This is a traditional German Christmas biscuit made with a mixture of almonds, hazelnuts and candied peel. I’ve included sugar in this recipe as I didn’t find you could get the same texture and flavour with alternatives. These are fabulous high protein biscuits for any time of year. They are a cross between a biscuit and cookie they are soft not crunchy.
Testers and Tasters Feedback
“Easy to make. They were lovely.”
“Good recipe, I will be making again.”
“They are delicious and dangerously more-ish.”
Photo
Diane Maltby, Tester and Taster
Serves: 18-20 biscuits
Plants: 6
Preparation: 15-20 Minutes Cook: 15-20 Minutes
GF Option DF
Swaps
GF: swap the wholemeal flour for semolina, tapioca, or gluten free flour.
Sugar: Use lighter brown sugar but don’t be tempted to use granulated as this will change the texture of the biscuits which should be somewhere between biscuit and cake. Traditionally these biscuits would have honey in them but I have left out to make a more Zoe friendly ‘healthier’ version. If you like the honey taste then by all means add 1-2tbsp into the mixture.
Spice Mix: For convenience you could just use mixed spice and add some ground cardamon and ginger, and star anise. They would still make great tasting biscuits.
Freezing
I doubt these will last long enough for freezing. They improve flavour over time. They will keep for a few weeks in an airtight container in a cool environment.
Ingredients
4 Eggs
75g of muscovado sugar
200g ground almonds
200g hazelnuts
2tsp of the Lebkuchen spice mix
½tsp baking powder
50g of candied peel, lemon and orange
1tbsp of wholemeal flour
A little coconut flour in case your mixture needs thickening a bit more.
Lebkuchen spice mix or create your own. The following will give more than you need for one batch.
1tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground cloves
½tsp allspice
pinch of nutmeg
½tsp ground cardamon seeds
1tsp ground ginger
¼tsp star anise- not everyone likes this flavour so leave out if not for you.
Options:
Dip in melted chocolate and add whole almonds to the top. Or decorate with icing.
Method
Preheat the oven to 325F, 170c, 150Fan, Gas 2
Blend the candied peel together with the flour until it is finely minced.
Grind the hazelnuts to a rough flour texture.
Whisk the eggs well, they should be foaming then add the sugar and mix again. You can do this with a hand whisk, electric stick blender, food processor on in a stand mixer.
Then add everything else including the chopped peel and mix together until it is well blended.
The mixture should hold together so if it is very wet add some coconut flour to soak up the moisture a bit more (a couple of tsp should do the trick and not change the flavour). Alternatively add more ground almonds and hazelnuts.
Drop a dessert spoonful onto the baking paper and press down to form a circle about 4-5cm across. Repeat until you have used up all the mixture. Ensure there is space between each biscuit.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
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