An unusual technique: you put a drop of brandy in the center of each cookie before baking!
PFEFFERNUSSE (German Spice Cookies)
1/2 cup molasses ……………………………..….... 1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter ………………………….. 4 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar …………………………….….. 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon ………………………..….. 1-1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda …………………….. 1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp EACH allspice AND nutmeg AND cloves AND ginger (all ground)
1/2 teaspoon salt ………………………………….... 2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp anise extract ~ OR ~ finely ground fresh star anise
1 cup powdered sugar for dusting …………….. about 1/2 cup brandy
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1. In a heavy 1 to 1-1/2 quart saucepan, combine molasses, honey, and butter. Put pot over low heat, stirring often until butter has melted, all ingredients are completely combined, and the mixture is creamy. Do not boil. Remove pot from the heat, pour mixture into a large bowl ~ set aside and allow mixture to cool to room temperature. Stir in eggs and anise extract.
2. While mixture is cooling, sift together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, black pepper, and salt in separate bowl. When the molasses mixture has reached room temperature, stir in eggs and anise extract. With a large wooden spoon, gradually stir in sifted dry ingredients until everything is thoroughly combined (the dough will be stiff dough at this point). Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours (or overnight).
3. After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 325. Put parchment paper on 2-3 baking sheets. Roll the dough into small balls (about ½” ~ or use small melon baller). Put balls on prepared baking sheets, at least 1” apart (to allow for spreading). Put one (1) drop of brandy in the center of each cookie.
4. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 10-13 minutes, (until cookies have lost their shiny look & are slightly firm to the touch but still soft). The cookies may have some small cracks, but that's ok. Use a spatula to remove cookies to rack or paper to cool completely.
Once cookies have cooled completely, gently roll them in powdered sugar to coat thoroughly. I put on leaves and "holly berries" with store-bought tubes of decorator icing.
Store in an airtight container with wax paper between the layers at room temperature. Allow the cookies to “age” at least 24 hrs before serving (a few days to a week is even better).
Makes about 8-10 dozen small cookies