German Lebkuchen Biscuits
Delicious German Christmas biscuits flavoured with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and candied citron. A simple icing makes them perfect.
Ingredients
Serves: 72
- Biscuit
- 100g honey
- 100g treacle
- 175g dark brown soft sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 350g plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 90g diced candied citron
- 30g chopped hazelnuts
- Icing
- 200g caster sugar
- 100ml water
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
Directions
Preparation:20min ›
Cook:10min ›
Ready in:30min
- Biscuit: In a medium saucepan, stir together the honey and treacle. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, bicarb soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Add the treacle mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the citron and hazelnuts. Cover dough and chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease baking trays. Using a small amount of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 cm thickness. Cut into small rectangles and place them 2cm apart on the prepared baking tray.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until no imprint remains when touched lightly. Brush the icing over the biscuits while they are still hot and quickly remove them to wire cooling racks. Store in airtight container for a few days to mellow.
- Icing: Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to between 110 to 115 degrees C, or until a small amount dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and stir in the icing sugar. If icing becomes grainy while brushing biscuits, re-heat slightly, adding a little water until crystals dissolve.
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Reviews (6)
Lots of German biscuit recipes can be a pain because they're so sticky. Spreading the dough in a pan like for brownies gets rid of the problem - or you can drop it off in spoonfuls and flatten the drops, although this isn't as pretty. - 29 Sep 2008
These biscuits tasted like originals that my Aunty sent from Germany at Christmas time when I was a child. I agree with the previous reviewer that the dough needs to be placed overnight in the fridge with a lot of flour required when having to roll the dough out. One of my favourite biscuits to bake. - 16 May 2011
Altered ingredient amounts. I made these biscuits on the request of my husband who is a German national living in the US since 1996. He told me they taste exactly like he remembers his mothers' biscuits. The dough was not sticky at all, but as the previous reviewers complained about the stickiness, I did add about 1/4-1/2 more flour and used plenty when rolling them out. I think the key was making sure they stayed in the fridge overnight. - 29 Sep 2008
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