Perfection Springerle Cookies by House on the Hill
These whisked-egg holiday cookies date back to at least the 1600’s and are made in Germany, Switzerland, and the Alsace region of France. For taste, texture, and ease and quality of prints this recipe is just perfection!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 teaspoon baker’s ammonia (Hartshorn)
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar (1.5 lbs)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon anise or other flavored oil such as lemon, orange, etc.
- 2 lbs sifted cake flour
- Grated rind of orange or lemon – optional (enhances flavor of the traditional anise or the citrus flavors)
- Additional flour as needed
Dissolve hartshorn in milk and set aside.
Beat eggs till thick and lemon-colored (10-20 minutes).
Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, then the softened butter.
Add the hartshorn and milk, salt, preferred flavoring, and grated rind of lemon or orange, if desired.
Gradually beat in the 2 lbs of flour as you can with the mixer, Turn onto floured surface and knead in enough flour to make a good print without sticking.
It is not required, but I find the dough easier to work with when I refrigerate it for 8 hours before printing the cookies. (Refrigerating the dough is particularly helpful in humid conditions.) Seal the dough tightly in zippered plastic bags and in a sealed container so it does not dry out. During this time, the liquid ingredients absorb into the flour making it less sticky. You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.
Work with one half of the dough at a time. Leave the rest covered. On a floured surface, roll about to approximately 1/2 inch thick. Roll thinner or thicker based on the depth of the carving in the cookie press you are using. Shallow carvings will need to be thinner while deeper carvings will need to be thicker. Flour your cookie mold for each and every pressing. Press the mold firmly and straight down into the dough, then lift, cut and place the formed cookie onto a parchment paper to dry.
Drying is necessary to set the design. Allow cookies to dry uncovered between 12-24 hours. Larger cookies and humid weather may require longer drying times. Cookies are ready to bake when the underside reveals a dried "ring" around all the edges but retains a moist center. Note: Cookies that are not dried long enough will not retain the beautiful designs when baking, but will taste fine.
Bake on greased or baker’s parchment-lined cookie sheets at 255° to 325° till barely golden on the bottom, 10-15 minutes or more, depending on size of cookie. See Baking Times chart below for suggested baking times and temperatures.
Store in airtight containers or in zipper bags in the freezer. Cookies stored in tins in cool dry conditions are best. Tins seal but allow a slight amount of air circulation. Springerle keep for months, and anise flavor Springerle improve with age. Orange and lemon and almond flavors have a fully developed flavor when they are baked and cooled.
Yield varies widely from 3 to 12 dozen, depending on the size of the molds you use.
Baking Times
Generally, larger the cookies require a longer baking time at a lower temperature. Sizes and recommended times are listed below. But here are some considerations and guidelines for various sizes.
Ovens vary; some run hot or cold and others have “hot spots”. You will need to experiment to find the best time and temperature for your oven. Be sure to let the oven get back to the same temperature after opening the oven door and open and close the oven door as quickly as possible. Use the middle rack in most instances – the heat tends to be more even there.
Group similar size cookies on a single baking sheet so they bake consistently.
The first time you bake a new size cookie, bake a single test cookie. Repeat until you get it right. It is better to waste a few cookies than a whole tray! You want the top of the cookie to be very white and the bottom to be slightly golden. Break the baked test cookie in half and make sure that the cake-like texture is fully formed and that no doughiness remains. This is especially important when using hartshorn, as you want to completely bake out the ammonia.
If you roll cookies very thinly, reduce the temperatures and baking times. If you have thicker cookies, you may need to add to the baking times.
Examples of Baking Times
Below are some examples of some Springerle sizes and suggested temperatures and baking times. Remember that ovens vary. These guidelines assume a pressed cookie thickness of 3/8 to 5/8 inches:
Size of Cookie/Baking Guidelines
Size 1" x 1" to 1.5" (the individual sections of M5736 Petting Zoo.)
Bake at 225 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. When baking very small Springerle, think about popcorn; you want the heat to penetrate very quickly to the center of the popcorn kernel to “pop” or burst the kernel. You do NOT want that to happen to your Springerle, so lower the temperature for slower rising.
1.5" to 2" x 2" to 2.5" (the individual sections of M7615 Cassie’s Garden)
Bake at 300 to 325 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Size 2" to 3" x 2" to 3" (A common size of single image cookie molds, such as M5383 Winter Sleigh Scene"
Bake at 300-325 degrees F for 12 to 14 minutes.
Size 3" x 5"
Bake at 290-300 degrees F for 14 to 16 minutes.
Larger Cookies and Cake Toppers: Increase baking time for larger cookies. Do not exceed 300 degrees as they will overbrown before cooking through. The key to baking larger cookies is "lower and slower".