Leslie’s Lebkuchen

FAMILY HERITAGE - Celebrating a family’s heritage is a wonderful way to share joy during the holiday season. Taking the opportunity to teach your kids a favorite family recipe will likely create memories that will last a lifetime. Lebkuchen is a traditional German Christmas cookie of which there are many varieties.

A few years ago, a friend from Germany visited Edible Kentucky’s designer Leslie Friesen at the holidays and brought a tin of Lebkuchen. Struck by the unexpected combination of flavors and the dense chewy texture, Lebkuchen became a “must bake” every holiday season. Distinctive flavors combine in a delightfully irresistible (and relatively healthy) chewy cookie. Think gingerbread meets hazelnut and almond, meets anise, meets molasses, meets dried fruit and candied citrus — then glaze it with chocolate for a bit of extra decadence. After researching various recipes, Leslie put together her version which captures the flavor she remembers from that first taste.

By Leslie Friesen | November 24, 2020

Ingredients

CANDIED CITRUS & DRIED FRUIT MIXTURE

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 orange, thinly sliced

Cookie Dough

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup mild honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 and 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts (hazelnut flour)
3/4 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground anise
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cardamom
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

POWDERED SUGAR GLAZE

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. lemon extract (more or less depending on your taste)

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 oz baker’s chocolate
2 tsp butter

Instructions

TO PREPARE CANDIED CITRUS & DRIED FRUIT MIXTURE

Combine sugar and water in a 4-qt saucepan. Place over medium high heat and stir frequently until sugar dissolves completely and syrup comes up to a boil, about 5 minutes.

Add lemon and orange slices and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and reserve syrup for another use, if desired.

Discard seeds and chop the drained fruit. Set aside. (Note you will probably have enough candied citrus for two batches of dough.)

1/2 cup chopped dried fruit. (Use a mixture of most any dried fruit you might have on hand — apricots, apples, cherries, cranberries, persimmons…)

Add a bit of water, or some of the syrup from the candied citrus.

Microwave dried fruit with water, 30 seconds at a time; checking and stirring after each 30 seconds, until dried fruit is softened.

In food processor, pulverize 1/2 cup candied citrus with the dried fruit mixture. You can do this in advance and store in the refrigerator.

TO PREPARE COOKIE DOUGH

In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, molasses, honey, and butter until creamy, 5 minutes. Then add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating before adding the next one.

In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

Mix in dry ingredients at low speed until just blended.

Fold in the citrus dried fruit mixture until just blended.

Refrigerate and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350ºf.

Place some of the dough on a floured surface and roll to 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Cut cookies in rectangles approximately 11/4"×21/2".

Bake 14 to 18 minutes. Rotate cookie sheets halfway through. Don’t over-bake or they will loose some of their wonderful chewy texture.

Cool completely before frosting.

GLAZE OPTIONS

Cookies can be served plain, with a powdered sugar glaze, or with a chocolate glaze.

TO PREPARE POWDERED SUGAR GLAZE

Put in small bowl. Add water a little bit at a time and whisk together to get a thin glaze.

Brush on cookies with a pastry brush.

TO PREPARE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Place in a microwaveproof bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat in 30 second increments until chocolate is just melted. Brush on cookies with a pastry brush.