mom's old fashioned pfefferneusse (peppernut cookies)
My Greatgrandmother came to the US in 1889 from Germany and taught my mother to cook at an early age. Mother made all the famous German cookies for Christmas. Liebkuchen, Springerle, and Pfefferneusse were all baked in Late October, or early November to be ready and softened for the Holidays. Don't let the ingredient list intimidate you. Afterall, you only make them once a year. I hope you try these as they are different than most and sooooo good.
prep time
cook time
method
Bake
yield
a Huge amount LOL
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 pound raisins, ground
- 1 pound shelled brazil nuts, ground
- 1 pound english walnuts, ground
- 1/2 pound candied orange and citron peel, chopped fine
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 9 - eggs, well beaten, large size
- 2 teaspoons baking soda, level
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh nutmeg, ground
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 4 1/2 pounds all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon anise seed (and/ or some anise extract)
- SYRUP GLAZE
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- FOR COATING
- 1 box powdered sugar (or about 1 pound.)
How To Make mom's old fashioned pfefferneusse (peppernut cookies)
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Step 1In medium saucepan, mix glaze ingredients and boil together for 3-5 minutes to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
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Step 2Grind fruit and nuts individually in either an old fasioned hand grinder, or food processor, until pieces are larger than rice, but smaller than small peas. Should be fairly evenly sized. Place in Very large bowl as they are ground.
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Step 3In the very Large bowl, mix ground fruit, sugar and ground nuts, peels, water and eggs together well.
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Step 4Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
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Step 5Mix wet and dry ingredients together well, adding a little more water or flour to adjust the texture if too dry or wet. (Needs to be able to be rolled into balls.) Usually you only need to add a little water if the humidity is low and flour is dry.
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Step 6Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Step 7Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, measure out and form the dough into small walnut sized balls. Place on greased Baking sheet. (These do not spread, so you can put them close together, about 1/2 inch between cookies) Bake for 10-15 minutes until very light golden brown and set to the touch. They will feel soft, but set. Move to a cooling rack and let cool to room temp.
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Step 8Dip cooled cookies into sugar glaze and let dry for 5-10 minutes,
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Step 9Toss in powdered sugar to coat. Store in an airtight container for 2-4 weeks with a whole apple to soften. Check periodically to make sure the apple is not molding. If so, replace. It will shrivel as the moisture is drawn out into the cookies.
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Step 10Best way to determine if they are softened is to eat one occasionally. LOL Will last almost indefinitely.
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Step 11Forgot to note that these will lose their powdered sugar coating as they ripen and soften, so recoat with powdered sugar just before serving. :)
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
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