Holiday Baking Series: Pfeffernusse Shortbread (Gluten, Sugar and Egg Free)
So now that I am in the habit of revealing my secrets to you, I will tell you another one. I believe in Santa. Ever since I was a little girl I have baked special cookies for him. I also leave carrots for the Reindeer, but that is another story. I am not kidding. You may all think I have gone crazy, but really, the magic of this time of year has always been with me. It is a time when many people return to a more childlike way of being – snuggling into warm blankets, eating special treats, and enjoying quiet entertainment and time with family and friends.
I have always loved spice cookies. They are not overly sweet, and usually made up of nuts as well as flour. This year I have really gotten into making shortbread. A good friend of mine shared his recipe with me, when he brought buckwheat shortbread to our housewarming party.
Using that recipe as a base, I decided to spice it up by using almond meal and adding traditional Pfeffernusse spices to it. Pfeffernusse means “pepper nut” in German and refers to the fact that most recipes contain ground pepper. Pfeffernusse is in the Lebkuchen or Gingerbread family of cookies, which dates back to the 12th Century. Gingerbread is based on Teutonic honeycakes. There are also versions of these pepper nut cookies in Scandinavia and The Netherlands.
I spent the evening of the Winter Solstice staying up to see the Lunar Eclipse baking these cookies.
These cookies are a traditional cookie for this time of year. German lore tells us that Santa Claus places these cookies in the shoes of all good children during the feast of Sinterklaas which has its roots in various pagan customs of the holiday stemming from areas where the Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of Sinterklaas.
So you can just say that I am returning the favor.
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz almond meal*
4 oz gluten free oat flour
4 oz date sugar (or just 4 oz dried dates pulverized)
1 TBS Pfeffernusse Spice Blend: freshly ground: ¼ tsp each: tellicherry peppercorns and cardamom, 1 star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger
8 oz butter (use the absolute best quality you can find. I use Vermont Butter & Cheese)
*to make your own almond meal, soak almonds in water overnight and then grind in food processor
METHOD:
Using a food processor, grind almonds, or use almond meal. Pulse in oat flour, dates (or date sugar) and Pfeffernusse spice blend until well blended. Then pulse in the butter, broken up into chunks. Pulse until the ingredients come together to form a batter.
Option 1. To make the stars, refrigerate dough for about an hour so butter hardens and is easier to handle. After an hour take dough out and press it out until about an inch thick. Then cut out into shapes and place on a cookie sheet to bake.
Option 2. Immediately roll dough into little balls using your hands and bake.
In a 375 F oven bake for about 20 – 30 minutes or until edges are browned.
Traditionally Pfeffernusse are rolled in powdered sugar. If you wish to do this you can make your own by placing maple sugar or evaporated cane juice into a grinder and grinding until powdered. See A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa for a tutorial (and another great cookie recipe).
Rosa - December 24, 2010 at 6:39 am
Mmmhh, those look so good! I love Pfeffernüsse cookies.
Have a great time.
Cheers,
Rosa
Maria - December 24, 2010 at 10:52 am
Lovely cookies! Merry Christmas to you!
Raine - December 24, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hi Jenn! Wow, these look great, I have been busy finding gluten-free desserts this year to make, and I think these sound so good! I’ve especially been looking for cookie recipes, and I think this one would be delicious! I like your story about Santa and the reindeer, that really warms my heart! I love the old claymation children’s shows from the 60s, I used to watch them over and over again, and now I am sharing them with my son. I love how sweet and innocent they are, and I think it’s so important to retain that innocence, even when you are a grown-up. I’m glad to see you are doing that. 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and your family, hope you have a wonderful holiday this year!
vanillasugar - December 24, 2010 at 12:37 pm
i love how you participate as much as you can in all the holiday traditions. i did not stay up for the lunar eclipse (it was cloudy too). but i’m sure santa will be good to you this year whether or not you put cookies in his shoes or not. lol
merry christmas Jenn!
Ben - December 25, 2010 at 12:26 am
Lovely cookies, have a great Christmas my friend 🙂
Angela@spinachtiger - December 25, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Merry Christmas Jen. I love spice cookies because they are not too sweet as you said. Date sugar sounds good too. Hope you are having an awesome holiday.
Alta - December 27, 2010 at 7:38 am
These sound amazing!
Stella - December 27, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Ah, these are awesome, Jenn. I love that they are both gluten and sugar free. Plus, they are santa claus approved. That’s extra cool…:-)
Oh, and on Jan 1, I’m climbing back up on the refined/cane sugar free bandwagon. I’ll probably still use A.P. flour in combination with whole grains, but not very much. So I might be making these actually (smile)…
Johanna GGG - December 27, 2010 at 4:50 pm
I love pfeffernusse but have never made them – your spice blend sounds delicious and a gf version would go down well in our house – hope you are having a happy holiday
Brandi - January 19, 2011 at 6:02 pm
These sound amazing! I have been missing spiced cookies since going gluten- and sugar-free. I look forward to trying these out soon. Thank you so much for sharing this. 🙂
Marillyn @ just-making-noise - December 24, 2011 at 1:35 am
Love this! My grandfather was 100% German… so I’ve got it in my blood! I would love to explore more on traditional German, Swedish & Norweign food!