Giulio’s recipe for German Lebkuchen (gingerbread) cookies!
Please consult other recipes to be sure this one is correct. Giulio makes no guarantee as to how tasty these will be.
My mom and I once went to Germany for Christmas, and we bought a giant Lebkuchen heart. It had “I love you lots” written in German, and my mom and I shared it while we walked through the city. I think that was in Munich,
We went to a bunch of museums and looked at art, and we found some local cafes with music at night.
It was my favorite Christmas. Just the two of us, having fun. No old man, no dour grandparents.
The Christmas after that one—
f̶͙͒̀́̃̔̋̏̎̅̏͂̏͠ư̵̧̨̯͖̳͔͇̪͇̘̺͓̱̝̦̳̬͕͉̖̱ͅc̴̡̹͇̖̯͓̜̞̹͇̦͚̗̮̻̲̥͂̎̏̈̿́̿̓̄̽̕̚͜ͅķ̶̛̺̞̲̺̺̮̽̐͗̋̍̀̒̈̍̋͌̇̅̓͐̏̚͠ ̴͈͔̫̝̝̹̈́̆̆̏͝h̴̨̲͔̝̻̦̫͉̮̹̦̬̬͉͗͐̄͋̽̃̇͒̓̈́̇̔̽̅͆̀͗̈́̄̂̀̅̔̃̀͝͝͝͝ḯ̸͓̤̹̱̩̟̺͈̣͕͎͓͔͓͘m̵̨̧̛̛̮̤͓̫͍̙̟͖̖̺̩̲̭̻̳̜͖̦̘̀͆͐̎ ̶̧̧͙͕͚̗͖̟͕̙̱͇̠̤͈͕̳̪͉̰͍̞̝̺͍̇̏̿̽͆̇̒̏̓͒͂̎̋̀̾͝f̷̧̡̩̺̜͕̤̣̻̬̼̤̺͚̬̻̩͖͈̰̦̲͉̙͖̞̖̹̂̏͌̀̋̎͛͌̽̊̊̌̔̈́̽͒̐͋̿̒̌̅̕͜͜͝͝û̶̢͖͕̖̿̓̈́̍͗̑̉̾͋̃̓̓̈́̔͑̈́̚̕͝ć̸̨̨͖̬̲̰̬͖̖͚̹̱̫̻̤̥̥̫̱̲̼̮̦̬̺͂͛͜ḱ̴̹̲̭̭̖͎̫̘̱̓̽ ̴̨̢̞̖̣̟̣̘͉̼͋͑̃̎͛̆̍̀̐h̷̨̛̭̗̭͖̖̻̲̥̼͓͑̈́̿̆̏̈́͂͌̈̔̈́̍͌̀̎̎̇̿̈̈̀̃̐͘͘͝͠͝͠į̶̰͙̱̝͇̹̻̟̯͇͇̼̓́̃̿̋̈̀̎̈́͐͛̄̊͘͜m̷̢̛̛̳̯̬̤̼̣̠̱̳̬͙͖̈̿́́͌͒̓̓̂͑̀́̀̂̀̑̆̍̓̄̅̇͐̄͘̚̕͝ͅ ̸͎̘͈̖͚̱̹͖͙̀̽̆̌̾͒͛͛̈́̉̓̇͗̄́̀̐̂̈́̍̉̀͐̍̽͘͝ͅf̴̡̠̱̘͕̬̘͚̱̺̩̱͓̭̭̮͙̘̯̩̥͉̣̯̟̋͊̉͊̅̅̒͐̐̿́̍̍͐̂͛͘̚̚̚͠͝͠͝u̴̪̻͓̜̟͈̗͈̗̠̐̄͊̍c̵̢̡̫̻̦̯͕̞͍͙̯̱̭͎͈̠̗̗͍̓̅̈́̒̔͘̕͜k̸̡̧̛̛̛͉̝̻̲͙͕̝͙͇̰̜͇̥̠̤̹̣̻̎͂͆̌͂̔̀̋́̅͊̑̅̇͊̇̂̈́̀̅̊̃͛̈́̂̉͜͝ͅ ̷̡̜̻̞͈̳͕̺̰̳̻̺̻̣͖̦̠̙̬͒̋̈́̈́̿͒͊̍̋̈̌͗̇̈̈́̋͑͛̆̿̾̆̽̓̅̍̃̚̚͘͜ͅͅh̸̢̦̝̫͉͖̙̖̗̼͇̫̊̉̑̆͜͝͝ḭ̵̡̛̖̻̬̋̂̄̈̌́͂̊́͌͋̏̄̈́̑͛̑͘̚͝͠m̸̯̾͑̈́
I made these Lebkuchen cookies with Pandora. She enjoyed licking the bowl—no, Damien, there are no raw eggs in the dough—and cutting out the shapes. I tested out different types of icing and glaze but you can figure that out yourself. I highly recommend hilarious cookie shapes in order to scandalize your prudish in-laws.
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons minced candied orange peel
- 2 tablespoons minced candied lemon peel
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 5 tablespoons whole milk
Directions
- In a small bowl, stir the cream and vinegar together and let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°. In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour with the almond flour, candied orange and lemon peels, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the brown sugar with the shortening and molasses at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the thickened cream and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.
- Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working in 2 batches, using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop or 1/4-cup measure, scoop the dough into mounds on the prepared sheets, spacing them 3 inches apart. Place 3 whole almonds in a star pattern on top of each cookie and, with the palm of your hand, gently flatten each mound slightly.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
- In a small, wide bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar with the milk until smooth. Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze, letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let stand until the glaze hardens, about 10 minutes.
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