Traditional Lebkuchen Recipe
This is an authentic recipe for Lebkuchen, translated from German. My mum uses the recipe when she does our family's Christmas baking. The rye-based Lebkuchen recipe is super delicious and the Lebkuchen biscuits are wonderfully moist with a beautiful crumb.
Ingredients
Lebkuchen ingredients
Main dough
- 400 g white rye flour
- 200 g ground almonds
- 250 g honey
- 175 g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 30 g Lebkuchen spices see above
Lebkuchen topping
- 1 egg for brushing
- Almond slices for decorating
Lebkuchen icing (optional)
- 3 egg whites
- 200 g icing sugar
- 7 g cornflour
Combine the above icing ingredients and whisk until creamy.
Instructions
How to make Lebkuchen
Day 1
- Combine the honey, sugar and eggs in a bowl and whisk vigorously.
- Sieve the rye flour, ground almonds, bicarb of soda and spices into a bowl and whisk to mix well.
- Add the honey, sugar and egg mixture to the dry ingredients to make a dough. It'll be sticky but shouldn't be too wet to handle.
- Shape into a ball, place back into the bowl, cover and rest in the fridge overnight.
Day 2
- On a floured work surface, use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to 5mm thickness. Make sure you are able to move the dough at all times so it doesn't stick when you cut out the cookies.
- Prepare a baking tray with baking paper.
- Use your cookie cutters to cut out the biscuits and place on the baking tray. Make sure to leave a little space in between as they will expand in the oven. Repeat the process until you have no dough left.
- Brush the dough shapes with egg wash and decorate with almonds slices.
- Bake for 10 - 15 mins (depending on size) at 180°C.
- Cool on a wire rack