The Haring Family Pfeffernuesse Recipe

Every year I make Pfeffernuesse for my family for Christmas. My grandma taught me how to make these cookies when I was in junior high, and I've been making them ever since. They are a little unusual and some people don't like them, but most people I've met who try them end up liking them.

Pfeffernuesse means Pepper Nuts in German (because they have pepper in them and are the size and shape of nuts....some say that the nuts part comes from actual nuts, but there aren't any of those in our recipe). Pepper Nuts are a holiday cookie from Europe and there are many different variations. What follows below is how my family makes them:

WARNING: This dough is very sticky, if you don't have a good mixer, expect to do some hard stirring.

Pfeffernuesse
(this is a half batch—makes about 8 dozen cookies)

¾ c shortening
½ c brewed coffee
½ c honey
1 ½ c brown sugar
½ t pepper
¾ t liquid anise flavoring
¼ t cloves

Stir together ingredients in a 1-2 quart pot and bring to a boil. Watch carefully as it will foam up when it starts boiling. Set hot liquid aside and let cool until it will not cook/curdle eggs (usually takes a couple of hours).

Poor the liquid mixture into a large mixer bowl. With mixer set at low, add the following ingredients:

1 large egg and 1 egg white (or two smaller eggs—the full batch calls for 3 large eggs)
1 ½ t soda
1 ½ t baking powder
4 ½ c flour

Mix until all of the flour is incorporated and place dough in the fridge overnight.

Roll cold dough into walnut sized (about 1”) balls and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes (my oven runs a little hot and takes only 8 minutes so check them early the first time you make them—they will start to turn golden brown around the edges). Return the bowl of dough to the refrigerator while the cookies are baking to keep the dough from getting too sticky to work with.

Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can make the frosting.

Frosting

1 c sugar
½ c water

Boil the water and sugar mixture “to a thread.” (Thread stage is around 230 degrees F—and is achieved when the syrup turns into a thread when dropped into cold water. Be careful about blindly using a candy thermometer for this step though as the cheap ones are often inaccurate. I usually boil the syrup until a thread comes off the spoon when you try to pour a drop off of it--it just takes some practice.)

1 egg white

Pour the sugar syrup over one egg white that has been beaten to a froth (I usually do this while the sugar is boiling, but the first time you make the frosting you may want to froth the egg before starting the sugar and water). Mix the sugar syrup and egg white on high until the frosting turns to an opaque white or ivory color. Beating the mixture until it turns opaque and cools off a bit, helps the frosting come to the right consistency and gives you a little leeway if you didn’t boil the sugar syrup quite long enough.

Put all of the cookies into the largest bowl you own (if this bowl isn’t all that big, you may have to split the batch in half) and pour the frosting over the cookies. Stir gently until all of the cookies are covered and place them onto wax paper to dry. If the frosting is cooked perfectly, it will only take an hour or two for it to dry (this rarely happens :)). It usually takes an afternoon or overnight to dry. Once the cookies are dry, place them in an air tight container and separate any cookie layers with wax paper.