Description
Pfeffernusse Cookies are traditional spiced German cookies featuring a rich blend of warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper. They have a chewy texture with a subtle sweetness from molasses and honey, perfectly dusted with powdered sugar for a festive touch. These cookies are ideal for holiday celebrations and make a flavorful treat with a hint of spice.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup molasses
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup shortening
- ¼ cup margarine
- 2 large eggs
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons anise extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Finishing
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Prepare Molasses Mixture: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine molasses, honey, shortening, and margarine. Cook and stir until the mixture is creamy. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs thoroughly.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, white sugar, brown sugar, anise extract, ground cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, black pepper, and salt until evenly combined.
- Combine and Chill Dough: Add the cooled molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined into a dough. Cover the dough and refrigerate for about 2 hours until chilled and firm enough to handle.
- Preheat Oven and Shape Cookies: Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Once chilled, roll the dough into acorn-sized balls and place them about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are firm and show slight cracking on the top surface. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with Powdered Sugar: Once the cookies are fully cooled, dust them generously with confectioners’ sugar for that signature sweet finish before serving.
Notes
- The spices blend including black pepper gives Pfeffernusse their signature slight heat and aromatic complexity.
- Chilling the dough is important for easy handling and to help cookies keep their shape during baking.
- Molasses contributes both flavor depth and moisture, making these cookies chewy.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week or freeze for longer storage.
- For a softer cookie, reduce baking time slightly and for crisper cookies, increase it by a few minutes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: German
