You won’t believe how easy it is to make Lebkuchen, the delicious German gingerbread treats. Loaded with nuts and infused with spices, these may be the best holiday treats you’ve ever baked. Whether you're a seasoned baker or a first-timer, let's create the perfect batch to fill your home with festive scents.
Use a spice grinder to combine cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, coriander, ground ginger, mace, and star anise spikes. Grind them into a fine spice blend and set it aside.
Grind the Nuts and Candied Peel
In a food processor, finely grind the hazelnuts, pulsing intermittently to prevent a paste-like consistency. To prevent clumping, add a bit of flour towards the end of processing. Transfer this to a medium mixing bowl.
If you are not using almond meal, similarly grind the almonds in the food processor until finely ground and add them to the hazelnut mixture.
In the same food processor, process the candied orange peel and candied lemon peel until finely ground, using short pulses. If needed, sprinkle some flour to keep the candied peel dry. Transfer to the bowl.
Prepare the Dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer), combine eggs and brown sugar. Beat for about 15 minutes at medium speed until the mixture turns white, fluffy, and doubles in volume. Then, add honey and whisk until well combined.
Switch to a paddle attachment on your mixer. Add the ground nuts, candied peel mixture, orange zest, lemon zest, German gingerbread spice blend, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. Mix at medium speed until fully combined.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate the batter for 12 to 24 hours. After refrigeration, the nuts will have absorbed moisture, making the mixture easy to shape. If it remains sticky, simply stir and return it to the refrigerator until the nuts have fully absorbed the moisture.
Preheat and Shape
Preheat the oven to 320°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop 3 tablespoons of the mixture onto the oblaten wafers using a spoon or small ice cream scoop. With a knife dipped in water, gently flatten the top into a mound, covering the entire circle. Ensure the dough is thicker in the center and tapers towards the edges.
Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. Decorate some cookies with three almond halves in the center before baking. These will be used for the sugar glaze.
Baking
Bake for approximately 20 to 24 minutes, until the Lebkuchen are set but still slightly soft and moist in the middle and lightly browned around the edges. Ensure not to over-bake or under-bake. When tested with a cake tester, the crumb should still be slightly moist in the center, but not wet. Allow them to cool completely on the tray.
Glaze and Decoration
In a microwave or a bowl over steaming water, melt the chocolate and stir in coconut oil to create a smooth and spreadable mixture.
Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice or water until it forms a paste-like consistency—neither too runny nor too thick. Begin with less liquid and add more if needed.
Dip the Lebkuchen with almond decoration in the sugar glaze and the rest in chocolate.
Pierce the back of the cooled Lebkuchen with a thin fork and dip the curved side into the melted chocolate or sugar glaze, ensuring full coverage. Warm up the chocolate if it thickens.
Let excess glaze drip back into the bowl while holding the fork over the edge. Place the glazed Lebkuchen flat side down on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Immediately decorate each chocolate-coated Lebkuchen with three almond halves in the center and let the glaze set completely.
Store your delicious Lebkuchen in an airtight container at room temperature, placing parchment paper between layers.
Notes
Use weight measures for precision, especially when substituting ingredients like almonds or hazelnut meal.
You can create the spice blend by combining ½ teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice, coriander seeds, cardamom, ginger, and ¼ teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, mace, and star anise.
If using whole ground almonds instead of almond meal, the mixture may be bit thinner, but extended soaking time will allow the nuts to absorb all the moisture.
Glaze: The type of liquid you use in the glaze will affect its appearance - water for a clear glaze, milk for an opaque glaze, and heavy cream for a white glaze. Lemon juice adds a delightful flavor.
While oblaten wafers are readily available online, communion wafers can serve as a substitute if necessary.
Baking tip: Monitor closely to avoid dry lebkuchen from over-baking or sinking in the center from under-baking. Oven times vary, but aim for 20 to 25 minutes. Look for a light brown edge and a risen center. Removing it too soon may cause the center to deflate.
Nutritional information is approximate, based on the sugar-glazed variety, and does not account for the wafers.