Pfefferneusse

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Christmas is just around the corner,yeah ! I love every single thing about the holiday season-the snow, the festive lights,the presents, the scrumptious smells,and most of all,the magic of the season.Hope everyone is geared up for the big,festive day.Here is another magnificent type of cookie,full of christmas spirit and spice.

I love these beautiful cookies, and I for one, had finished up a batch of my own at home. This is the absolute first time I am baking these cookies,and I am pleased that I did. This classic German cookie has all the Christmas flavors in it and has a few nuts,which is a mouth-watering combination.The name 'Pfeffernusse' , translates to 'peppernut',since it has pepper in it, but with less a sting of pepper, if you follow accordingly to the recipe .When I bake these cookies again(I definetly will),I'll add a bit more pepper,because I love the zest of it.

This is another recipe I tried from Rose's Christmas cookies. This is a great book, I must say. I borrowed it from the local library and now I feel like getting a copy of my own. I want to make each and every cookie in this book and I already tried 3 of them. Do you remember my last post,the Crescent cookies, also adapted from this wonderful book.

If you are a health nut and would like to try these cookies - good news! They are free of butter,which makes a healthy treat for the kids,if you are a mom.Another plus factor about it, it keeps good for ages ! Make sure that you age these cookies with a slice of an apple in the container or they will break your teeth if you don't! Be sure to put a apple slice in a small bowl, and put it in the jar where the cookies are stored.After a couple of days, be sure to change them or you wouldn't want a moldy,mushy,gooey apple slice getting on your container.

A perfect time to bake !! Have a fun holiday season everyone !

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 3 cups
Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
White pepper- 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon- 1 tsp
Ground cloves- 1/8 tsp
Chopped candied lemon/orange peel- 1/2 cup
Unblanched sliced almonds- >1/2 cup
Granulated sugar- scant 1 cup
Eggs- 3

For topping:

Confectioner's sugar- 1 cup

Method:

1.In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder,salt, pepper,cinnamon and cloves.
2.In a food processor,process the candied lemon peel, almonds and sugar until fine.
3.In a mixing bowl beat the eggs lightly.Add the sugar mixture into it and mix well.
4.At low speed gradually beat in the flour mixture, till everything has come together.
5.Scrape the dough onto a plastic wrap, flatten into a disc and wrap tightly. Chill for an hour (and not longer).
6.Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.Line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper.
7.Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4- 1/3 inch thickness.
8.Cut the dough with a 1 inch round cookie cutter.Place them on a cookie sheet an inch apart.
9.Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
10.Cool them in the baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool them completely.
11.Take the powdered sugar in a plastic bag and add the cookies, a few at a time ,in the bag and shake well to coat with sugar.
12.Store in an airtight container with an apple slice placed in a small bowl.

Notes:

1.Traditionally these cookies are not cut using a cookie cutter, but are orbs. Rose suggests these nontraditional shapes are easy to consume :-).
2.I used candied orange peel, though the recipe calls for lemon peel.
3.Keeping the apple slice in the jar is very important,and do keep that in a bowl (I've just kept the apple slice directly on cookies to see the cookies more clearly !)
4.Rose says it keeps good even for a year.
5. I used back pepper. You may use white if you want only less a sting.

Recipe adapted from: Rose's Christmas cookies