Polish gingerbread cookies. Pierniczki.

Christmas doesn’t exist :-) without gingerbread cookies called “pierniczki”. You can find these traditional honey cookies at almost every Polish home. As an Christmas tree decorations, as present for your friends or as being eaten furtively from the cookies box. Gingerbread cookies are always main Christmas symbol at my home.

Gingerbread cookies are spicy, aromatic and they are similar to a Polish Gingerbread. We use the same ingredients to make the dough and we can store them for several weeks what makes them getting better and better.

At the beginning cookies are rather hard, but after few days they are getting softer and more aromatic and this is exactly how the cookies should be – thick, spicy and soft*

*if cookies are still too hard after few days, just  put them into a box with a piece of apple and close tightly. This should definitely help them making softer.

What can I say….gingerbread cookies are just divine!


Polish gingerbread cookies. Pierniczki.


makes 100 cookies

Ingredients:

200g natural honey
150g () light muscavado sugar
110g cold butter
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
450g () wheat flour (plain flour)
100g rye flour (you can also replace rye flour with plain flour )
2 tablespoon spices*

* spices
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cardamom,
1 tbsp ground black pepper,
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp powdered ginger
2/3 tbsp ground cloves,
½ tbsp ground aniseed
½ tbsp ground coriander
½ tbsp ground allspice
½ tbsp ground fennel


Method:

1. Place the butter, honey, muscavado sugar and 1 tablespoon of spices in a medium pan. Heat over a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Cool a little.
2. Mix the beaten eggs with the cooled mixture.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and one tablespoon of spices into a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture.
5. Using a wooden spoon at first, and then with your hands pull the dough together and knead until smooth. Enclose with plastic wrap; Leave at room temperature for all night or at least (3-4 hours)
6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface** to 1cm/ ½ in thick. Cut into shapes as desired.
7. Place on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown around the edges. Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To decorate I used ready designer icing.
** too much flour makes cookies hard so I instead of flour use icing sugar and this works great as well!

Enjoy :-)