Every Christmas I struggle to find the right balance between brand new and “tried-and-true” cookies to bake. To keep current and avoid missing something, I have to try at least a few recipes with unusual flavor combinations or trendy ingredients each season. Which usually nets me a couple of “keepers” (like my Chocolate-Peppermint Brownies or Chamomile Shortbreads) to add to my permanent collection.
But I’m also torn by loyalty to the treats that have been tasty and reliable companions over many decades. In my house this means rolled sugar cookies, gingerbread people, and my hub’s fave, his mother’s lebkuchen cookies. Like long-time friends or lovers, these treats don’t deserve to be cast aside just because something sexier comes along!
So, of course, my baking list always includes these family “must-haves.” They are an essential part of our unique culinary heritage, and our clan would view omitting them as cruel and unusual punishment. In fact, I’d be the Grinch stealing away our traditional family Christmas!
The cookie at the top of the “non-negotiable” list is my mother-in-law’s old-fashioned lebkuchen cookies. These were handed down through at least three generations of her family. Yes, as the name suggests, the original recipe came from Germany. But since lebkuchen recipes can be quite different from one another, think of these particular lebkuchen cookies as zesty, iced spiced fruitcake drops.
My mother-in-law baked these as far back as my husband can remember, and he and my son looked forward to a batch as long as she was able to make them. In her later years, she and I readied her lebkuchen together.
Since she passed away this May, I’ll now be carrying on the custom myself, perhaps baking them with my son and her great grandchildren. At six and eight, both kids are old enough to remember her, and I think that baking her cookies will be a fine way to keep her alive in their hearts. It will certainly help me keep her close—I made my first batch of the season to take these pictures, and I could almost feel her there by my side! (I have also posted a very personal story about recently losing my mother-in-law to Alzheimer’s here.)
Though the recipe originated in central Europe, Mom’s ancestors apparently adapted it to take advantage of American ingredients and to suit their tastes, as it is actually more reminiscent of really fine American fruitcake cookies than of the Lebkuchen Germans make. For example, it substitutes molasses and brown sugar for the original honey and granulated sugar and calls for pecans, which are New World nuts still little known in most of Europe.
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Tip: If you like festive fruit-studded cookies, but want something more contemporary check out my Cranberry-White Chocolate drops. They are always a hit.
- 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
- For the fruit mixture:
- Thoroughly stir together the dates, mixed candied fruit, pineapple, candied cherries, pecans, walnuts, almonds, brandy (or bourbon) in a large non-reactive bowl.
- 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
- For the dough:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
I do hope you like these. They are a much loved tradition in my hub’s family. I think the spice blend is really tempting.
Of all the Lebkuchen recipes I have looked at – this one nearly matched my grandmother’s recipe. Will make them for the 1st time tomorrow. Mine calls for citron which I always picked out as a kid.
My German grandmother made cookies something like these and called them Grandma's rocks! So they would be from my great-great grandmother…..still a family favorite. The fruit is mostly raisins ("chopped" so they must have been big) and walnuts, but plenty of them, and no icing. They keep for a long time. I keep some of the old recipes and the new ones, too.
Mark, do let me know how these compare with your grandmother's. I'd be so happy if this recipe helped bring back the pleasure of something you fondly remember.
These look so much like the Lebkucken my grandmother used to make. I haven't thought of them in years. I'm going to have to try your recipe. Unfortunately, I know my grandmother's is lost. But it was quite similar. Can't wait.