23 Days Holiday Cookies: Pfeffernusse

These are German cookies. I really love the Holiday cookies from Germany. Not so Sweet but a bit spicy.
I use a German flour base wafer ( German Back-Oblaten) on the bottom of the cookie.  They come in all sizes, I use the 3.5 inch ones.You do not have to have them. However I like to make them as Authentic as possible


Pfeffernuse

3/4 Cup Molasses
3/4 cup Black Forest Honey
3/4 Shortening
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon  Ground Allspice
1 teaspoon Mace
1/2 Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds, crushed
1 Large Egg, beaten

Combined Molasses and Honey in a saucepan,medium size.  cook on Low heat  stirring until heated, add the shortening. continue stirring until melted. remove from heat and cool to room temp.

Combine Dry ingredients; flour and Baking soda and next 5 spices  stir together well set aside

Now add the beaten egg to the room temp  Molasses mixture, and stir until blended.
 Pour into the flour mixture. stir just enough to blend it , let sit for 15 minutes.

shape into 1 in balls and put on a wafer disk ( if you a using them.
Place on the cookie sheet ( parchment lined ) or lightly greased. place 2inch apart.

Bake at 350°F 10 minutes. remove from cookie sheet and dip in sugar Glaze or Powdered sugar. cool on wired Rack. Store in cookie tin.

The Glaze:
Now to make the Glaze, allow the cookies to completely cool, I do the glaze the next day. 

1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp lemon extract and 1 and 3/4 Tablespoon and water.

put the sugar in small bowl,
measure the 1 tsp lemon extract out and put it into a Tablespoon measuring spoon, add water to fill up the Tablespoon.Pour into the sugar,  then add another Tablespoon of water.  stir with wire whisk until smooth.
Dip cookies into glaze til covered top and bottom, let sugar glaze dip off over bowl as much as possible, Put on a drying rack and continue til all cookies are coated.

I have to make one more batch of glaze to complete. It is best to make the glaze in two cause it dries fast.

Recipe copyright 2016 by "Auntie E Cookbook/EM Dubros"