The holidays are here and I’m in the mood for baking cookies!
This is my favorite time of the year for baking. Sometimes I need to reign myself in so I don’t overdo it. After all, who is going to eat all those cookies in a 2-person household?
Fortunately for me, my husband has quite the sweet tooth, and he’s only too happy to sample what I bake.
This year, however, I’ve decided to cut back on the excess of sweet treats – a bit of a challenge, given the holiday tradition in my family which goes back to our German roots.
This tradition involves an individual plate of Christmas cookies – yes, every member of the family gets their very own plate of cookies on Christmas morning, to eat as they choose.
Growing up, this was often the most exciting part of the holiday!
My mother would assemble the cookie plates on Christmas Eve, and we weren’t allowed to see them until morning. We even had special, Christmas themed holiday plates – just for the occasion.
As an interior designer, I understand how the needs of our families often change over the years, and our traditional way of doing things evolves – as new ideas present themselves.
Or, as so often happens in our homes, we simply want to ‘freshen’ the look.
Which is why, I’ve decided to make two changes this year:
- The first, is to bake less.
- The second, is to switch from paper Christmas themed plates to a more eco-friendly, re-usable choice – fine china. (Mostly because said paper plates, which have been re-used year after year, are looking a little ragged around the edges).
One thing, however, will never change, and that is my homemade Lebkuchen cookies – which I bake every Christmas.
For anyone not familiar with Lebkuchen, it is a German honey-spice cake – a thicker, chewy cookie filled with traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon and cloves.
In my pre-gluten-free days, we always had store-bought Lebkuchen.
However, years ago I came across this recipe from Sunset magazine, and I have faithfully baked these cookies every year since – to serve alongside the store-bought version.
Of course, all that has now changed, now that I no longer eat gluten-filled treats, although I do still eye with envy, the store displays of Christmas goodies.
Today, in honor of the Christmas holiday, I would like to share my recipe for homemade Lebkuchen – albeit with a few changes and substitutions for those of us with additional allergies.
LEBKUCHEN COOKIES – German Honey-Spice Cakes
Adapted from Sunset Magazine 
1 cup Honey
¾ cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1 Egg, beaten (or egg substitute, see below)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp grated Lemon Peel
2 ½ cups Gluten-Free flour mix* – plus extra for rolling out dough
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
½ tsp each ground Allspice, Cloves & Nutmeg
½ tsp each sea salt & Baking Soda
1/3 cup each finely chopped blanched almonds & chopped candied citron
Decoration:
A handful of dried cherries, or cranberries, or 10 whole candied cherries, cut in half
6 – 8 oz of whole, blanched almonds
Glaze:
1 cup powdered Sugar
5 Tbsp Rum or water
Heat the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat, just until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat and cool slightly; stir in sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon peel.
Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, spices, salt and soda. Add the honey mixture, chopped almonds and candied citron, stirring until well blended. The dough will be soft.
Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or as long as 2 days.
Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the remainder covered and chilled. Roll out on a heavily floured surface (I like using a silpat) to 3/8 inch thickness. Cut dough into 2½ to 3 inch rounds and place 2 inches apart on parchment paper, or silpat lined pans.
To decorate, press a dried or candied cherry in the center of each cookies. Place almonds around the center fruit, in a flower petal design.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove cookies from oven and immediately cover with glaze, using a pastry brush. Let cool on racks until glaze is no longer sticky. Makes 20 to 30 cookies.
Glaze: Stir together the powered sugar and rum (or water) until very smooth. Be sure to glaze the cookies – top and bottom – while still warm from the oven.
*Gluten-Free Flour mix
This year, I used the All-Purpose Flour Blend from Living Without. Other times, I might rely on one of their other mixes, or the Gluten-Free Goddess.
Really, any Gluten-free flour mix will do!
Substitutions:
For an egg substitute, I use 1½ tsp ground flax or chia seed, mixed with 3 Tbsp water – until slurry. You could also use Egg Replacer – 1 ½ tsp plus 2 Tbsp water to equal 1 egg.
For anyone allergic to almonds (that would be me) – try substituting chopped pine nuts in the dough, and whole nuts for decoration on top. The look is similar, but of course nothing beats the taste of almonds.
Be sure to also check out this recipe for Classic Shortbread Cookies!
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