Lebkuchen

Nothing says Christmas like the smell and taste of lebkuchen. As a child, I remember my mom baking lebkuchen in November before placing them in a tin in a closet for us to enjoy in December. She always said these cookies are so much better once they have been stored a while. Well, my mom’s lebkuchen recipe was lost quite a while ago… so I went online to find a new recipe to fulfill my Lebkuchen desire. Wow, was I ever surprised at the plethora of recipes! So I bookmarked several to try and possibly adapt/combine into a Cooking-4-One recipe. This recipe is primarily based on the recipe from GoodToKnow.co.uk with some aspects added from the Serious Eats recipe. The results are extremely flavorful and satisfying. Was this recipe easy like I typically showcase? No, it was definitely an intermediate effort in my opinion. Was that effort worth the reward? You bet it was! Having my home filled with the scent of lebkuchen baking and enjoying these chewy spiced treats afterward brought a smile back to the young boy from so long ago…

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Lebkuchen

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 30

Ingredients

⅔ cup honey
½ cup molasses
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup almond meal
½ cup ground hazelnuts
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Small pinch of ground clove
¼ cup candied citron
¼ cup candied lemon peel
¼ cup candied orange peel

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and spices distributing the ingredients evenly.
Add the citron, lemon peel and orange peel and stir to coat and separate before setting aside.
In a small sauce pan over Low heat, combine the honey, molasses and sugar together.
Bring to a strong simmer then remove from the heat.
Cool for 20 minutes then whisk in the beaten egg.
Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the sugar mixture.
Fold to combine.
When the mixture comes together to form a sticky dough, tip on to a floured work surface and lightly knead until smooth.
Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15 minutes to cool down.
After chilling, roll dough out on a floured work surface to around 5mm thick for cut cookies. For bars, leave the thickness about 10mm.
If desired, use cutters to shape. If making bars, shape the rolled dough into a rectangle that will fit onto the baking sheet.
Bake on parchment lined baking trays in the middle of the oven.
For cookies, 10-15 minutes or for bars, 20 - 25 minutes or until they start to brown.
Cool in the baking tray for 10 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack.
Cut the bars while while the dough is still warm and cool on the wire rack afterward.
Once cool, dip cookies in icing or sprinkle with chocolate and/or powdered sugar.

In the picture above, I have whole hazelnuts and slivered almonds. For the hazelnuts, I toasted them at 350ºF for 12 – 15 minutes until the skins cracked and peeled. By rubbing them together, I removed the remaining skins from the hazelnuts. I allowed them to cool before pulsing in the food processor to a fine meal.

For the almonds, I toasted them for 10 minutes at 350ºF and allowed to cool before pulsing in the food processor until a fine meal.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and spices distributing the ingredients evenly. Add the citron, lemon peel and orange peel and stir to coat and separate before setting aside.

In a small sauce pan over Low heat, combine the honey, molasses, and sugar together.

Bring to a strong simmer then remove from the heat. Cool for 20 minutes then whisk in the beaten egg.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the sugar mixture.

Fold to combine. When the mixture comes together to form a sticky dough, tip on to a floured work surface and lightly knead until smooth.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15 minutes to cool down. After chilling, roll dough out on a floured work surface to around 5mm thick for cut cookies. For bars, leave the thickness about 10mm. If desired, use cutters to shape. If making bars, shape the rolled dough into a rectangle that will fit onto the baking sheet.
Bake on parchment lined baking trays in the middle of the oven. For cookies, 10-15 minutes or for bars, 20 – 25 minutes or until they start to brown. Cool in the baking tray for 10 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack. Cut the bars while while the dough is still warm and cool on the wire rack afterward. Once cool, dip cookies in icing or sprinkle with chocolate and/or powdered sugar.