Mom's Lebkuchen Cookies--When Tried-&-True Trumps New
Author: Nancy Baggett
My husband’s mother, Miriam Solomon Baggett, introduced me to her “lebs” many years ago. They were her special gift to about a dozen or so lucky relatives and friends every Christmas. Essentially nicely spicy fruit cake drops, her lebkuchen cookies are wonderfully aromatic, full-flavored and slightly chewy. With the dabs of royal icing on top, look like little snow-capped mountains.
Ingredients
  • Fruit-Nut Mixture
  • 1⅔ cups (about 8 ounces) pitted, chopped dates
  • ¾ cup (about 4 ounces) mixed diced candied fruit
  • 1 cup (about 6 ounces) diced candied pineapple
  • 1 cup (about 6 ounces) chopped candied red (and/or green) cherries
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) each, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, and chopped almonds
  • ⅔ cup good quality brandy or bourbon (or use orange juice, if preferred)
  • Dough
  • 3 cups bleached all-purpose white flour, plus extra if needed
  • 1½ teaspoons each ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice, and ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
  • 1 cup light molasses
  • ¼ cup corn oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
  • ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk (save the white for royal icing), at room temperature
  • Icing
  • 1 large egg white (reserved from making dough)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted after measuring if lumpy
  • ⅛ teaspoon lemon extract or almond extract
  • 2 tablespoons water, approximately
Instructions
  1. For the fruit mixture:
  2. Thoroughly stir together the dates, mixed candied fruit, pineapple, candied cherries, pecans, walnuts, almonds, brandy (or bourbon) in a large non-reactive bowl.
  3. Cover and let stand at least 8 hours and up to several days, stirring several times; if the mixture absorbs all the liquid, stir in several tablespoons of water (or additional booze, if preferred
  4. For the dough:
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease several large baking sheets, or coat with nonstick spray. In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
  6. In a large mixer bowl, beat the molasses, oil, and brown sugar together until well blended. Add the eggs and yolk, beating until well blended; it is all right if the mixture looks curdled. Stir the dry ingredients and fruit mixture (including any unabsorbed liquid) into the molasses mixture until evenly incorporated.
  7. If the dough is too soft to drop by teaspoonfuls, stir in a tablespoon or two more flour; if too stiff and dry, stir in a little water. Drop the dough by generous measuring tablespoonfuls, spacing about 1½ inches apart on baking sheets.
  8. Bake, one pan at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 10 to 14 minutes or until the cookies are just barely firm when pressed in the center and barely darker at the edges. Remove the pan from the oven; let the cook­ies stand a minute or two. Using a spatula, transfer them to racks. Let cool completely.
  9. For the royal icing: In a mixer bowl with the mixer on medium speed, beat the egg white, lemon juice, and cream of tartar until the white becomes frothy and opaque. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. Beat in the lemon extract, and 1 tablespoon water.
  10. Gradually beat in the remaining ¾ cup powdered sugar. Beat on high speed until the icing is stiff and glossy. If the icing is too stiff to spread, thin with additional water until spreadable.Swirl a small amount royal icing over the center top of the cookies using a table knife.
  11. Let stand until the icing completely sets, several hours. Pack with wax paper between the layers. For best flavor, allow the cookies to mellow 24 hours before serving.The cookies can be kept, airtight, for up to 3 weeks, although the white icing begins to discolor after a week or so. Freeze the un-iced cookies for up to 2 months for longer storage; then ice after they are thawed.
Recipe by KitchenLane at http://kitchenlane.com/2010/12/moms-lebkuchen-cookies-when-tried.html