Lebkuchen, a delightful German Christmas cookie, captivates taste buds with its warm, aromatic spices and chewy texture. These cookies, also known as gingerbread cookies, are a traditional treat enjoyed during the festive season. Our collection of three irresistible Lebkuchen cookie recipes offers a range of flavors and textures to satisfy every palate, from classic crispy cookies to soft and chewy delights. Embark on a culinary journey with our Oma's chewy Lebkuchen, a beloved family recipe passed down through generations, featuring a blend of aromatic spices and topped with a delicate glaze. For a unique twist, try our soft and fluffy Lebkuchen cookies, infused with the zesty flavors of lemon and orange and finished with a sweet glaze. If you prefer a crispy treat, our crispy Lebkuchen cookies, with their delightful crunch and a hint of cinnamon, are a perfect choice. No matter your preference, these Lebkuchen cookie recipes are sure to evoke the spirit of Christmas and bring joy to your holiday gatherings.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
LEBKUCHEN COOKIES
Classic lebkuchen cookies with a lemon glaze. Prepared in advance, these traditional German Christmas cookies are gingerbread-like in flavor and have a soft and chewy texture. These cookies are a great festive treat for the holiday season! Recipe featured from Midwest Made from Shauna Sever.
Provided by Laura // A Beautiful Plate
Categories Cookies and Bars
Time P5DT25m
Number Of Ingredients 19
Steps:
- Prepare the Cookies: In a 1½ quart saucepan, combine the honey and muscovado sugar. Over medium-high heat, stir gently until the sugar begins to dissolve and the mixture just begins to come to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool until warm to touch. Whisk in the egg and lemon zest and juice.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- On low speed, stir in the wet ingredients until a smooth, sticky dough forms. Laura's Note: This will be slack and loose, don't worry! Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled ceramic bowl and cover with a plate - you want the dough to be able to breathe.
- Allow the dough to "ripen" at cool room temperature for 1 to 2 days - do not refrigerate. (The large amount of honey and sugar will keep bacteria at bay.)
- Position racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Turn out the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Roll it out to a ¼-inch/6 mm thickness. Use a bench scraper or thin spatula to get under the dough and scoot it around in the flour occasionaly to prevent sticking. Cut shapes with 2-inch/5 cm cutters and place 1 inch/2½ cm apart on the prepared baking sheets. Sweep away any excess flour with a pastry brush.
- Bake until fragrant and lightly browned, about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time. (Watch closely, as honey in the dough can make the edges catch and burn quickly.)
- Prepare the Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, egg white, lemon juice, and salt for a smooth, thin, runny glaze. (Add a few drops of lemon juice, as needed, to achieve this consistency).
- Let the cookies firm up and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Run an offset spatula under the cookies to gently looesn them from the parchment paper, leaving them on the sheets.
- While still warm, brush the cookies with glaze and transfer to wire racks. Allow the cookies to cool and the glaze to dry completely.
- The secret to a perfect lebkuchen texture is in the resting phase: place the cookies into airtight containers in layers, seperated by parchment or wax paper. Tuck a wedge of apple in the container before sealing. Store in a cool place for at least 3 days, or up to 2 weeks, to allow the cookies to ripen once more before serving.
Nutrition Facts : ServingSize 1 serving, Calories 125 kcal, Carbohydrate 7 g, Protein 1 g, Fat 11 g, SaturatedFat 1 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Sodium 58 mg, Sugar 8 g, UnsaturatedFat 9 g
GERMAN LEBKUCHEN COOKIES
Provided by LittleFamilyAdventure.com
Time 3h20m
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and allspice.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg and the brown sugar together for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the honey and molasses to the egg/sugar mixture.
- Add all the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Beat until well blended. Your dough will be crumbled, but when pressed together will hold its shape.
- Transfer dough to waxed fabric, plastic wrap, or a storage container with a lid. Wrap it up or cover and chill for at least 3 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Remove your dough from the refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll dough to a thickness of ¼" to ½". Use a 3" round cookie cutter to cut out circles or use a knife to cut 3" squares.
- Place the cookies an inch apart on a cookie sheet and top with a few sliced almonds. There is no need to press them down as they will stick to the cookie as it rises during baking.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. They will be done when you can touch the cookie top without leaving an imprint.
- Remove cookies and immediately transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- While the cookies are cooling, combine the ingredients for the icing in a small bowl.
- When the cookies are almost completely cooled, dip the top of each cookie in the icing and spread with the back of a knife. You can also use a pastry brush and brush it on. Place the glazed cookie back on the wire rack to dry.
- After the icing has hardened, store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 111 calories, Carbohydrate 24 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 5 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 1 grams fat, Fiber 1 grams fiber, Protein 2 grams protein, SaturatedFat 0 grams saturated fat, ServingSize 1 cookie, Sodium 24 milligrams sodium, Sugar 16 grams sugar, TransFat 0 grams trans fat, UnsaturatedFat 1 grams unsaturated fat
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
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
GRANDMOTHER'S LEBKUCHEN COOKIES
This cookie was sent to my boyfriend and I for Christmas last year by my Bijan's Grandmother. The first taste kind of surprised me but once I ate one cookie I was hooked. The cookies were cut out into large bar shapes with scalloped edges. They strongly taste of licorice because of the anise oil and that is what makes this cookie so unique.. The anise oil can be purchased at health food stores. The recipe sure makes a lot of cookies but I am not sure how many. The passive work time is the chilling period.
Provided by Queenkungfu
Categories Dessert
Time P3DT1h
Yield 7 dozen, 42 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Cream together molasses, brown sugar, egg, and shortening.
- Sift cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, salt, and flour and set aside.
- Add coffee, anise oil and vinegar to creamed brown sugar mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Add dry ingredients and baking soda solution to mixture (mix well).
- Add ground walnuts and mix.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 days.
- Dough will be tough.
- keep unused dough in fridge.
- Keep flouring rolling pin.
- On a floured surface and with a floured rolling pin roll out dough (Roll out a pound at a time) to 1/4 of an inch.
- cut cookies with cookie cutters.
- grease cookie sheet slightly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.
- Ice with confectioner sugar, butter, milk icing (I don't have exact measurements for her icing because she says she wings it).
Nutrition Facts : Calories 231, Fat 7.1, SaturatedFat 1.5, Cholesterol 5, Sodium 166.3, Carbohydrate 39.8, Fiber 0.9, Sugar 19.1, Protein 2.9
LEBKUCHEN
It's tradition for my family to make these German treats together. The recipe came from my great-grandmother's cookbook, and judging from the amount of requests I get, it has certainly stood the test of time. -Esther Kempker, Jefferson City, Missouri
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Desserts
Time 50m
Yield 3 dozen.
Number Of Ingredients 24
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with parchment., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses, buttermilk and extract. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice, cardamom and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in walnuts., Place raisins, dates, lemon peel, coconut, orange peel and pineapple in a food processor; pulse until chopped. Stir into batter; press into prepared pan. Bake 25-28 minutes or until lightly browned., For glaze, in a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in confectioners' sugar. Spread over warm bars. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Nutrition Facts :
Tips:
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before baking. This will help the cookies hold their shape and prevent them from spreading too much.
- Use a cookie scoop to measure out the dough. This will help ensure that the cookies are all the same size and shape.
- Bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to brown. Be careful not to overbake them, as they will continue to harden as they cool.
- Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before frosting them. This will help prevent the frosting from melting.
- If you don't have time to make the frosting, you can simply dust the cookies with powdered sugar.
Conclusion:
Lebkuchen cookies are a delicious and festive treat that are perfect for any occasion. They are easy to make and can be customized to your liking. With a little planning, you can make these cookies ahead of time and freeze them for later. So next time you're looking for a special treat, give these Lebkuchen cookies a try.
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