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Pepper Seeds on Plant at Skandis Longhouse, Kesit River, Malaysia
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Daffey, Mark
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Peppercorns in Jar...
Stefan Braun
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A Display of Spices Lends Color to a Section of the Fancy Food Show,
July 11, 2006, in New York City
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Wenig, Seth
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La Belle Cuisine
Pfeffernuesse
 
Maida Heatter's Brand-New
Book of Great Cookies
by Maida Heatter, 1995, Random House, Inc., New York
 
"Firm cookies with exotic spices. Great! These
are German. They are traditional Christmas cookies, but they are delicious any time at
all.....The dough must be chilled in the refrigerator before it can be rolled out, cut,
and baked. If you
have
a very wide, round cookie cutter, use it to cut these - the bigger
the better.
The baked cookies will last well for weeks."
1/2 pound (1 2/3 cup blanched hazelnuts
or almonds
4 cups sifted unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black or white
pepper (preferably freshly ground)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dry powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 packed cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup mild honey
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
First toast the nuts in a shallow pan in the middle of a 350-degree F
oven
for about 10 minutes, until they are only lightly toasted. Cool the nuts.
Place the
nuts and 1/4 cup of the flour (reserve the remaining 3 3/4 cups flour) in the bowl of a food
processor fitted with a metal chopping blade. Pulse the machine three or four times until
the nuts are chopped medium-fine. Then process for about 5 seconds until the nuts are in
pieces about
the size of grains of uncooked rice. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until soft.
Add the
sugar and beat until thoroughly mixed. Beat in the honey. Reserve about
2
tablespoons of the water and add the rest to the mixing bowl, beating
to
mix. It will look
curdled, but it's OK. In a small cup stir the reserved
2
tablespoons water with the baking
soda until the soda is dissolved; add
to
the bowl and mix. Then, on low speed gradually
beat in the sifted dry
ingredients. Finally, beat in the chopped nuts
Spread out three large pieces of plastic wrap or paper, wrap, and
then
flatten each package to about a 1-inch thickness. Place the packages in
the freezer
for about 1 hour (no longer) or in the refrigerator for at least
3
hours (or as much
longer as you wish).
To bake, adjust two racks to divide the oven in thirds and preheat
oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or aluminum foil, shiny side up,
and set aside. Flour a pastry cloth and a rolling pin. Unwrap a piece of the dough. Cut it
in half. Work with one half, rewrapping the other half and placing it in the refrigerator
until you are ready to use it. Place the dough on the floured cloth. If it is very firm
pound it a bit with the rolling
pin. Turn the dough upside down occasionally while you
work with it, and
re-flour the pastry cloth and the rolling pin as necessary. Roll out the
dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a large, round cookie cutter (mine is 3
1/2 inches in
diameter), start to cut the cookies on the outer edge (not in the middle) of the dough,
and cut them touching each other. Place the cookies about an inch apart on the lined
sheets. It might be necessary to use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies from the
pastry cloth to the sheets. Use a smaller cutter to cut cookies from any of the scraps
that are large enough. Press any other scraps together, re-wrap, and re-chill. Bake for
about 18 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back once during baking.
Bake until the cookies are golden. If the cookies on the lower rack start to darken too
much around the edges, slide another cookie sheet under them - the double sheet will
protect the bottoms. Cool briefly on the sheets until the cookies are firm enough to be
moved. With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool. Store in an
airtight container. Makes about thirty 3 1/2-inch cookies, plus a variety of smaller ones.
Featured Archive Recipes:
Maida Heatter's Christmas Cookies
Emeril's Big Boy Christmas Cookies
Frank Brigtsen's Christmas Cookies
German Spice Icebox Cookies
Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls
Speculaas (Dutch Spice Cookies)
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