# Rock-Hard Pfeffernusse



## helenm (Aug 24, 2003)

I've always loved Stella D'Oro's pfeffernusse cookies (available at Christmas time), but was unable to find them in the stores this year. Searching though my stash of recipes clipped from magazines over the years, I found one from the December '63 issue of "The American Home." That recipe was darn close to what I wanted but the cookies turned out much harder than the store-bought brand I loved. A piece of bread in the tin softened them after a few days, but I'm posting the recipe here in the hope that someone can tell me how to get a softer texture from the outset.

Pfeffernusse:
2 1/4 c sifted a/p flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 tsps cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground cloves; 1/2 tsp mace; 1/4 tsp white pepper;(also added a generous 1/4 tsp cardamom, which I happen to like); 2 eggs; 1 c sugar; 1 tsp grated lemon rind; 12/ c finely chopped candied citron (I'm not fond of citron so I substituted rehydrated currants); confectioners' sugar for coating. Eggs were beaten till light, sugar added slowly and beaten to ribbon stage before stirring in flour, lemon rind and currants. Dough was rolled into 1" balls and placed on greased cookie sheets 1" apart, covered w/wax paper and allowed to stand 8 hours before baking @350 deg for 20 min. Warm cookies were rolled in confectioners' sugar, then cooled and stored in a tin for a week to mellow.

I thought about substituting 3/4 c honey for the sugar, or adding some water or butter to the dough but I'm not sure how much to add -- or if the additions would have the desired effect. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, Helen


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## Kieran McCarty (Oct 11, 2018)

The pfeffernusse recipes I've seen that are softer contain butter, for instance this Williams-Sonoma one:
https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/pfeffernusse-german-pepper-nut-cookies-79103?ftab=reviews
But thanks so much for posting this, because *I* actually was looking for a recipe for *hard* ones!


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