PFEFFERNÜSSEN
PREP + COOK TIME 35 MINUTES (+ COOLING)
MAKES 30Pfeffernüssen translates from German
as “pepper nut” biscuits. They are
a variation on a type of German
gingerbread known as “lebkuchen”.
Pfeffernüssen are extremely hard when
they are first baked and need to be
dunked in liquid before you can bite
into them; however, they do start to
soften after a day or two.125g butter, chopped
¾ cup (165g) firmly packed light
brown sugar
⅓ cup (125g) molasses
1 egg
2⅓ cups (350g) plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon finely grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
⅓ cup (55g) icing sugar1 Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C
fan. Line two oven trays with
baking paper.
2 Melt butter in a small saucepan.
Add sugar and molasses to the pan;
stir until combined. Transfer mixture
to a large bowl; cool for 10 minutes.
Stir in the egg, then sifted flour,
spices, pepper and bicarbonate of soda.
3 Roll level tablespoons of mixture
into balls. Place balls about 3cm apart
on trays. Bake for 15 minutes or until
biscuits are firm to the touch. Stand
biscuits for 10 minutes.
4 Sift icing sugar into small bowl;
toss warm biscuits in icing sugar
until well coated. Place biscuits
on wire rack to cool completely.SPECULAAS
PREP + COOK TIME 40 MINUTES
(+ REFRIGERATION & COOLING) MAKES 30Speculaas are a Dutch Christmas
biscuit traditionally made in wooden
moulds. If you have the moulds, dust
with cornflour or flour; press dough
mixture into moulds then draw a knife
across the surface to scrape off excess.
Turn over and slap hard to loosen
biscuits onto oven trays. Dust moulds
with flour between each biscuit. Bake
as per step 4.1⅓ cups (200g) self−raising flour
1¼ teaspoons each ground cinnamon,
cloves and nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
½ cup (110g) firmly packed light
brown sugar
125g butter, chilled, chopped
2 tablespoons milk, approximately1 Sift flour, spices, bicarbonate of
soda and sugars into large bowl. Rub
in butter until crumbly. Knead in
enough milk for the dough to cometogether. Divide the dough in half;
enclose in plastic wrap; refrigerate
for 30 minutes.
2 Roll dough halves between sheets
of baking paper until 5mm thick; place
on a tray, refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3 Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C
fan, then line two oven trays with
baking paper.
4 Using a 6.5cm flower cutter,
cut 30 flower shapes from dough,
re−rolling scraps as necessary.
Place flowers about 2.5cm apart
on trays. Bake for 20 minutes or until
golden brown. Cool biscuits on trays.SPECULAASCOOK’S
NOTES
SPECULAAS
These biscuits will keep in
an airtight container at
room temperature for up
to 2 weeks.AWW FOOD • ISSUE TWENTY TWO 117