Lebkuchen with a Spice Kitchen Speculaas twist! #Recipe
Victoria Hayes
3rd November 2020
Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas cookies. But when I make them I use the Speculaas spice which I order delivered to my door from Spice Kitchen. Whether you make traditional circles or cut into stars and hearts, friends and family will love these Christmassy biscuits. You can decorate them in so many ways as well. My favourites are chocolate covered, but in my house I'm lucky if they last long enough to get the chocolate on!
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Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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Heat the honey and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat until melted. Tip into a large mixing bowl and put in the fridge for 5 minutes.
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Remove the honey-butter mixture from the fridge and sieve in the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. (The mixture will be sticky.) Return to the fridge for about 1 hour, or until completely cold.
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Roll out the dough and use your favourite cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Transfer to the baking trays and flatten down slightly, leaving enough space between each lebkuchen to spread during cooking. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the lebkuchen has risen and are firm to the touch. Set aside to cool slightly on the baking trays, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. If you decide to cover in chocolate you will need 200g/7oz dark, milk or white chocolate, finely chopped. Melt half the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a simmering saucepan of water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. When the chocolate has almost melted, take the pan off the heat and add the remaining chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate has melted. Dip one side of the lebkuchen into the chocolate and return to the wire rack, chocolate side up, to set.
Recipe Info
Serves
Makes 18
Serving Suggestions
Covered in chocolate or with a thin icing. These are best with a hot chocolate or mulled wine!
Ingredients
200g/7oz runny honey
85g/3oz butter
200g/7oz plain flour
100g/3½oz ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 1/2 tsp of Speculaas
1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)
½ unwaxed orange, finely grated zest and juice
pinch sea salt
Equipment