Angel Pond Cottage: Springerle Cookies for Christmas

Hi Everyone,

Today I want to talk about the Springerle cookies that I made at Christmas. Springerle are a molded cookie, German in origin. These cookies are like little pieces of art, and many people say that they are just too beautiful to eat. But then, once they take a bite, they are hooked!

These delicious, mostly anise flavored cookies can be made using individual molds, several molds on a block or using a roller, which is like a rolling pin, except that it is filled with images that make cookies.

My friend, Matthew Cox got me started on these wonderful Christmas delights, but I had some difficulty the first few years getting the dough just right. This year, I went out to the House on the Hill website and Connie had posted, much to my delight, a tutorial for making springerle. As I watched, I realized that almost everything I was doing was not quite right. So, using her recipe, which is called, "Nini's Perfection Springerle," and following her technique, I was finally able to make these great cookies.

One of the great things about springerle is that they last for months, if kept in a well, sealed tin, and they improve with age, as the anise flavor grows. They travel well, especially in the mail, and you will get rave reviews from your most staunch cookie critic! Connie's grandmother's recipe is on the website, but is also available in a little brochure called, "Too Pretty to Eat," which can be sent to you in your order if you buy any of their products.

This is a typical mold for springerle cookies. It is an oval with a lily of the valley in the center. First, you flour the mold so the batter won't stick. Then you press the mold into the rolled out dough.

Once that it done, you can see the impression when you carefully lift the mold from the dough.

Then you use a special oval cutter to make the cookie take shape around the mold imprint.

Once this is done, you remove the dough around the cookie and carefully pick up the cookie with a flat spatula, placing it on parchment to dry for up to 24 hours.

Once they are dry so that the cookies will not loose the impressions on the top, they are baked at a low heat in the oven and then cooled on cooling racks. They are then stored in a sealed jar or tin for freshness.

I hope you enjoy looking at the evolution of these great cookies, and at some of the wonderful images on them. This was one of the best things that I did during the holidays, and I plan to try some for other times of the year, too.