Gingerbread Cookies (Pfefferkuchen)

Nothing says Christmas for my family like gingerbread, well for me at least. I directly associate gingerbread with tradition, family and culture. As covered in my previous post, I mentioned traditional German Christmas cookies usually are simply described as Lebkuchen. This most often refers to honey cookies, and gingerbread but the term seems to be an interchangeable interpretation made by whichever individual is making or selling it. I've simplified it in my own way and I've nailed it down. In my family lebkuchen or love cake represents honey cookies, made with honey only and not as heavily seasoned as my other holiday cookies. Pfefferkuchen which translates as gingerbread well, its the gingerbread we all know and love, rich with spices and molasses cut into cute little shapes and sometimes frosted or decorated. I've mentioned in the past that I do have a limited family, the background is not so rich with so many things, and that includes standing traditions. My grandparents had all come and gone before I was born,  all except one really. My maternal grandmother, she really was the world to me, she died when I was quite young, about six maybe but theres lasting impressions she made with me. One distinctive memory I have is making gingerbread cookies with her, and I think thats why I hold onto my gingerbread so dearly. It was just me, my Grandmom and some gingerbread dough.

Although we're not great in numbers, I was lucky enough to grow up in a house that had plenty of food.  We were not a foodie family, but its that we did have a home cooked meal on the table every night. Its probably what began my life long love and admiration of food. Supper, or food in general was relief and comfort, a moment of peace among chaos. We ate pretty well on a military budget, and it was never really something I'd thought twice about. Now days I have a great sense of gratitude for what we had and what I have today. We ate things like homemade applesauce with apples we picked ourselves. We had things such as sauerbraten or schnitzel, and of course theres bacon dressing and potato salad. What I do know of my family origin is that it is rich with German ancestry its most likely where my American ancestors immigrated from. In addition to that these parts of Pennsylvania the PA Dutch really have strongly marked what food traditions exist in Pennsylvania and even here in the Pocono's. The term Pennsylvania Dutch actually refers to settlers that came to Pennsylvania from Germany, and with them they brought their food. Over the years the word Deutsch or German was hard for Americans to pronounce so it was changed simply to "Dutch". My step mom is from this area so her food was quite inspired by the "Dutch way of life" and she was the primary cook, so a lot of foods I've grown up with were a fair representation of  that culture.

So you see, Germany over the years has become my sole representation of family and of my culture. Although I have not stepped foot there it is why you see so many German inspired dishes here. My goal is simply sharing my own point of view and foods that have become memorable and special to me, these are memories and traditions that I'm creating for my own family. I don't have a Grandmother to scribble her recipes for me, I'm working as I go trying to create these traditions for my boys to pass on. These traditions start with me and I'm sharing them with you to possibly share with your family. Theres really nothing more nostalgic for me than a nice spicy Christmas cookie. Gingerbread although not the perfect, chewy or overly decadent cookie they just happen to be one my favorites.  Its a recipe, its a memory that I cherish, its a tradition that I can share. It started in my grandmothers kitchen, and now I make these every year with my boys, I hope to pass these pleasant memories to them and maybe they can pass them on some day too. 

These are rich with molasses and spice, you can reduce the amount of molasses by substituting honey, corn syrup or brown sugar for parts of the molasses. I tend to prefer the somewhat bitter bite molasses offers to the cookie. I do alter this recipe from year to year though. Honestly its merely according to what I feel like doing at the time, or more specifically what I have at arms length. I will note swaps and suggestions for specific tastes following the basic recipe. Enjoy! 

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses 

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour (unbleached)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

1 teaspoon cardamom (optional) 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl combine wet ingredients and whisk to combine. If your brown sugar is clumpy you may want to run it through a sieve. Into the bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with all remaining dry ingredients and stir until fairly smooth. Using a wooden spoon or large metal spoon stir in the remaining 1 cup of flour. (don't try using your rubber scraper...I've broken about 3 of them on gingerbread dough...you'd think I'd learned by now but nope, not yet.) 

Once the dough is thoroughly combined divide into 2-3 balls. Place in plastic wrap and flatten into rounds. Place in the refrigerator to chill at least 2 hours. You can hasten the process by tossing it in the freezer about 30 minutes. Roll the dough out on a liberally floured surface to 1/4" thickness. Using cookie cutters cut the dough into shapes and place on a lined cookie sheet. If your dough is cool enough to handle easily you can use a pastry brush to remove excess flour. 

Bake for 8 minutes. You can re-roll the dough as often as you need, place it back into the fridge as needed to chill it back up. Keep in mind the more you have to combine the dough however the tougher it will get.  

Icing and Decorations. I use icing in a tube for the perimeter of the cookies. Being the neo-homemaker I am its a bit discouraging to admit but I am not good at decorations or things that involve patience. For the "flooding" icing, or the icing that will go inside the perimeter of each cookie I use the standard gingerbread lemon icing. Its 1 cup powdered sugar to about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice/water as needed. 

If your daring and trying to make a gingerbread house you will want to add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. It will take a bit of elbow grease to work it into the dough but this will allow a stiffer dough/sturdier house. Bake the pieces until golden and allow to dry out in a 100 degree oven overnight. This will make them stiff and sturdy. 

substitute 1/4-1/3 cup of the molasses with corn syrup or honey, reduce the cloves and allspice to 1/4 teaspoons each. 

Cardamom: I love, love, love cardamom. So naturally I add it to everything that involves holiday spices. If you don't have it on hand or don't want the additional ...savory-esque element to your cookie feel free to omit it.