Sparkly festive lebkuchen
These gorgeous cookies are so pretty and make lovely gifts when you are visiting friends .
Makes: 15-20 depending on size
INGREDIENTS
50g unsalted butter 40g runny honey 60g black treacle 70g dark muscovado sugar 235g self-raising flour 2 ½ tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp allspice 40g ground almonds 2 nuggets of stem ginger (in syrup) very finely chopped Zest of an orange One large egg, beaten
Toppings
Melted dark chocolate and gold shimmer spray or edible glitter; or 150g icing sugar mixed with 1-2 tsps water until a thick pouring consistency
METHOD
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Mix the flour, almonds, salt, stemmed ginger and zest.
In a small saucepan mix together the butter, honey, treacle and sugar. Heat and stir to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.
Pour the butter mix into the flour mix and add the beaten egg. Mix to thoroughly combine.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm up.
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
On a floured board roll the dough to a thickness to around 1cm.
Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into pretty shapes. I use snowflakes but you can use whatever you fancy! Re roll any scraps.
Bake the lebkuchen for around 8-10 minutes until they start to get a golden brown.
Leave to cool on a rack while you make your topping(s)
To decorate with chocolate: melt your chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave (you will need to check and stir it every 30 seconds in the microwave). Dunk half of the biscuit in the melted chocolate and put back onto the wire rack to harden. If you like you can spray each cookie with gold glitter.
Or, to coat with icing: mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick pouring consistency. Add a very small amount of water at a time (2-3 tsps in total) then dunk the top of each lebkuchen into the glaze and leave to set on a wire rack
Store in an airtight container — they will last for around 5 days.
Find more of Stacey’s recipes and tips on her YouTube channel Stacey Dee’s Kitchen.