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When I was asked to contribute to the Christmas anthology,
Wishing for a Cowboy, I jumped at the chance.
When I found out the theme was a
Christmas food, my gram’s springerle cookies just jumped into my head!
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I
clearly remember the lemony yet licorice-y taste of these little “picture
cookies” from my childhood, but more than that, I remember just dreaming over
the rolling pin. So in my story Covenant, I have my hero Carsten Green carving cookie molds and a rolling pin from events of his mail-order bride Ella's life.
Sadly, my gram's springerle recipe disappeared over time, a well
as her story-telling rolling pin. But King Arthur Flour has generously given
permission to use their recipe and pictures.
I’m seriously thinking about Amazon-priming a rolling pin of
my own and trying out the recipe this Christmas! I know, I know I better get
started!
From my homestead to yours, Merry Christmas in Jesus’ name.
And may all your dreams come true in 2014!
SPRINGERLE RECIPE, used with permission:
ingredients
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached
All-Purpose Flour
anise seed (optional)
tips from our bakers
To get the
lovely scalloped edges like in the photo, simply use a pastry crimper/cutter to
cut your cookies apart. So pretty!
directions
1) Lightly grease two baking
sheets, or line them with parchment.
2) In a large bowl, beat
together the eggs, salt, confectioners' sugar and flavor for 5 to 6 minutes,
until the mixture is very light and falls in thick ribbons from the beater.
3) Gradually beat in the flour
to form a stiff dough.
4) Transfer the dough to a
well-floured work surface and knead with your hands for several minutes — it
will seem dry at first, but will become smooth as you work with it. Wrap the
dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or so.
5) To shape cookies using a
springerle pin: Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Divide the dough in
half and work with one piece at a time, leaving the other piece covered. Use a
regular rolling pin to roll the dough into a 1/4"-thick rectangle, roughly
the same size as your springerle pin.
6) Use a pastry brush to brush
a very light coating of flour onto the dough. Flour your springerle pin, then
give it a couple of sharp raps to knock off excess. Slowly roll the springerle
pin over the dough, pressing down hard enough to leave a good impression. Cut
the cookies apart on the lines, with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.
7) To shape cookies using a
springerle mold: Lightly dust your work surface. Dust the mold with flour, then
tap it firmly to remove excess. Divide the dough in half and work with one
piece of dough at a time, leaving the other covered. Roll the dough into a
1/4"-thick square or rectangle
8) Press the lightly floured
mold firmly into the dough. Remove the mold and cut around the design with a
knife. Repeat until all the dough is cut.
9) Transfer the cookies to the
prepared baking sheets. If you're using anise seed, sprinkle it on the cookie
sheet or the parchment before laying down the cookies, giving them extra
flavor. They'll also raise the cookies just a bit, allowing air to circulate
around the bottom, drying them thoroughly.
10) Set the unbaked cookies
aside to dry at room temperature, uncovered, for 24 hours. Turn them over once
during the drying time to allow the bottoms to dry.
11) Preheat the oven to 275°F.
12) Bake the cookies for 25 to
30 minutes, until they're firm but not brown. (If the cookies are a bit puffy,
and the design isn't as sharp as you'd like, bake the next batch at 250 degrees
for 35 to 40 minutes.) Remove them from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool
completely.
13) Store the cookies in an
airtight container. To keep them from becoming rock hard, we suggest placing a
piece of soft bread, a slice of apple, or a cookie softener in the container
with them.
Yield: 2 1/2 to 3 dozen
cookies.
Wishing for a Cowboy
anthology
Amazon buy link: http://tinyurl.com/lzdphe8
