Lebkuchen: German Spice Cookies
Half biscuit, half cake, lebkuchen are spicy German cookies synonymous with Christmas. They’re soft and chewy with flavours of honey, festive spices and citrus. In this recipe, they’re topped by a light lemony glaze. As they keep for ages, they make ideal foodie gifts.
There’s nothing quite like a bit of Christmas baking to get me into the festive mood. I took this particular batch of cookies with me to share after our last sing song in the library yesterday. We sang carols, old and new, and they too brought on some seasonal cheer.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Lebkuchen?
- Lebkuchen Cookies
- Ingredients
- How To Make Lebkuchen
- Other Homemade Christmas Cookies You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Top Tips
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why Make Lebkuchen?
Although you need to think ahead when making lebkuchen, it doesn’t take long to prep them. Once baked, they keep well for a couple of weeks, so are perfect for making ahead of time.
- Authentic Flavour and Texture – With their soft and chewy texture, they taste just like traditional lebkuchen but have a healthier twist thanks to wholemeal spelt flour and reduced sugar.
- Christmas Tradition – Try these classic spiced honey cookies to bring a touch of German festive charm into your kitchen.
- Easy and Beginner-Friendly – My recipe keeps things simple. This makes it perfect for both seasoned bakers and those new to festive baking. If you want to get the kids involved, they’ll love to help stamping out or cutting the dough into festive shapes.
- Get Ahead – Lebkuchen taste better the older they get, so they’re the perfect bake to prepare in advance. Just keep in a sealed container.
- No Fancy Equipment Required – The dough and glaze come together easily with basic tools you’re likely to have in your kitchen. Cookie cutters are fun, but not necessary.
- Perfect for Gifting – With their delicious flavour and contrasting lemon glaze, they make thoughtful, homemade gifts. Better still, they last for ages.
- Seasonal Baking Fun – Fill the house with the scent of baking honey and spice spiked cookies. They’re perfect for creating a cozy, festive atmosphere at home.
Lebkuchen Cookies
Unlike most biscuits and cookies, lebkuchen are quite thick. They’re soft allover with a lovely chewy texture and shouldn’t be in the least bit crunchy.
Mine are not overly spicy, though you can definitely taste the sweet festive spices. They’re not overly sweet either, which makes them much more flavourful. The honey notes come through too, though again, they’re not dominant. In fact, the blend of flavours works really well.
I make my lebkuchen with wholemeal spelt flour, but it’s fine to use ordinary wholemeal flour instead. If you’ve not used wholemeal flour in baking before, these cookies are a good place to start. No one would know unless you told them.
The secret, or one of them, is to bake them at least one day before serving. This is because time allows the flavours to meld and lebkuchen tend to taste better the longer they keep. This makes them excellent cookies for gifting.
How many you make will very much depend on the size you make them. I make thirty six large stars with the amount given in the recipe below. But you could go smaller.
You don’t have to glaze lebkuchen, but it’s common practice. I like to use lemon to make mine as it gives a zippy contrast to the sweetness of the cookie dough. But I go for a light glaze rather than icing. This makes the tops shiny and slightly white, but doesn’t hide the lebkuchen nor make them too sweet.
If you really want to go to town, you can dip them wholly, or partially in melted chocolate for extra festive vibes.
Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
The ingredient list for these lebkuchen is a fairly long one, but that’s mostly because there are lots of different spices involved.
Fat
Butter gives richness to these cookies and is the traditional fat used to make lebkuchen. I use unsalted butter as it’s a bit creamier and in any case, I prefer to add my own salt.
You also need an egg. This adds richness too, but in addition provides moisture and helps the dough to rise. A small to medium sized one is best. If you use a large egg, the dough will end up being too sticky to roll.
Flour
Apart from its health benefits, wholemeal flour is a good one to use in this recipe. It gives an extra note of nuttiness and helps to create the wonderful chewy texture of the cookies. I used wholemeal spelt flour.
If you want to know why spelt is my favourite baking flour, I have a post all about it – what is spelt flour and how to use it.
Nuts
Ground nuts are an essential ingredient. Some recipes are made with nuts only and no flour. They give texture, flavour and a nutritious element.
You can use ground almonds or ground hazelnuts to make lebkuchen. Or why not try a mix of both? I’ve gone with ground almonds this time, because I had a bag of it in the cupboard.
Although I didn’t for this bake, I often grind my own nuts. This ensures freshness and not only does it impart more flavour, but also more texture.
Spices
What’s Christmas without sweet spices? This recipe pretty much uses them all. You’ll need cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves and what a lovely mix they make.
Using whole spices and grinding your own gives the best flavour. But although I do this sometimes, I usually find it a step too far. It’s fine to use ready ground as long as the spices are fairly fresh and haven’t been hanging around in the back of the cupboard for years on end.
If you don’t have the individual spices to hand, you can use mixed spice as a reasonable substitute.
Whilst not exactly a spice, the small amount of cocoa powder in the recipe sort of acts like one. It gives depth of flavour and helps to make the lebkuchen a bit darker in colour.
Freshly zested lemon adds brightness as well as gorgeous citrusy notes to the dough. And you can use the lemon juice to make the glaze.
Swap the lemon for an orange if you like.
Instead of the citrus zest, you can add some finely chopped candied peel. Homemade is so much nicer than shop-bought. If you’d like to try it, I have a lovely recipe for candied orange peel and it works just as well with lemon too.
A pinch of sea or rock salt helps to bring out the flavours of everything else.
Sweet
Lebkuchen are primarily honey cakes, so it’s important to ensure there’s a goodly amount of honey to impart richness, flavour and a slightly sticky texture. You can use whatever type of honey you like. They’re all so different and each one will bring slightly different notes.
You can use honey as the only sweetener, but I’ve swapped some of it for dark muscovado sugar. This gives additional flavour elements and also helps to darken the cookies.
However, I use less sugar than in most recipes, so my lebkuchen are sweet enough, but not overly so.
Although muscovado is my favourite unrefined sugar, you can use any type of brown or unrefined sugar you have to hand.
For the glaze, you will need some icing sugar. However, the glaze is a thin one, so you don’t need much.
How To Make Lebkuchen
Ideally, prepare the lebkuchen dough the day before you bake as it’s easier to handle when it’s had time to firm up.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Melt
Measure the butter, sugar and honey, then put in a large saucepan. Place the pan over a gentle heat until the butter and honey have melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Give a good stir then remove from the heat.
Step 2. Make Dough
Whilst the butter mix is still warm, add the cocoa, spices, salt and lemon zest and stir well.
Break the egg into the pan and beat it into the mixture until combined.
Add the ground almonds followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. If the flour, baking powder or bicarbonate of soda are lumpy, sieve them into the mix. Throw any bits of bran left in the sieve into the mix too.
Work the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon or spatula. The mix will be stiff, but keep going until you have a uniform dough.
Step 3. Rest Dough
Cover the pan and leave in the fridge or a cool place to firm up for at least an hour, but several hours or overnight is best. The dough is quite sticky, so it needs time to rest in order to roll it out. This also gives the flavours a chance to develop.
If you need the pan, take the dough out and wrap in a waxed sheet or clingfilm.
Step 4. Roll And Cut
When the dough is firm enough, roll it out. Don’t worry if it feels a bit sticky still, just roll it between two sheets of baking paper. You can use a well floured board and rolling pin instead, but it will dry the mixture out, which isn’t really what you want.
Stamp out stars or any other shapes from the dough. Use a well floured stamp to do this or it might be hard to remove the shapes.
Gather the offcuts together and roll again. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough. I shape the last remaining bit into a round with my hands.
Step 5. Bake
Arrange the lebkuchen well apart on lined baking sheets. They shouldn’t spread too much, but it’s best to make sure. If your kitchen is warm and the dough has become soft, pop the baking sheets into the fridge for fifteen minutes or so.
Bake in the centre of the oven until the cookies are well risen and just starting to turn brown. Be careful not to over bake as I did with my first batch though (see image below). The biscuits are meant to be soft, not crunchy.
Remove from the oven and transfer the biscuits to a wire rack.
Step 6. Glaze
Whilst the lebkuchen are baking, make the glaze. Sift the icing sugar into a small mixing bowl, then add enough lemon juice to make a runny glaze. Stir it well to ensure there are no lumps.
Use less juice if you want a thicker icing.
As soon as you’ve transferred the cookies to a wire rack and whilst they’re still warm, brush the top of each one with the glaze.
Instead of brushing, you can dip the tops of the lebkuchen into the glaze, but I find this method more trouble than it’s worth.
Leave the lebkuchen to cool and the glaze to dry, then store in an airtight container where they’ll keep for a couple of weeks.
Top Tips
Make the lebkuchen any shape or size you like. The key is to make sure they’re thick. And don’t worry if you don’t have any cookie cutters, you can just cut the dough into rectangles or squares with a knife.
Alternatively, roll large walnut-sized pieces into balls between the palms of your hands, then flatten them into rounds.
Add twenty five grams of candied citrus peel to the melted mixture if you like that idea. Chop it finely first. You can then omit the lemon zest.
Instead of using lemon juice for the glaze, you could swap it for orange juice, rum or just plain water.
For added festive flair, dip the finished cookies in melted chocolate. You can dip the whole thing in, just the tops or go with a partial covering. If dipping the whole cookie or covering the top, omit the glaze.
To Freeze
For longer storage, you can freeze lebkuchen for up to six months. Make sure they’ve properly cooled down first.
Freeze on an open tray to begin with so they won’t stick together, then transfer them to a freezer bag or container.
To thaw, keep them in their container and leave at room temperature to thaw slowly.
Other Homemade Christmas Cookies and Biscuits You Might Like
- Amaretti (vegan)
- Chocolate hazelnut biscotti
- Cranberry & white chocolate cookies
- Maamoul: date & walnut stuffed cookies
- Snowball cookies: with pecans or walnuts
- Wholemeal clotted cream shortbread
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these soft and chewy lebkuchen, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making similar German bakes?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, tag me @choclette8 so I can see them.
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If you’d like more Christmas recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and mostly nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Lebkuchen. PIN IT.
Lebkuchen: German Spice Cookies
Ingredients
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 75 g dark muscovado sugar (or other unrefined dark sugar)
- 100 g honey
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp fresh nutmeg finely grated
- 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 medium egg
- 225 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 75 g ground almonds
Glaze
- 50 g icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, gently heat the butter, sugar and honey until melted. Give an occasional stir. Remove from the heat.75 g unsalted butter, 75 g dark muscovado sugar, 100 g honey
- Add the cocoa, spices, salt and lemon zest and stir well.1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground allspice, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp fresh nutmeg, 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt, 1 lemon
- Beat in the egg.1 medium egg
- Add the ground almonds along with the rest of the dry ingredients. You may need to sieve the flour etc first if lumpy.225 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda, 75 g ground almonds
- Work the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon or spatula until you have a ball of dough.
- Cover and leave in a cool place to firm up for at least an hour, but overnight is best. The dough is quite sticky, so it needs time to rest in order to roll it out. This also gives the flavours a chance to develop.
- When the dough is firm enough, set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- As the dough is still likely to be a bit sticky, roll it out between two sheets of baking paper. It should be quite thick, 1 cm or thereabouts is perfect.
- Stamp out stars or any other shapes with a cookie cutter. Use a well floured cutter to do this or it might be hard to remove the shapes.
- Gather the offcuts together and roll again. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough.
- Alternatively, roll large walnut-sized pieces into balls between the palms of your hands, then flatten them into rounds of the same height.
- Arrange the lebkuchen well apart on lined baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until just starting to brown. Be careful not to over bake as I did with my first batch. The biscuits are meant to be soft, not crunchy.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the biscuits to a wire rack.
Glaze
- Whilst the lebkuchen are baking, mix enough lemon juice into the icing sugar to make a runny glaze. Use less if you want a thicker icing.50 g icing sugar, 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- As soon as the biscuits have been transferred to a wire rack and whilst still warm, brush the top of each one with the glaze.
- Leave the lebkuchen to cool and the glaze to dry, then store in an airtight container where they’ll keep for a couple of weeks.
they sound delicious. I love a spicy biscuit!
sherry
Me too and they do taste good. The best thing about lebkuchen though is they taste better the longer you keep them – well for a while anyway!