tray and top with a cooling rack. This setup will allow the tray to catch icing drips as you go and make for easier cleanup than scraping goop off your bench later.
Dip the fully cooled cookies in the glaze and set on the rack to dry. If they are still warm, the glaze will slide right off.
Ingredients
Directions
Measure out all the bowl ingredients. Then, mix to combine and set aside.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Combine the sugar, honey, butter & cream. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved. Don’t let the mixture boil or you’ll end up with caramel toffee.
Move the saucepan off the heat and add the dry ingredients you measured out in step one. Mix with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula.
Stir in the egg and mix well. At this point, the mixture will be quite sticky.
Tear off a roughly square piece of glad-wrap (plastic wrap / cling film). Turn out the dough onto the glad-wrap and shape into a vaguely rectangular shape.
Wrap and put in the fridge to cool for 4hrs. Can be left overnight but no longer than 2 days before baking.
Preheat the oven to 180oc (350of) and line a large baking tray with baking / parchment paper
Remove dough from fridge and unwrap. Divide dough in quarters and roll each quarter into logs. Keep rolling until the logs are long skinny snakes about an inch thick.
Slice off cubes of the dough and roll into balls as you go, placing onto the lined tray.
Bake for roughly 15 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. These cookies can be eaten as is, dusted with powdered sugar or glazed per the following directions.
In a medium sized bowl, measure out 3 cups powdered sugar. Icing mixture can be used interchangeably for this recipe and is better for those in humid climates as it is less likely to clump.
Add 3tbsp hot water and whisk well until the glaze is smooth and shiny. If the glaze is too runny, add some more sugar. If it’s too dry add a few drops more water. Be careful, as a little here goes a very long way.
Set out a baking tray and top with a cooling rack. This setup will allow the tray to catch icing drips as you go and make for easier cleanup than scraping goop off your bench later.
Dip the fully cooled cookies in the glaze and set on the rack to dry. If they are still warm, the glaze will slide right off.
Notes
FAQ
Dough can be prepared up to two days in advance and stored in the fridge until needed.
The finished biscuits improve over time and are best made at least a day or two before serving. (Food Safety Guidelines recommend not more than two weeks).
For an extra festive kick, you can use Whiskey or Rum in place of the water in the icing glaze. As the biscuits mature, the extra flavour develops into the cookie and the alcohol will evaporate as the icing dries.
Key Ingredients
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