By Stephanie Young on September 13, 2016
German immigrants brought the recipe for this traditional Christmas cookie to Missouri in the 1800s. Lebkuchen cookies sit in sealed containers to “ripen” for a month before being consumed at Christmas. They were prepared around nut harvesting time in November and eaten at Christmas. They are kind of like a granola bar or a fruitcake without fruit.
Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Inspired? Create and share by tagging @hallmarkstores.
Ingredients
1 cup sorghum molasses or dark molasses
¼ cup lard or vegetable shortening
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
½ Tbsp. each cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)
1 cup mixed dried fruit (I used raisins and dried cranberries)
Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar (optional)
Directions
- Heat molasses, lard, sugar and brown sugar, mix together, and then let cool.
- Add baking soda to buttermilk in a mixing bowl, and then add the molasses mixture and the rest of the ingredients. Mix together until a wet dough forms.
- Place dough on a sheet of waxed paper. Use your hands to shape the dough into a log-shaped roll. When the dough becomes too sticky to shape with your hands, wrap it in wax paper and continue shaping. Tip: You can cut the dough into 2 rolls if it’s hard to shape.
- Chill overnight with the wax paper around the dough.
- Slice and bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes.
- To “ripen,” store the baked cookies in an airtight container (like a stone jar or plastic container) at room temperature for a month, or freeze and eat them next year.
- For serving, combine powdered sugar with water until you have a drizzling consistency. Then drizzle over "ripened" cookies (optional)
Tip: You can also freeze the dough and then thaw and bake it later.
- Tags:
- Christmas cookies
- cookie recipes
You may also like
See more-
Christmas DIY cookie decorating ideas: How to make your own sweet family and friends
Delicious, versatile and fit for nearly any dessert occasion, it’s no secret that cookies are pretty awesome. And whe...
-
Christmas A sweet and easy way to wrap cookies for Christmas
Bakers gonna bake, y'all. And if you're one of them, you already know homemade Christmas cookies are the best gifts y...
-
Dessert Bernard’s Chocolate Cookie Recipe
When Hallmark needs recipes for baked goods, we go straight to Bernard Shondell. These crispy, cocoa-y cookies are...
-
Christmas Christmas Cookie Decorating Ideas: 3 Modern Christmas Wreath Cookies
Festive Christmas cookies are a personal (and tasty!) way to spread holiday cheer to neighbors and friends and to ...
-
Dessert Sugar Cookie Christmas Wreaths with Lemon Icing and Sugared Herbs
Don’t these remind you of a walk in a snowy winter woodland? Lemon icing and sprigs of rosemary and thyme make the...
-
Dessert Sugar Cookie Christmas Wreaths with Candy Color Mints
It’s a cookie covered with…candy! Stir up some super-simple mints in holiday-bright colors to turn sugar cookies i...
-
Dessert Gingerbread Christmas Wreath Cookies with Metallic Piping
No fancy decorating skills needed! We used a dusting of edible gold metallic powder and gold nonpareils to give th...
-
Dessert Special Delivery Snowman Sugar Cookies
Make a show-stopping snowman duo based on Hallmark’s 2018 singing snowmen—it’s as cute as the real thing!
-
Dessert Snow Delicious Melted Snowman Cookies
Looking for a quick, fun treat for a kids’ holiday party? These melted snowman cookies are adorable, and fun to ma...
-
Dessert Autumn Leaves Tree Cookies
Autumn Leaves Tree Cookies bring all the fun and color of fall leaves to delicious sugar cookies. Start this kid-f...
-
Dessert Ghost meringue cookies
These shape-shifting meringue cookies only look tricky. In fact, our Ghost Meringue Cookies are an easy way to mak...
-
Dessert Halloween gingerbread cookies
Gingerbread cookie dough from the grocery store can make all three of these monster-themed Halloween cookies. Our ...
-
Dessert Em’s rolled sugar cookies
Em's Rolled Sugar Cookie recipe will become your go-to recipe for all of your sugar cookies. The dough is easy to ...
-
Dessert Bernard’s chocolate chip cookies
Who wouldn’t love some sweet cookie treats? Hallmark cookie expert Bernard Shondell shares his chocolate chip coo...
-
Dessert DIY cookie bouquet
Bake up some smiles with a DIY cookie bouquet. Hallmark cookie expert Bernard Shondell shares his chocolate chip c...
-
Dessert 60-second sweets video: Snowball shortbread cookies
Got a minute? Watch our short (and sweet!) video to learn how to make these easy Snowball Shortbread Cookies. Topp...
-
Dessert Christmas cookie tree
In the fun video below, Bernard Shondell shows you how to capture the sweet taste of the season with an easy (and ...
-
Dessert Raspberry linzer cookies
Linzer cookies are fruit tarts in cookie form. Our Raspberry Linzer Cookie recipe features a raspberry jam filling...
-
Dessert Danish butter cookie wreaths
Find a simple recipe for Danish Butter Cookies plus instructions on how to shape and decorate them as Christmas wr...
-
Dessert Kipfel crescent cookies
The kipfel could be considered the forefather of the croissant. But those with a sweet tooth will pass on the roll...
