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Springerle
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4.5 stars stars based on 22 reviews - 100% would make this again
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Traditional German cookies with a delicate anise flavor, stamped with special cookie stamps for a lovely bas-relief appearance. Real works of art, these are a hard cookie suitable for shipping and dunking in your tea or coffee.
Makes about 60
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
4 eggs
4 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Crushed anise seeds
Beat the eggs with an electric mixer for 10 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients along with the lemon zest and a 1/2 teaspoon of the anise seeds to the egg mixture. Mix well. Cover tightly and chill 4-5 hours. Divide the dough into fourths. Roll 1/4" thick, dust lightly with flour and press with springerle mold*. Cut the individual cookies apart with a cutter wheel. Place them on a lightly floured surface, cover with a towel and let stand to dry overnight. Grease baking sheets and sprinkle them with anise seeds. Brush the excess flour from the cookies, place them on the sheets and bake at 250F for 25 to 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
Note: *Springerle, also known as Eierzucker, are shaped with special wooden molds used to stamp designs into the cookies. They can also come in the form of a roller. These items can be found by clicking on the links at right, or by visiting specialty food stores or gift shops specializing in Swiss and German keepsakes. If you cannot find a springerle board, just cut the cookies in squares or cut them with cookie cutters, or use the other popular cookie stamps that are available.
Reviews of Springerle:
1-5 of 22 reviews Next >>
A cookie baker Dec 19, 2011
Would make this again.
I made my Springle this morning and will bake them tomorrow morning. I have been baking them for more than thirty years myself from an old, old recipe that has been enjoyed for generations. The amounts of flour and sugar are not enough to mention the differences, but my recipe calls for no salt and "butter the size of an English walnut". The main difference is that the dough is rolled without refrigeration, rolled once with the stamped rolling pin, and placed in "a cool room overnight" before baking.
Although they are to be stored in an airtight container, there is nothing quite as special as those right out of the oven the next morning- with good strong coffee.
A cookie baker Nov 18, 2011
Would make this again.
My grandfather was a German baker & passed down molds & recipe. The reason these recipes do not rise is the old recipes called for powdered ammonia instead of baking powder & was measured in 1 1/2 pennies weight on scale. You can find bakers ammonia on internet 2 stars
A cookie baker in cincinnati Jun 8, 2010
Would make this again.
This recipe is good, except I think the flour should be sifted. I baked mine too long and they turned sort of yellow. The apple slices are an excellent suggestion, thanks!
There's a lady here in Cincinnati making really nice springerle - I am jealous of her molds, she has hundreds of them!
www.queencitycookies.com 5 stars
A cookie baker in California Dec 24, 2009
Would make this again.
My mom's secret ingredients to keep the cookies soft was to add 1.5 T honey and 1T softened butter at the end of mixing the batter - never a hard springerle at the Lamont household! Thanks Mom!! 5 stars
A cookie baker in Ohio Dec 21, 2009
Would make this again.
I made this recipe to the letter. I used a heavy duty stand mixer that even became bogged down as I added the cake flour. I have no idea how my mother did this with a hand mixer when I was a child. I found that the dough was brick hard when I took it out of the refrigerator and thought I had done something wrong with the recipe. It crumbled as I worked and worked to roll it out. I ended up having to sprinkle with water to make it pliable enough to roll and press. Because of the dough I only got about 5 cookes out per rolling then had to rework and roll again so the process takes a long time, however the cookies turned out pretty well for my 1st attempt. Some rose very nicely and others were a bit flatter. I will continue to search for recipes that may work better. I had no idea there were so may other variations. Some with more eggs and using all purpose flour instead of cake. Maybe more eggs would help. It is the only wet ingredient in this recipe. 3 stars
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