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Elisenlebkuchen - Juicy Spice Cookies with Bittersweet Chocolate

Elisenlebkuchen are essential German Christmas treats! A bite of these juicy spice and chocolate cookies, a sip of my mulled wine and some John Fahey tunes in the background and I'm right in the mood for the 1st Advent!

These dark sweets are a special kind of Lebkuchen, made without any flour or butter but lots of ground hazelnuts, almonds, spices and citrus fruits. They are often compared to gingerbread (which I find difficult as there's no ginger involved in the recipe), with a similar aromatic juiciness which is no surprise as they combine all the wonderful flavours associated with festive baking, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, all spice and citrus. A simple Lebkuchen officially becomes the queen of all Lebkuchen, the fine Elisenlebkuchen, when the dough contains more than 25% of nuts and less than 10% flour. It's kind of a royal upgrade to keep the quality and protect its tradition. Originally from Nuremberg (Nürnberg in German), the city gained fame all over the world for this sweet delicacy. I remember emptying one package of them after the other as a child at Christmas, preferably the ones covered in bittersweet chocolate. The Nuremberg Lebkuchen are either 'naked' or glazed with sugar or chocolate, which were the most popular ones in my family so I had to eat them quick.

After years of stuffing my belly with them under the Christmas tree, the time has come to start the Lebkuchen production at my home. Elisenlebkuchen are often quite big but I wanted a smaller size, just a small bite to enjoy them more often. The preparation is surprisingly easy. The dough can be used as soon as it's mixed although some bakers recommend keeping it in the fridge overnight. It's a bit sticky but manageable. You just have to drop a dollop of it on a thin edible wafer paper for cookies (also known asoblate) and put them in the oven until they are golden but still soft inside. The result is almost spongy and so fragrant that it wasn't easy for me to watch them cool before I could brush them with bittersweet chocolate. When you have a treat like this in front of you, the last thing you want to do is wait!

In the past, certain bakeries were specialised in the production of Lebkuchen all over the country to create their own christmassy signature sweet for their region. The textures and shapes vary, some are cut into squares like in Aachen in the west of Germany, or baked in the shape of hearts like in Bavaria. Elisenlebkuchen are still my favourite, with chocolate of course and preferably in large amounts!

Have a jolly 1st Advent!

 Elisenlebkuchen

For 40 cookies you need

  • organic eggs (at room temperature) 3

  • granulated sugar 210g / 7.5 ounces

  • hazelnuts, roughly chopped, 40g / 1.5 ounces

  • ground hazelnuts 200g / 7 ounces

  • ground almonds 80g / 3 ounces

  • candied lemon peel 50g / 2 ounces

  • candied orange peel 50g / 2 ounces

  • lemon zest 2 teaspoons

  • orange zest 2 teaspoons

  • ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons

  • ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon

  • ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon

  • ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon

  • ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon

  • ground mace 1/4 teaspoon

  • a pinch of salt

  • edible round wafer papers for cookies (50mm / 1/4" diameter), 40 (if you use a bigger size, add a little more dough on each of them and bake the cookies a bit longer)

  • bittersweet chocolate 300g / 10.5 ounces, for the topping

  • butter 1 1/2 tablespoons, for the topping

  • almonds 40, for the topping

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter for the topping.

Mix the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for about 7 minutes until light and creamy, there shouldn't be any sugar crystals left.

Combine the ground nuts, almonds, candied peel, zest, spices and salt and gently stir into the egg sugar mixture with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts and put a heaped teaspoon of the dough on each round wafer paper. Put the cookies on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 13 minutes or until golden, they should stay soft inside.

Let them cool on a rack before you brush them with the melted chocolate and garnish each of them with an almond.

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