Pfeffernusse

So it's Boxing Day and we are all lovely and relaxed after a fab Christmas Day. I thought I'd share another Christmas biscuit recipe with you. These are lightly spicy, definitely less spicy than the lebkuchen yesterday but delicious nonetheless. Apparently anise seed or extract is impossible to get here and star anise is impossible to grind up without a spice grinder so I just left it out.

Pfeffernusse (adapted from Barefeet In The Kitchen)
(Makes 36)

113g butter, softened
150g light brown sugar
4 tbsp molasses
1 egg
280g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cloves
187g icing sugar

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and molasses in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and beat to combine. Sieve in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and all of the spices and fold together with a metal spoon until well combined. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180C. Scoop about 1 tbsp of cookie dough and roll into a ball with your hands. Place the dough balls on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 13-14 minutes, until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 3 mins.

Put the icing sugar in a ziploc bag. Drop a few cookies at a time into the powdered sugar and shake gently to coat. Transfer the coated cookies to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely.