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Make my Lebkuchen recipe and fall in love with these traditional German cookies. Soft, chewy, full of festive spices and perfect for gifting!
You will also love my festive Austrian Linzer Cookies!
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What are Lebkuchen?
Lebkuchen are traditional German cookies dating back all the way to the 14th century and the town of Nuremberg.
These heavily spiced chewy cookies are a cross between a biscuit and a cake and, BONUS!, they get better as they age.
For me Lebkuchen truly embody the essence of Christmas and once you take a bite I am sure you will agree!
Lebkuchen Ingredients
In Germany these cookies use Lebkuchengewürz, a delicious mix of festive spices.
Unfortunately it is pretty difficult to find this outside of Germany and quite expensive if you do so I have used a mix common of ground spices.
Apart from the spices you will need honey, brown sugar, butter, an egg, flour and ground almonds. The dough is actually really easy to make and a dream to roll out.
Just make sure to use simple cutter shapes such as hearts, circles or stars as the lebkuchen are quite cakey cookies.
Glazing and decorating Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen are traditionally simply brushed with a simple thin glaze made with icing sugar and lemon. They are usually just left plain or decorated with almond slivers.
I added a little sanding sugar to some of my cookies and sprayed them with silver lustre powder to give them a little sparkle!
You can also cover lebkuchen with melted chocolate if you prefer – or combine the two and drizzle the glazed cookies with chocolate!
How to Make Lebkuchen
Full measurements and instructions can be found on theprintable recipe cardat the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Measure the honey and sugar in a mixing bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 second bursts. Stir together vigorously with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves.
Add the cubed butter and citrus zest and stir until the butter melts.
Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and the beaten egg.
Add the flour and ground almonds. Mix until you have a soft and slightly sticky dough. Mist a spatula or your hands with oil and gather the dough into a ball. Cover the mixing bowl with a towel and leave to rest for at least an hour or even overnight at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and prepare the glaze. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl until you have a thin and runny glaze.
Divide the dough into thirds. Roll the dough on a silicone baking mat to a thickness of 2cm (just under an inch). Cut shapes using round, star or heart cookie cutters. Space the cookies out on the silicone mat and bake for 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and bake in batches.
Transfer the cookies carefully to a wire rack and brush with the glaze while they are still a little warm. Leave the glaze to dry and add a second layer if you like. Check the notes if you want to cover the lebkuchen in chocolate.
Put the cookies in a cake tin, separated by parchment paper so that they don’t stick. Place a few strips of orange peel in the tin. The lebkuchen will become more delicious the longer you keep them making them the ideal festive gift!
Top Tip
Lebkuchen really benefit from aging so they are perfect for baking a couple of weeks before Christmas and storing them for a week or longer.
The wonderful aroma of the spices intensifies as the cookies mature and they also become softer and even more delicious as they age!
Serve with a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate or with mulled wine!
HAVE YOU MADE MY LEBKUCHEN RECIPE? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterestwith the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
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Lebkuchen Cookies
Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes
Make a batch of Lebkuchen and you are sure to fall in love with these traditional German cookies! Heavenly spiced soft cookies that are cross between a biscuit and a cake and only get better with age.
4.66 from 63 votes
Print Rate
Course: Christmas cookies
Cuisine: German
Keyword: Lebkuchen, Lebkuchen recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
Resting Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 22 minutes minutes
Servings: 30 – 40 cookies
Calories: 125kcal
Ingredients
For the Lebkuchen
- 1/2 cup (170 g) honey
- 1 cup (200 g) dark soft brown sugar (Muscovado sugar)
- ¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice use only if dough is a bit dry
- 1 ¾ cups (300 g) flour plain / all purpose
- 1 cup (100g) ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp white pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp vegetable oil , for the bowl
For the glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 1 tsp rum optional
To decorate (optional)
- sprinkles or sanding sugar
- flaked almonds
To store
- Orange peel strips
Instructions
Measure the honey and sugar in a mixing bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 second bursts. Stir together vigorously with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves.
Add the cubed butter and zest and stir until the butter melts.
Stir in the baking powder, soda, salt and spices and egg.
Add the flour and ground almonds. Mix until you have a soft and slightly sticky dough, adding a little lemon juice as needed.
Mist a spatula or your hands with oil and gather the dough into a ball. Cover the mixing bowl with a towel and leave to rest for at least an hour or even overnight at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare the glaze: mix together all the ingredients in a bowl until you have a thin and runny glaze.
Divide the dough into thirds. Roll the dough on a silicone baking mat to a thickness of 2cm (just under an inch).
Cut shapes using round, star or heart cookie cutters. Space the cookies out on the silicone mat and bake for 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough, gathering up any scraps and rolling out again and bake in batches.
Transfer the cookies carefully to a wire rack and brush with the glaze while they are still a little warm.
Leave the glaze to dry and add a second layer if desired. Add sanding sugar, sprinkles or slivered almonds to decorate if you like. Check the recipe notes if you want to cover the lebkuchen in chocolate.
Put the cookies in a cake tin, separated by parchment paper so that they don’t stick. Place a few strips of orange peel in the tin. Lebkuchen become more delicious the longer you keep them making them the ideal festive gift!
Video
Notes
To cover the Lebkuchen in chocolate, melt half a cup (90g) dark chocolate chips by placing in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
Take the pan off the heat once the chocolate chips have almost melted and add another half a cup (90g) dark chocolate chips. Stir gently until the chocolate chips have melted completely.
Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate and leave to dry on a wire rack before storing.
Nutritional Info
Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 76IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
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