German Cookie Recipes For Christmas

Both of these German Cookie Recipes are great for Christmas cookies.

The Berliner Kranzer cookies are orange flavored wreaths great at Christmas.

Pfefferneusse are German peppernuts. Delicious!

Berliner Kranzer (German Cookie Recipes)

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 egg white
2 teaspoons white sugar
3/4 cup candied citron peel
24 red candied cherries

Directions

Cream together 1 cup sugar with butter or margarine, and shortening. Beat in 2 eggs and add orange peel.

Sift flour and gradually blend into sugar mixture. Dough should hold together and not be crumbly.

Take a walnut sized piece of dough, and roll in palms of hand to create a 4 to 6 inch rope. Bring ends together to form a circle, and fold ends over each other. Brush with a mixture made from beaten egg white and 2 teaspoons sugar; this makes a glossy finish. Add green citron slices for "leaves" and 1/2 red citron cherry for" berry" - use to decorate at the knot.

Bake at 400 degrees on ungreased cookie sheets for 10 to 12 minutes. Bake only until cookies are light brown on bottom - just barely baked.

The orange zest is these cookies make them wonderful. If the dough gets to soft chill it a bit in the refrigerator

Pfefferneusse (German Cookie Recipes)

This German cookie is a dense spice cookie that is delicious dipped in coffee.

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
3 drops anise oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon hot water
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the molasses, anise oil, and egg. Dissolve baking soda in hot water, and stir into the mixture.

Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper and then blend into the molasses mixture until uniform. Knead for a minute until easy to work with.

Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly browned on the bottom. Do not over bake, or they will be very hard. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Like I said both of these German Cookie Recipes are great at Christmas. But you don't have to wait for Christmas. They're delicious any time of the year.