Ingredients
250 g all-purpose wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground cardamom
125 g butter (if you’re going plant based, use one with minimum 75% fat)
125 g caster sugar
50ml cream or plant based cream
Summary
Pfeffernusse, or peppernuts are our favourite Christmas biscuits. They’re balanced in spice, easy to make (get the kidlets involved!), with ingredients you’ve probably got in your pantr, PLUS they’re the perfect size, not too much of a commitment after a big meal 😅. This recipe makes enough for gifting and sharing during the festive season. Big thank you to Marie who introduced us to these biscuits and who affectionately calls them Scooby Snacks.
Pfeffernusse Cookies
Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder) into a bowl and mix to combine.
Beat butter and sugar together with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the cream and gently mix everything until combined. Now add the dry ingredients in batches, mixing with a metal spoon to combine. Lastly, form a ball (using your hands) that is only just uniform. You don’t want to knead the dough for long – it will activate the gluten and your cookies won’t hold their shape.
Return dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in the fridge to rest for 30 mins.
If the dough is flexible enough, roll the dough into sticks that are about 1 cm in width and cut the dough into 1×1 cm pieces. If the dough is not flexible enough, you can just roll the cookies individually into little
1 cm balls. They will be perfectly round like the traditional cookies.
Put the little balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake at 200 C° or 190 C° fan forced for about 8-12 min depending on your oven, turn them halfway to ensure even baking.
The pfeffernusse are done with they are light brown. When they come out of the oven, they will be soft, but still hold their shape – they become crispy when they cool.
These last exceptionally well in an air tight container – happy holidays!
Hints and Tips
We’ve had vegan version of these and they were just as good!
