Foodie, Formerly Fat

My grandfather, Jim, used to make these cookies every Christmas. As I kid, I confess, I didn’t like them at all. I mean, a primary ingredient in the cookies is black pepper (hence the “pfeffer” in the name “pfeffernuesse”) and what little kid wants to have freshly ground black pepper in their cookies? They are spicy little treats rolled in powdered sugar and come from his German ancestry.

Now, while I didn’t like to eat them I certainly remember what they represented. Simply put, they were Christmas in a cookie tin. I remember the cookie tin too. It was red on the bottom and had a white top with a red poinsettia on it. When it was opened a puff of white sugary goodness flew out and just begged you to take a cookie to taste. And every year I did. And every year I didn’t like them. But I watched the grown-ups relish them as far superior to the chocolate chip cookies that were also on the table.

Unfortunately, after he’d had triple bypass surgery (possibly quadruple, I can’t remember) in the late 1980s I don’t really remember him making them any more. By that point I might have been old enough to appreciate their spicy, molassesy, goodness. Then, in 1995 Jim died, and as far as I could tell, the recipe died with him.

Then a few years ago I was trying to be creative over the holidays and I was inspired to try to recreate the pfeffernuesse for my mother as a Christmas gift. It was hard work to scour the internet for a recipe for a cookie when I didn’t really remember what it tasted like. But I remember what they looked like and what they smelled like. So in the end I mashed together parts from a bunch of different recipes and made a bunch of different batches until they looked right, smelled right, and tasted pretty damn good.

I think my mom was pretty surprised when she opened the new cookie tin I’d gotten to put them in that year. She claims they taste just as she remembers (although I don’t think my teetotaling grandfather would have used brandy in the recipe he used, but who knows). She and my dad apparently fought over the last ones that year so I made another batch for mother’s day as well. Then I cut her off and told her she’d only get them at Christmas time. But to compensate I’ve moved to making quadruple batches so she can freeze them and enjoy them all year long.

It’s a new take on the old tradition. Merry Christmas, mom!

Pfeffernusse

4 cups, unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. black pepper
4 tsp. cardamom powder
4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. ground cloves
4 tsp. nutmeg
4 tsp mace
4 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground anise seeds
2 tsp. salt

1 & 1/3 c. unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
4 egg yolk
¼ c. lemon zest
¼ c. orange zest
1 c. toasted ground almonds

½ c. brandy
1 c. molasses

Powdered sugar for dusting

Stir together well the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Beat the butter and sugar until very creamy in a mixing bowl, then add the egg yolk, zests and almonds.

Stir in half the flour, then the brandy and molasses, then the rest of the flour.

Wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F when ready to bake.

Roll the dough into little balls the size of marbles, about 3/4 inch, and place them on cookie sheets.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until they just start to turn brown.

Cool briefly, then roll in powdered sugar.