Easy German Gingerbread Cookies (Lebkuchen Kekse)

Try my authentic German Gingerbread Cookies, a simple recipe that will bring the German Christmas Markets straight to your home. These traditional Christmas cookies are perfect for the holiday season and easy to make. All you need is a little time for the flavors of lebkcuchen spice to fully unfold. 

If you like my Gingerbread Hearts recipe (one of the most popular recipes on my blog) then you will also these traditional German Christmas treats. The recipe is very similar, are just made a couple of adaptions to the flavour. 

These are not only cute delicious German gingerbread cookies, but they are also perfect for hanging up on your Christmas tree as decoration. 

What is Lebkuchen? 

Lebkuchen (as German Gingerbread is known) is a honey cake spiced with a mixture of aromatic spices. In Germany, you will find different kinds of Lebkuchen depending on which region you are in. The production of Lebkuchen stems back from the Middle Ages and is an integral part of German Food Culture. Many regional gingerbread specialties, such as Aachener Printen, Nürnberger Lebkuchen, or Pulsnitzer Pefferkuchen, are protected by law and are only allowed to be sold under the name if they are produced in the designated region. 

Here are some of the different Lebkuchen recipes on my site. They all use my homemade German Gingerbread Spice as a base, so it is worth making it from scratch for a superior flavor. 

How to make these Lebkuchen Cookies 

Equipment needed 

• Christmas cookie cutters (affiliate link) ( my children love little gingerbread men with their friendly faces)
• rolling pin (affiliate link)
• silicon baking mat (affiliate link) - non-stick - a relatively inexpensive investment- and worth it, if you do not want to scratch sticky dough from your work surface
• Rolling pin guides (affiliate link) - they are optional, but they allow you to roll out the cookies to the correct height, and ensure that all cookies are equal height. 
• parchment paper
• piping bag (affiliate link)

Ingredients: 

• brown sugar - white sugar works as well, but I prefer brown sugar as it gives it a more caramelized flavor
• butter - use unsalted but please
• honey - 
• flour - simple wheat flour will do. In Germany often rye flour is used for German Gingerbread recipes but this is not necessary for this recipe. Use Germany flour 405, UK plain flour, USA all-purpose flour. 
• ground almonds (affiliate link) - for an extra nutty flavor. You can use almond flour or almond meal. 
• cocoa-powder - for the nice dark color, and a hint of chocolate
• baking powder (affiliate link) -  This German gingerbread recipe does not use any raising agent but baking powder (affiliate link). You will find a lot of recipes asking for potash (affiliate link) (baker's amonia) . However I adapted it as I know they are not available abroad easily. 
• lebkuchen spice - I recommend making a portion of my homemade Lebkuchen spice. A simple combination of warming spices that you should have at home. 
• ground cinnamon (affiliate link)- I like to add an extra dash of cinnamon to my lebkuchen spice mixture to intensify the flavor. 
• egg - to hold it all together. 

German Gingerbread Cookie Recipe Steps 

1. Place the butter, honey, and sugar in a small pot. Melt the ingredients on the stove on low heat, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, while stirring throughout. Do not let the mixture boil.
2. Remove the pot from the heat and leave it to rest until it reaches room temperature. (If it is still hot, the egg might start cooking when you add it)
3. Now add the gingerbread spice, baking powder (affiliate link), cocoa powder, and egg to the honey mixture. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the ingredients until combined. Now slowly add in the flour and knead to a thick dough
4. Cover the gingerbread dough in a plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and leave to rest for at least 5 hours (or even overnight) at room temperature. - This will give the spices enough time to fully develop their flavor.
5. After the resting time 170°C or 338°F top to bottom heat.

1. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (affiliate link) to a 5 mm thickness. The dough will be sticky so a non-stick silicon mat will help, or roll it out directly onto your baking sheets..
2. You might also find that the dough is sticking to your rolling pin (affiliate link). To prevent that from happening I used cling film on top of the dough. - if you find the dough is too dry and starts cracking you can carefully brush with a pastry brush (affiliate link) with a little milk on top).
3. Cut out the cookies in the shape you choose then place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave enough space between the cookies, as they will expand while they bake.
4. Bake them for 15 minutes until golden brown.
5. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack, before decoration with a sugar lemon glaze. 

To make the glaze 

If you want you can use the German version of Royal Icing to decorate these soft cookies. It is called "Eiweissglasur" (translated egg white glaze). Here, icing sugar is sifted into stiff egg white. I, however, as I was short in time, just used a mixture of powdered sugar and lemon juice to decorate these Christmas cookies.

I just added a tablespoon of lemon juice at the time, until I get the right consistency.

Recipe Variations

• To make these gingerbread cookies without nuts- I recommend swapping out the ground nuts for more flour.
• For Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookies - I recommend this recipe.

Storage 

In Germany, we store Lebkuchen in a cookie tin (affiliate link). Lebkuchen are long-life cookies. They do not generally go off but can get a little hard. To make the gingerbread soft again, just place it with a slice of apple. Leave the cookie tin (affiliate link) ajar. This should make your gingerbread soft again.

Another tip is to use leftover Lebkuchen cookies for your sauerbraten sauce. In some regions of Germany, the Sauerbraten is served with lebkuchen sauce. Here is my recipe:

Recipe