Sunday, February 5, 2017

Pfeffernusse

For me, pfeffernusse are quintessentially Christmas and remind me of home, or Mama, which is maybe the same thing.

Leading up to the Christmas just gone, I discovered that a good friend from work also loves these tiny spice cookies, and seeing them being made on a cooking show, she took note of the recipe. After going on the hunt for ground aniseed, and then kindly sharing the recipe with me, along with a mixture of the various spices required, I found myself all set to try homemade pfeffernusse - which my friend had found to be far more spectacular than the store-bought kind.

So, to share the Christmas love (albeit at little late), I have finally gotten the chance to try them for my self. So here it is...

6 Tbsp honey
6 Tbsp white sugar (I used raw)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soft butter (I didn't have enough, so used half butter, half coconut oil)
1 egg (oops - I left this out!)
1 egg yolk

2 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each of ground: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, pepper, aniseed.

Mix the first set of ingredients together, than sift the dry ingredients into the mixture. Stir until combined.
Roll mixture into small (cherry tomato) size balls.
Bake at 160C/325F for about 15 minutes.

Icing:
Mix icing sugar with just enough water to make a runny paste, then dunk the cooked cookies into the paste then place on a try to drip.


Yum! These certainly are delicious. Perfect with an afternoon coffee.