The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

Springerle are a traditional German Christmas cookie, known for there beautiful embossed designs and stark white color. I’ve heard their origin can be traced back as far as the 15th century, maybe earlier (wikipedia says 14th century) and are undoubtedly one of the prettiest cookies I’ve ever come across. My family is German and on my mothers side they are from the south where these cookies originated. I grew up with stories of these cookies as they were a big part of my mothers traditions and I remember them distinctly from those years we spent in Germany over the holidays.

As a kid who grew up with very little in the way of sweet treats, I can still remember one of the first times I tried a springerle cookie. I remember looking wide eyed at this beautiful cookie, white as a marshmallow with its amazingly intricate design and thinking if it was anything like the rest of Christmas in Germany it would surely be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Even more distinct is biting down into its dense almost cake like surface and realizing that there couldn’t be anything further from the glorious taste of a marshmallow then this. Needless to say, for a kid of my generation who did not grow up in Germany they fell a little short of what I had imagined. I didn’t hate them as I would imagine a kid with a refined sense of what a cookie should taste like would, I wasn’t that discriminating, but I definitely was not as impressed as I thought i would be.

Twenty years later my opinion of these cookies couldn’t be further from what it was when I was a kid. Their biscuit like texture and subtle flavor of anise are truly unique and they just get better with age. Their flavor is quite mild initially, but over the course of a few weeks they intensify developing a deeper anise flavor as they age.

There is just something about these cookies that is truly unique,while they be a bit of an aquired taste they have definitely made it onto my favorite holiday recipe list.

Springerle – Makes about 3 dozen cookies, recipe adapted from House On the Hill

For this recipe I would recommend not using free range eggs as they generally have a very orange yolk and as you can see in the pictures of my cookies where I used organic free range eggs, they didn’t come out as white as I would have liked them to. You can also substitute the Bakers Ammonia for baking powder if you can’t find it.

1/2 teaspoon bakers ammonia

2 tablespoons whole milk or cream

6 large eggs, at room temperature

6 cups of powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons of anise extract

2 lbs sifted cake flour

zest of one orange

flour for kneading

Dissolve the bakers ammonia in the milk and let stand for at least 30 minutes before using.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the eggs until thick and quadrupled in volume about 10 – 20 minutes. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar a couple tablespoons at a time until all 6 cups are incorporated then add in the softened butter and continue mixing until there are no visible chunks of butter in the batter. Add in the bakers ammonia and milk mixture, salt, anise and orange zest. Gradually beat in the flour, you will have to change to the bread hook eventually, alternatively you could also turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead the remaining flour in but I like to let the machine do the work.Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Roll out one piece to about 1/2 inch, keeping the other covered with a damp cloth as it will dry out really fast. Dust your cookie moulds with flour before printing out the cookies. Re roll any scraps.

Arrange the unbaked cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to dry out for 12 – 24 hours, this will ensure that your prints are preserved during the baking process.

Depending on your oven bake at 275-325 Fahrenheit for 10 -15 minutes or until cookies have risen.

Store in an airtight container for at least 3 weeks before eating them. They will keep for months and continue to get better with age.