Pfeffernusse cookies

180 Servings

Ingredients

QuantityIngredient
3tablespoonsLemon juice
½cupCitron or other candied fruit or fruit peel, chopped
6cupsCake flour
2teaspoonsBaking powder
½teaspoonSalt
½teaspoonCloves
½teaspoonNutmeg
½teaspoonMace
1tablespoonCinnamon
½cupChopped nuts

Directions

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Beat the eggs well. Add sugar about two tablespoons at a time and beat thoroughly with each addition.

Add lemon rind and juice, finely chopped citron, the dry ingredients which have been mixed and sifted together, and the finely chopped nuts.

Chill at least one hour, roll out ½ inch thick and cut out with a Pfeffernusse cutter, a round cutter about ⅞ of an inch in diameter.

( If a Pfeffernusse cutter is not available, a narrow bottle top or round tin bouillon cube box will do very nicely. ) Place Pfeffernusse on a cookie sheet and let stand overnight in a cool place to dry. The next morning before baking invert each cookie and put a drop of fruit juice or brandy on the moist spot on the bottom of the cookie and bake upside down. This tends to make the Pfeffernusse "pop."

Bake in a slow oven (300 degrees F.) for 8 minutes. Makes 180-200 cookies. Let ripen and soften before using.

From the Wed 06-17-1992 edition of The El Paso Times newspaper.

Posted by John P. Nicholson