Lebkuchen

Mommy ordered cookie papers from St. Nicholas Center, and recipes that would work best with the cookie papers came with them, so I made Lebkuchen and attached St. Nicholas papers to them, but I think you can make these any shape any time, cookie papers or no. Yumm.

3 eggs
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup dried orange peel, grated or ground.
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup ground hazelnuts
1 cup honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp grated lemon peel (tip; score the lemon before grating )

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Set aside.

In another, larger bowl, combine ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon , flour, orange peel, baking soda, and hazelnuts

In a small saucepan, boil honey, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Cool by placing the saucepan in a pan of ice water.

Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula. Fold in cooled honey mixture. Cover and chill overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 9 – 13 minutes. Cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a rack.