Pfeffernusse Cookies, also known as Peppernuts, are a German spice cookie that is small and full of wonderful holiday flavor! These are great cookies to make together as a family because the tedious work of cutting the dough into tiny bits will surely be more enjoyable with family by your side!
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Dear Eloise,
Last year at this time my coworker gifted me a cute box of Christmas cookies. These cookies she called Peppernuts. As soon as I opened the box, I had a flashback to my early childhood, probably 5 or 6 years old, in my great aunt’s tiny apartment eating these little hard gingerbread bits of cookies. Our family called them Pfeffernusse. My aunt’s were always stored and served in a tin cookie pan, and were very hard, so hard you had to suck on them for a bit before you could chew them. They were hard, but the flavor was so good and addicting!!! I had not had these little cookies in so many years, I knew right away I had to make them for myself!
This past weekend I decided we would have some time that we could make a batch. I remembered from last year that one batch took a very long time to roll, cut, and bake. As fast as I can get them on the pan and in the oven, Sprout comes walking through the kitchen taking a handful with him!!!
The recipe I now use is from a little lady from our town, similar to Mrs. Kranseke, Mrs. Pfeffernusse had a recipe that she was known by many to make the best Peppernuts. I was given Mrs. Pfeffernusse’s recipe by one of her granddaughters, my coworker, who had reintroduced me to this delicious holiday treat!
The recipe is simple, mix your molasses, sugar, margarine, and baking soda (which you first dissolve in warm water). After that is well blended, add your dry ingredients of flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. For this, I use my stand mixer and regular dough paddle. It gets stiff and difficult to mix once you get all the flour in there.
Have you ever struggled when measuring molasses? Ingredients like molasses, honey, and peanut butter I always use my adjustable measuring cup. Mine is not the same brand, but this one is very similar. I never worry about wasting the peanut butter or molasses anymore as I always can get every last bit of molasses out of my measuring cup.
The recipe says to roll into a ball and chill, this year I did not do so and just put the bowl in the fridge overnight. The cooling of the dough does help with rolling it out. You’ll want to roll a ball of dough into a snake, again, similar to the Kranseke recipe. I have found that I prefer the “snakes” to be a smaller diameter though, maybe pencil-sized. When the dough is too warm, it doesn’t roll very well and is too sticky. I did find that a well-floured counter helps with rolling out the dough as well. A small amount of flour on the bits is okay when they enter the oven. I did find that if I had a larger amount of flour remaining on my peppernut bits, it would remain throughout the baking process.
**To update: I have made this recipe a few more times this season, and have learned a few tips along the way. It is important to use margarine instead of butter. It is also important to mix your wet ingredients well before blending in the flour. To really help with rolling, we have found that when you chill the dough in a ball overnight, then cut off small chunks to roll, the dough rolls much easier. If you are still having trouble with sticky dough, another tip from Mrs. Pfeffernusse’s granddaughter is to dip your knife in flour. **
I then would take a butter knife and cut the “snakes” into tiny pieces. This is what takes so long! As I would cut, I tried to have them fall off of the knife and into my hand, then toss those pieces onto my parchment paper pan. Bean, on the other hand, put each piece carefully in straight lines on the pan, I surely didn’t have the patience for that!
Each pan of tiny bits takes about 6-10 (I do 7 minutes) to bake, at 350*. I would guess that a batch of dough made about 20 pans of cookie bits!!! In total, I had a 9×13 pan filled with these tiny bits of cookies. The kids like to trick their friends, telling them after a bite that it is dog food, as that is what it looks like. One sniff though, and you’ll know it is a tasty holiday cookie instead!!
I hope this recipe is a new holiday favorite in your home!
Peppernuts/Pfeffernusse
1 C molasses
2 C sugar
2 C margarine
1 t. soda dissolved in ⅓ C warm water
5 or 6 C flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
½ t allspice
½ t cloves
Mix well, roll into a ball, and put in fridge 2 to chill. Roll dough into a snake, cut into tiny pieces, laying out on a baking sheet. Bake at 350* for 6-10 minutes.