Does anyone else bake Pfeffernusse for Christmas? I’m just curious as to how other people make it. I use an old family recipe passed on to me by my paternal German grandmother.

The recipe calls for rendered goose fat (and I’ve never used anything else!) instead of the typical shortening. For spicing the cookies, my grandmother always used anise oil, ground clove, and black pepper.

My one special addition to the recipe that’s my own is a little orange extract to balance out the spice.

For those who don’t bake this special German Christmas cookie, what special family heirloom cookies do you bake?

I’m not sure I ‘get’ Pfeffernusse. The only ones I’ve tried have just not appealed to me at all. Is it the recipe? or is this just a cookie that some people find hard to love?

We don’t have any actual ‘heirloom’ cookies, just recipes that we’ve tried and liked enough to repeat over the years.

I think my two holiday favorites are Cocoons (Pecan shortbread, covered in powdered sugar) and a particular variety of those ‘chocolate chip cookies with lots of extra stuff’. The ones that make me nostalgic have chocolate chips, pecans, coconut and Rice Krispies.  They’re both so decadent that I just don’t make them during the rest of the year.

I must say, though, that Almond macaroons are a definite favorite any time of year.

What’s the translation of Pfeffernusse?

It means pepper nuts or spiced nuts
Pfeffer=pepper
nusse=nuts

My favorite Italian heirloom holiday cookie recipe are FIG COOKIES or cuccidati.  These are labor intensive cookies that require 2 days to make.  The dough is called pasta frolla and the filling is a combination of many ingredients that include dried figs.  I have a few recipe cards from my Mom’s recipe box that date back over 50 years; some from my aunts, mom’s cousins and such.  I created my own version that suits my tastes.  Lorraine

Crostoli (or “crosty”, as they are affectionately called in my family) are a big Christmas tradition in my family.  I’ve not changed a single thing about my great-grandmother’s recipe ... we make it just as she brought it from the Veneto region of Italy when she immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s.  My partner turned out to be quite adept at making it over the past 10 years we’ve been together, so that honored role was permanently delegated to her by my mother a few years back.  Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it.

Lorrainesfav, there’s a recipe for fig cookies on Nick Malgieri’s Web site:

http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/x_cookies.html

I’m curious how it compares to yours.

If anyone is willing to share their favorite or family recipes for various ethnic cookies, I’d be thrilled! I’m mostly German in heritage, but love every kind of cookie! Unfortunately, there aren’t very many “family” recipes in my family and most of them aren’t that old.

Happy baking to all!

Barbara A.

Here’s a link to a cuccidati recipe I’ve used this year, and it’s really tasty! I think I did use the zest from a whole orange, not just the 2 T listed in the recipe.

Barbara A. - 15 December 2007 07:22 PM

If anyone is willing to share their favorite or family recipes for various ethnic cookies, I’d be thrilled! I’m mostly German in heritage, but love every kind of cookie! Unfortunately, there aren’t very many “family” recipes in my family and most of them aren’t that old.

Crostoli (the recipe is mine)

Roxanne - I have been looking for an authentic recipe for Pfeffernusse using goose fat.  Would you be willing to share?