pfeffernüsse biscuit recipe

So. I had great thoughts of posting a few of our favourite Christmas biscuit recipes. Now its only two days before the Big Celebration and I haven't posted any yet. Ahem. My days are filled with baking, cleaning, decorating, organising, shopping (yes, I'm still doing that) and a myriad of other now or never must do's. But truly, these tasty little flavour bumps are worth putting aside a bit of time for, amongst all the busyness of this busiest of seasons. 

I make LOTS of these spicy biscuits every year - just before Christmas - and they should keep for up to a month if you store them in a tin in a cool place. Of course, in my house there are very rarely never any left after about two weeks so I can't truly verify if they are good for a month, so please use your discretion!   

Pfeffernüsse

4 eggs

400gm caster sugar

100gm almond meal

1 heaped tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamon 

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

500gm plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

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For the glaze

100 gm icing sugar

Lemon juice

*Mix sifted icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a thickened cream-like mixture. Add more lemon juice if you want thinner icing.

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Whip the eggs and sugar until light and frothy.

Add almond meal, spices and lemon zest. Stir.

Sift flour and baking powder into the egg/spice mixture, mix until smooth. 

Give the dough a light kneading in the bowl until it looks smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if its too sticky. 

Take portions of dough (about a cup size amount?) and roll it into long sausage shapes (approx 2.5cm diameter) on a smooth surface. You can see in these photos that I use our plastic covered table! 

Now cut your sweet sausages into 2.5cm lengths and put them on a greased tray….not too close as they do spread a teeny bit. 

Bake at 160C for around 12 - 15 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. I do mine on 165C (sorry not sure how to get that little degree sign!!) for 13 minutes or so. 

While warm dip the tops into the lemon/icing sugar mixture.

Leave to dry well before storing. 

And thats that! The biscuits will be a bit crunchy but heres a little trick to soften them - just add a quarter of an unpeeled apple into the tin, leave for a few days and the apple helps to moisten and make them chewy. Be sure not to let the apple touch the biscuits though, as they will get a soggy spot!

This recipe makes quite a few biscuits. My family also eat quite a few biscuits over Christmas. I make 4 batches of these, along with 4 batches each of at least 3 other kinds and although I wrap and gift quite a few, there are not many left after New Year. I told you they ate a lot of bikkies but perhaps its because they're all deprived for the rest of the year when I mostly make healthy, sugar free cakes!!

I do hope you give these a try. There are endless variations of this recipe but this is the one that I've settled on and find easy enough to whip up quickly. They are really very moreish and such a special treat!

Dieses feines Gebäck wert ihr schon kennen! Ich backe Pfeffernüsse nur zu Weihnachten und meine Familie ist immer ganz begeistert dabei. Ich hab hier mein Rezept aber sicher habt ihr selber eines und ich muss es nicht übersetzen!