Authentic Pfeffernüsse
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One of Germany’s most popular and beloved Christmas treats, these spiced and iced cookies known as Pfeffernüsse are simply delightful! A thoroughly authentic and incredibly delicious homemade Pfeffernusse recipe that will bring back fond memories or help create new holiday traditions!
What Are Pfeffernüsse?
The Netherlands and Germany enjoy a similar cookie in the month of December. Known as Pepernoten in the Netherlands, they are eaten in celebration of the arrival of Sinterklaas on December 5. In Germany they are known as Pfeffernüsse and although St. Nicholas comes on December 6, Pfeffernüsse are enjoyed throughout the entire Christmas season.
The coming of the jolly bearded man so early on in the month will sound confusing to those who await Santa on December 25. But in Germany, and many other European countries, the tradition is that St. Nicholas visits the kids earlier in December. Traditionally shoes are left in front of the door and if you’re good they’ll be filled with oranges and nuts – if you’re bad, you’ll get shoes full of coal. Then, on Christmas Eve, it’s not Santa who comes to the home to deliver gifts, it’s the Christkind – the Christ child, the ultimate Giver – who gives the gifts.
Pepernoten and Pfeffernüsse are both spice/gingerbread-like cookies and have some similarities, but the ingredients vary as does the method of preparation. Also, Pfeffernuesse are commonly coated with a sugar icing. The name Pfeffernuesse means “pepper nuts.” The pepper part refers to the white pepper that is added to the dough which gives these cookies a very unique and flavorful touch. The nuts part refers to their walnut-like shape.
In Germany you can find Pfeffernusse in any grocery store throughout the holidays. I have to admit, as popular as they are I’ve never cared for store-bought Pfeffernusse. And so if you were to tell me you don’t like them either I would understand. BUT…homemade is a totally different story. Everything about homemade Pfeffernusse is better – the flavor, the texture. In short, if like me you don’t like the store-bought stuff, give these a try – I think these German spice cookies will win you over!
Pfeffernüsse Recipe
Let’s get started!
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, Lebkuchengewürz, white pepper and almond meal. Set aside.
Combine the brown sugar, honey, butter, and cream in a medium saucepan and heat, stirring frequently, until melted and the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. (Note: While not traditionally included, for some added flavor and texture you can also stir in some finely chopped Candied Orange Peel or Candied Ginger.)
Stir in the flour mixture.
Stir in the egg until thoroughly combined.
The dough will have a nice glossy sheen. The dough will be very sticky and that’s how it should be.
Turn the mixture out onto some plastic wrap and wrap the dough tightly. Refrigerate at a minimum overnight to allow the flavors time to develop, or for up to two days.
Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and immediately roll it into two strands, each 3/4 inch thick. Slice the rolls into 3/4 inch thick rounds.
Roll each round into a ball (each ball should be about 3/4 inch large). Work quickly while the dough is still chilled.
Place the cookie balls on a line cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove and let the cookies cool a few minutes before transferring them to a wire wrack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and water until smooth.
Dip each cookie in the glaze, letting the excess drip off, and place them on a wire rack positioned over a cookie sheet (to catch the drips).
Repeat for all of the cookies and let the Pfeffernusse sit until the glaze is fully hardened.
Store the cookies in airtight container in a cool place.
Pfeffernusse will keep for at least 2 weeks and the flavor only gets better over time. Enjoy them on their own or dunked in your favorite hot beverage.
Enjoy!
For more authentic German Christmas recipes be sure to try my:
- Stollen
- Lebkuchen
- Marzipan
- Springerle
- Gugelhupf
- Dampfnudel
- Berliner Brot
- German Rum Balls
- Printen
- Speculoos
- Vanillekipferl
- Zimtsterne
- Bethmännchen
- Heidesand
- Kokosmakronen
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Authentic Pfeffernüsse
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 teaspoons Lebkuchengewürz
- Homemade Lebkuchengewürz (STRONGLY recommended for best flavor), click link for recipe
- 1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
- 1/4 cup almond meal or almond flour (meal has skins intact, flour has skins removed; more aesthetics than anything)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup pure honey
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- For the Glaze:
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons hot water (less water will result in a thicker & whiter glaze)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, Lebkuchengewuerz, white pepper and almond meal. Set aside.
- Combine the brown sugar, honey, butter, and cream in a medium saucepan and heat, stirring frequently, until melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Stir in the flour mixture. Once incorporated stir in the egg until thoroughly combined. The dough will have a nice glossy sheen. It will be very sticky and that’s how it should be.
- Turn the mixture out onto some plastic wrap and wrap the dough tightly. Refrigerate overnight or for up to two days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and immediately roll it into two strands, each 3/4 inch thick. Slice the rolls into 3/4 inch thick rounds and roll each round into a ball (each ball should be about 3/4 inch large). Work quickly while the dough is still chilled. Note: The size is just personal preference, you can make them larger if you prefer.Place the cookie balls on a line cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let the cookies cool completely.
- To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and water until smooth.Dip each cookie in the glaze, letting the excess drip off, and place them on a wire rack positioned over a cookie sheet (to catch the drips) and let them sit until the glaze is fully hardened.Store the cookies in airtight container in a cool place. Will keep for at least 2 weeks (they're usually stored longer) and the flavor only gets better over time.Makes 50+ cookies depending on their size.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet December 20, 2015
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
This recipe is the best, and I return to your site every year to make it — that said, the pop-up ads are disruptive and incredibly frustrating when they constantly reload and push recipe content out of view. I do hope the site is lucrative for you, but I wish the advertising style wasn’t so invasive.
Hi mh, I appreciate your honest feedback and completely understand your feelings on this. I purposefully do not run any pop-up ads on my site (if that’s happening it’s an issue with the browser or the device, not my site) but there is a temporary video ad running on my site on mobile devices that you have to click to make go away – it’s an annoying one and fortunately it’s only running on my site this month and come January the ads will settle down. Thank you for your patience with this and thank you for the compliment about the Pfeffernüsse, I’m so glad you enjoy them as much as we do! Merry Christmas!
Can these be done in small loaf form?
I haven’t tried that, Rachael, so I’m not sure how that will turn out. If you give it a go let us know how it works out!
Oh Kimberly – Thank you so much for your detailed and oh so delicious recipe. We returned from Germany and along with the people, these cookies captured our hearts. Halfway through making, I found your recipe, so immediately switched gears. They’re amazing! We did our best to improvise on the Homemade Lebkuchengewürz, but next time will for sure make a batch.
Your instructions were perfect!
I can’t wait to try other German recipes ♥️
Thank you!
Thank you!
Jen
Woohooo! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed these, Jen! That’s wonderful that you were able to spend time in Germany and got to experience some traditional foods. Thanks so much for your feedback and I hope you enjoy our other German recipes as well! :)
Your recipe, for first timer, was perfect and I didn’t even chill…just grabbed an amount and rolled. (I’m used to doing that…) Used just icing sugar not glazed and left for a week, whereby the flavour developed more. Thank you for the explanation and guidance.
Fantastic, Mandy, thanks so much for the feedback!
Kimberly. Just finished baking the first batch of your pfeffernüsse. They taste great and I haven’t even put the glaze on yet. I am wondering about the texture of the cookie though. Never eaten one I have nothing to go by. At 350 degrees for 15 min. they have a hard crisp shell (like a nüsse) with a soft but dry center. Larger ones about about 1.25″, after they have flattened during baking, are more softer/moist with a hard shell. Like I said, either way they taste great but if someone who is familiar with the traditional german made ones I would like to match that. BTW I made up my own lebkuchengewürz from new spices. I get them at The Savory Spice Shop here in Omaha. Their products are ground fresh and many are available in whole bean, seed, bark etc. Nothing like the smell of lebkuchengewürz baking in the house. Thanks and have a Merry Christmas to All.
Wonderful, Rick, I’m so glad you enjoyed them, thank you! Yes, Pfeffernüsse are supposed to be soft and dry in the center. Many people like eating them with or
dipping them in their coffee/tea/hot chocolate. Nothing beats homemade spice blends from freshly ground spices, I’m so glad you took the time to make your own. Thanks again for the feedback!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. My dear friend went home to Germany this summer and to my delight, brought me a kilo of marzipan. To thank her for her thoughtfulness I decided to make her some holiday baked goodies, stollen among them (she is not a baker and misses the traditional baked goods). I also made this recipe although I added just a touch of ground anise along with the spice mix I made fresh. They were proclaimed as the very best she had ever eaten! There are so many recipes out there with such variation I was hard pressed to choose, but am so very glad I chose yours!
To those with troubles with the recipe I highly recommend using a scale and the metric units. Scooped cups of flour can vary so much you can have too little or too much. Scales can be had cheap and it makes clean up SO easy. For example who wants to deal with digging sticky honey out of a measure cup when you can just weigh it into the pot you need to heat it in! Also use something like gold medal all purpose, not bread flour or biscuit flour (white lily for example) the hardness of the wheat DOES make a difference in the dough and also finished cookie.
Thanks again, Ginger
I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that, Ginger, thanks so much for your feedback!
They were delicious! Came out perfectly. Look just like the photo! I was a little nervous after reading some of the comments about the dough being dry and crumbly. Luckily, I did not have that issue. For some reason, I was a little afraid of the rolling the dough into logs part, but that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. And yes, I did use a ruler! I also couldn’t find almond meal, only almond flour. I am under the impression that almond meal would be a little more course than the flour? So I bought raw almonds and ground them up in my coffee grinder and used that. As user Mimi said above, grinding Star Anise is not for sissies! I couldn’t find a ground up version in the stores, and luckily I already have a mortar and pestle. So I used that to grind up the whole Star Anise that I found in the store. I also read that the spice that is just “Anise” is not exactly going to be the same as the Star version. One store had anise seeds, but I stayed away from that and just got the whole version of the Star Anise… I love the spiciness of these cookies! As for the sugar glaze…I coated some with a very thick glaze, which also caused me to use up the glaze really quickly. I had to make additional glaze. I then coated some others with a little bit of a thinner glaze. I like the look of the thicker glaze because it is a really solid white, but I think I actually prefer the taste of the cookies with the lighter glaze. I feel like it didn’t cover up the spiciness as much. Hubby prefers the ones with the really thick glaze. And I am the one with the sweet tooth! I always base a recipe on whether or not I would make it again. I would definitely make these again! I am adding these to my recipe book as a keeper! Can’t wait to try more of Kimberly’s recipes!
I’m so thrilled to hear that, Missy, thanks so much for the detailed feedback and I hope you likewise enjoy the other recipes!
I wish I had discovered your website years ago. My grandmother came to the US from Itzahoe Germany (north of Hamburg) with her family in 1914 at 15Y old. I have her passed down pastry recipes that I bake for Christmas. Her version of what she called Pfeffernüsse has less of the different spices, and includes citron, zest of orange/lemon, molasses and 4-5 drops of rose oil. when my mother ran out of the oil and couldn’t find it eliminated it. Unfortunately all of us thought it was not the same. 20y ago I found food grade rose water at a pharmacy who made up a small bottle for me. My problem over the years has been knowing how much to use. I see in your Marzipan recipe you list 2 tsp. (People always look at me funny to hear I used rose water in cookies.) I have used up to 6 – 8 drops in my recipes to reproduce the oil. What do you suggest for oil/water ratios. I’m planning to try all your Christmas recipes. Thanks so much!
Hi Rick, I’m so glad you found us! Yes, the inclusion of rose water is a regional variation. Oil is definitely vastly more potent than water or extracts. Yes, usually a few drops is the equivalent of a teaspoon. How much to use comes down to personal taste. When making the marzipan, for example, I’d start with less, taste it, and then add more if you want more of the flavor. I hope you enjoy the recipes you try and would love to hear your feedback!
Hi. Just made the dough and put in fridge, for rolling tomorrow. Question – do I have to roll it into strands for cutting, or can I just scoop out the dough and roll into a ball in my hands? Thanks!
Hi Missy, you probably can but rolling it into the individual logs ensures that the dough is thoroughly chilled all the way through. And it also makes it easier to slice into equal portions. That step doesn’t take much extra time so I would recommend doing it just ensure your dough has the right consistency when it comes time to bake it.
Thanks. It’s been in the fridge overnight. Seems like rolling it into logs now will actually cause it to warm up, but I will try it anyway! Yeah, the only benefit I saw to that was being able to slice it into exact sizes. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Thanks again! 😍