This recipe is originally one from a selection of recipes that I developed for a school project (EPQ) I did back in 2020/2021, which was a recipe book dedicated to different biscuits/cookies from an array of different countries all over the world.
The classic German lebkuchen biscuit is a staple gingerbread-like christmas-time biscuit, and is a popular festive treat across Europe. The warm spiced cake-like body of the biscuit is topped with both a thin layer of icing and a smothering of chocolate, and often come in different shapes like stars, bells and hearts.
These are my favourite festive treat to make during the winter months, but are a great treat any time of year.
Ingredients
Dough
- 200g Caster sugar
- 115g Butter
- 4 Eggs
- 360g Plain flour
- 200ml Milk
- Spices (to taste) cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, anise seed
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 200g Ground almond
- 50g Diced (candied) orange peel
- Zest of 1/2 an orange
- 50g Desiccated coconut
Glaze
- 50g Icing sugar
- 4 tsp Warm water
- 200g Plain chocolate
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan)
- Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and mix until light and fluffy
- Alternating with milk, fold in the flour, spices and baking powder (start with 1 tsp of each spice if you are unsure on where to start, then add more to taste)
- Fold in the almond, orange zest and peel, and coconut
- Place 1-2 heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto a lined baking tray, leaving room for spreading
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden around the edges
- To make the glaze, mix the sugar and water (you may need to scale the measurements depending on how many biscuits you make)
- Let the biscuits rest briefly after taking them out of the oven, but while they are still warm, dip the rounded side in the glaz, then set aside to cool and harden
- Once the glaze has set, melt the chocolate and dip the base of the biscuit into the chocolate and leave to set once more
- Store in an airtight container
