Nuremberg Lebkuchen (drop cookie)
Recipe from http://germanfood.about.com/

The German town of Nuremberg has been famous for its Lebkuchen since the late 1300s; the soft, cakey cookies are traditionally made with several spices, candied citrus peel, hazelnuts, and almonds.

"Nürnberger Lebkuchen" are just one of many types of German gingerbread (See German Gingerbread). They have been baked in the city of Nürnberg since 1395 by the local monks, then known by the name honey cake. When Nuremberg, which was the junction for the European spice trade at that time, gained a monopoly position in acquiring a wide selection of spices the original recipe of the honey cake went through significant changes. The spices had to be imported for all Lebkuchen, so cities with strong trading partners had an advantage over small, agricultural villages when creating new types of Lebkuchen. Nürnberg also had good honey production and this gave them an edge up in commercial production of their Lebkuchen, which began in the 14th century. In 1643, the city even created the "League of Lebkuchen Bakers".

Lebkuchen dough is usually placed on a thin wafer base called Oblate. This was an idea of the monks, who used unleavened communion wafer ingredients to prevent the dough from sticking.

Today strict quality regulations differentiate between the Elisenlebkuchen and Oblatenlebkuchen. Whereas the latter is mostly sold in supermarkets and contains a larger quantity of flour, the Elisenlebkuchen must be made with a minimum of 25% ground nuts and use premium-quality coatings such as couverture chocolate. The recipe below is for Oblatenlebkuchen due to the higher volume of flour.

German Lebkuchen is different from the gingerbread known in the English-speaking world. First of all, it may or may not contain ginger. It also has a somewhat different consistency, both because it is chewier and contains nuts and fruits. And the German confection has a lemon glaze or icing on the top and is sometimes dipped in chocolate. These soft, spicy cookies keep for several weeks.

FMM: I found these cookies very time consuming. I had to figure out how much spice to use for this recipe (amounts now in parentheses), I had to grind the spices, grind the almonds, chop the lemon peel, blanch the almonds for decoration, and make the glaze. Still they are quite good; they supposedly get better after a few days.

Cream butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy.

Mix in flour, spices, cocoa powder and baking powder, alternating with milk.

Fold in nuts and lemon peel. Stir in rum. Stir in raisins and coconut if you are using them. The mixture will be wet. If it’s too runny to scoop onto the oblaten or parchment paper, add some more almond meal.

If you are not using the "Oblaten" (they look like Catholic communion wafers and are purchased in Germany or at a German deli, etc.) draw 3-inch diameter circles on parchment paper using a cup or biscuit cutter as a template.

Note: I did not draw the circles and just placed mounds of dough on the parchment paper. I highly recommend using the parchment paper if not using the Oblaten. I had enough dough for just one more cookie, but no more room on the parchment paper, so I baked it directly on the greased sheet. It spread more and was more brown around the edges. I perferred the cookies that were baked on the parchment paper.

Drop about 3 tablespoons cookie dough into the center of each circle. (If you are using "Oblaten" drop the dough onto the wafer and smooth to the edges.) When tray is full, use the back of the spoon to fill out circle, slightly mounding the dough towards the center. [I added the blanched almonds before baking and they spread out so that they were no longer in the center of the cookie, although they were still pretty. Try adding them when brushing on the glaze. I would toast them first if doing this. Also, definitly use almonds sliced in half. I thought the whole nuts a bit much.]

Bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes. Turn down oven to 350°F if cookies are browning too much. [Mine baked well at 375°F for 16 minutes - 8 minutes, turn tray, then 8 minutes more.]

Let cool for a few minutes, then remove to a cookie or cake rack to cool.

While they are still warm, make the glaze. [Also see the Chocolate glaze below]

Place 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. water in a small saucepan on the stove. Bring to a boil and boil for a few minutes. Add vanilla and liqueur or rum. Sift powdered sugar over hot sugar syrup and stir.

Using a pastry brush, brush warm glaze over warm cookies. Place three blanched almond halves on each Lebkuchen while the glaze is still wet, if desired. Let dry completely.

Note: You do not have to glaze the back of the cookies if they are baked on Oblaten but it's recommended to glaze the backs of parchment-baked cookies to keep them moist longer. In that case, you will need a double batch of glaze. If you are glazing the bottom side of the lebkuchen, after they dry, flip them over, reheat the glaze and coat the other side.

Dry glazed cookies for a day (to dry the glaze so it stays a bit crunchy) then store in an airtight container or freeze.

Makes about 32 three-inch cookies.

Lebkuchen spices. If you do not buy premixed "Lebkuchen Gewürz" from a German store, you may mix your own. The measurements in parentheses are for making 1 recipe of cookies.

• 2 T. ground cinnamon (2 tsp.)
• 2 tsp. ground cloves (2/3 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice (1/6 tsp.)
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (1/12 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander (1/6 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (1/6 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger (1/6 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground anise seed (1/6 tsp.)

Makes a little over 3 1/2 tablespoons. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per recipe.

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 1-quart saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Pour mixture over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir until glaze is shiny and chocolate is melted. Brush glaze over cooled Lebkuchen. Place three blanched almond halves on each Lebkuchen while the glaze is still wet, if desired. Dry glazed cookies until set.