Vreni’s European Lebkuchen (Gingerbread)

I love Gingerbread very much! It reminds me of my childhood when my mom would bake it, around this time of year, back home in Switzerland. The smell is just incredible and they taste so yummy! I love those soft Lebkuchen with a glass of milk or a nice Cappuccino! Here is the recipe:

Lebkuchen:

500 grams of white flour

30 grams of -Lebkuchengewuerz- (Gingerbread spice mix). You get this at a European Delicatessen store like Alicia’s in London, Ontario

80 grams of white sugar

a dash of salt

100 grams of Molasses

100 grams of Honey

2 Tbsp of hot water in which you disolve>

> 1/2 Tbsp of Bakingsoda

~ 1 1/2 ml of milk

… Some Heavy Cream to brush over the baked Lebkuchen.

Put all the ingredients (except for the milk) into a bowl. If you own a Kitchenaid machine it is easiest! Start the machine and let it mix. Add from the milk slowly as you might not need all of it. The texture of the molasses and honey can change that amount a bit. You want a dough which you can easily take out of the bowl at the end. When the dough is finished cover it and put it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You can also make the dough, keep it in the fridge, and process it further the next day!

Preheat the oven to 360 F.

Take the dough (I usually use half of it first and later the second half) and roll it out with a rollingpin on a floured surface to about 4 mm thick. Use cookie cutters to make your Gingerbread people or cut out circles or any other different shapes if you wish!

Bake them on a bakingpaper lined bakingsheet for about 10-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and immediately brush the hot Lebkuchen with the cream (this makes them glossy) and then transfer them to a cookie rack.

Let them cool completely. Now you can decorate them with icing (icingsugar and water mixed). I used about 80 grams of icingsugar and added water slowly as it can’t be runny! I filled it into a small Ziploc bag and pushed it into one corner. Cut Off the tip ot the bag and go to town! 😜 I mean not literally but have fun decorating. 😎Let the icingsugar get dry for about 2 hours before you put them into an airtight container. Enjoy!