Lebkuchen Christmas cookies
I have always loved lebkuchen biscuits at Christmas, so this year I have had a crack at making them myself. There really is something Christmassy about the spices used in these Christmas biscuits – it’s that glorious mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and that extra richness from the cloves. And cloves are such a tricky spice that can completely overpower many spice blends, but seem to conjure up the right flavour for this festive period.
Ingredients
Makes: 25 lebkuchen
- 250g plain flour
- 85g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 175ml clear honey
- 85g butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 lemon, finely zested and juiced
- 1/2 orange, finely zested
- 100g icing sugar
- 1 egg white, beaten
Method
Prep:15min ›
Cook:13min ›
Extra time:2hr proofing ›
Ready in:2hr28min
- Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl, then thoroughly mix.
- Warm the honey and butter in a pan over a low heat until the butter melts, then pour into the flour mixture. Add the lemon juice and lemon and orange zest. Mix well with a hand held whisk until the dough is thoroughly combined.
- Cover and leave to cool overnight, or for at least 2 hours. to let the flavours meld together and work that festive magic.
- Heat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
- Roll the lebkuchen dough in your hands into around 25 balls, each 3cm wide, then flatten each one slightly into a disc.
- Divide the lebkuchen mixture between 3 baking trays lined with baking parchment, or ideally with an edible baking paper, with a decent amount of room for them to expand.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until when touched lightly no imprint remains, then cool on a wire rack. While still warm, glaze the lebkuchen with the icing glaze, made as below.
- While the cookies are baking, make your glazing icing: mix together the icing sugar and egg white to form a smooth, runny icing.
- Brush the top of each biscuit with the glazing icing. Leave to dry.
Tip
You should ideally allow these Christmas cookies to mellow. To do this, you should store the lebkuchen in an airtight container for a day or two to allow the flavours to mellow and the cookies to become softer.
Tip
You can add an extra sugar glaze to give the tops even more lustre - 100g caster sugar plus 50ml water melted and boiled to 90 degrees C; mix in 1 tablespoon of icing sugar; brush over iced lebkuchen.
See it on my blog
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(7)
Reviews in English (6)
My new favourite biscuits! Baked them with the intention of giving some away but they didnt leave the house. Changed the recipe a bit; used ginger instead of cloves, used golden syrup instead of honey. Yum! - 27 Nov 2013
great recipe! I tried o store them for a few days, only to find my husband had eaten most of them! I gave then 2 coats of the icing. - 20 Dec 2012
Yum, yum, yum. Absolutely delicious; just like the cookies I remember from my childhood in Germany. - 09 Oct 2012