Pfeffernüsse

Still baking cookies  Today I made the Pfeffernüsse, for which I kneaded the dough a week ago. It was sitting since than on the counter, waiting to be shaped into cookies. 

Pfeffernüsse are one of the most traditional cookies in Germany, the recipe goes back to the old merchants in the middle ages, who brought, besides pepper, exotic spices to Europe. The name Pfeffernüsse literally translates to pepper nut, though no pepper was used in this recipe, but a lot of spices like cardamon, cloves or allspice, which were all called ' pepper ' in the ancient times. As a leavening agent Pottasche ( Potassium carbonate ) is used. That's why the dough has to sit for a week before baking and that's where the cookies get the unique, slightly bitter taste from. When you buy Pfeffernüsse nowadays, they are usually coated in royal icing. I like them more traditional, just dusted with a bit of powdered sugar.

I portion the dough into walnut sized pieces by using a small ice cream scoop . Each ball I cut in half, that gave a consistent and walnut kinda size.

The Pfeffernüsse, dusted with a little powdered sugar. They have a nice spicy flavor with  a chewy texture and a little crunch. I will make them again next year.

-=========  REZKONV-Recipe - RezkonvSuite v1.4

     Title: Pfeffernüsse
Categories: Baking, Cookies, Christmas
     Yield: 50 Cookies

    300     grams  Sugar beets syrup ( Zuckerrübensirup ), a sort
                   -- of molasses (*)
    125     grams  Sugar
     75     grams  Duck fat
     50     grams  Butter, unsalted
    1/2     teasp. Cloves, ground
      2     teasp. Cinnamon, ground
    1/2     teasp. Allspice, ground
    500     grams  Flour ( type 550, I used white whole wheat flour
                   -- )
      1     teasp. Cardamonpods, seeds ground
     50     grams  Almonds, ground
     15     grams  Pottasche ( Potassium carbonate )(*)
      4   tablesp. Rum
      1            Egg

============================ SOURCE ============================
            Stern 52/1992
            -- Edited *RK* 12/08/2013 by
            -- Ralph Knauth