• Place the beet syrup and brown sugar into a saucepan and heat slowly until the sugar is melted (it should not start to boil).
  100 g brown sugar, 500 g beet syrup
• Remove the pot from the heat. Add the gingerbread spice, ground anise, and salt. Leave the beet syrup mixture to cool down a bit, as you do not want the rock sugar to melt when you add it to the syrup.
  2 teaspoon gingerbread spice, ½ teaspoon ground anise, 150 g brown rock sugar, 1 pinch salt
• If your rock sugar comes in big lumps, like mine, it is best to break it apart. The best method is to place it into a tea towel and beat it with a meat mallet or a heavy saucepan. It should break apart into smaller pieces. You want a crunch in your cookies but without breaking any teeth.
• In a small bowl, mix the bakers amonia with 5tablespoons of water. Add to the syrup.
  1 teaspoon bakers amonia
• Place the beet syrup mix in a larger mixing bowl. With a stand or hand mixer, add the flour and knead to a smooth dough. Lastly, add in the rock sugar and mix well. Do not worry if it is a thick, dense dough.
  600 g all purpose flour
• Wrap the dough in cling film or place it in an airtight container. It must rest for 24-48 hours in a cool place (but not the fridge). A cellar or a cool window will do.
• After resting, roll out the dough to a 5 mm thickness. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 356°F.The dough will be stiff to roll out, so I suggest dividing it into smaller portions if you can try to roll it out in a rectangular shape. As the dough is sticky, use a non-stick silicon baking mat or roll it out on some baking parchment. Place a sheet of cling film between the dough and the rolling pin to prevent sticking.
• Slice the dough into rectangular slabs of 5 x 15 cm. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment. Brush with milk, giving the surface a nice sheen after it is baked.
  milk
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Topping/Decoration Options

• A classic is to simply leave the Printen bare, with just a little bit of milk brushed onto it before baking for a little sheen.
• Another idea is to brush it with sugar water, as soon as it comes hot out of the oven. Brushing them with melted honey will have a similar effect. This will make them shine even stronger.
• It is also popular to dip them in melted chocolate after they cool down.
  1 dark chocolate glaze
• To make them with dried fruits and nuts, you can place those on top of the Printen before pouring chocolate over them.
• You can decorate them with an icing glaze. Simply mix together icing confectioners sugar with either lemon or orange juice and spread over the Printen.
  1 icing sugar glaze