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Oktoberfest Lebkuchen Hearts

Gingerbread Hearts


Course Cookies
Cuisine German
Keyword German Gingerbread Hearts
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Total Time 43 minutes
Servings 16 Cookies
Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

For the lebkuchen:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon lebkuchen spice (see homemade recipe below)
  • 1 egg

For the icing decoration:

  • 4+ 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • food coloring

Additional tools:

  • 4+1/2 inch in diameter heart-shaped cookie cutter
  • chopstick or a sharp knife
  • Food coloring
  • Pastry bags fitted with closed star tips
  • Pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip.
  • ribbon

Lebkuchen Spice Recipe:

  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
  • 1/2 teaspoon  ground star anise
  • Whisk all the ingredients together in small bowl. Place the mix in a sealed jar until ready to use.

Instructions

Make the lebkuchen:

  1. In a saucepan heat up the butter, honey, and brown sugar together over medium heat, stirring.

  2. When the brown sugar has completely dissolved, remove from heat and let cool completely.

  3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and lebkuchen spices.
  4. Add the egg, then the honey mixture and fold into the dry ingredients.
  5. Wrap the dough in plastic cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  7. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a 4 inch in diameter heart-shaped cookie cutter to create shapes.
  9. Transfer the heart shapes to the prepared baking sheets.

  10. Take a chopstick or sharp point of a knife and create a hole in each cutout at the top of the heart right below where the two arches come together.

  11. Place in the oven and bake for 10-13 minutes.
  12. After 8 minutes check the hearts to make sure the holes have not closed up. If so redefine them with whatever tool you are using.
  13. Remove from the oven, check the holes again, gently re-bore them if necessary and then transfer the cookies to wire racks. Let cool completely.

Make the Icing:

  1. Beat the powdered sugar together with the egg white. Add the lemon juice a few drops at a time. Stop when the mixture becomes thin enough to pipe.
  2. Divide the icing into separate bowls, one for each color you would like to use. Tint each bowl of icing with the desired shade of food coloring. don’t forget to leave one plain white if you want to use white to write and decorate with. The color icing you use to write with, you will have to use additional drops of lemon juice or water to soften the consistency enough for the icing to work with the #3 tip.

Decorate and assemble:

  1. Load the pastry bags with the different shades of tinted frosting.
  2. Load the pastry bag with the #2 tip with the color icing you would like to create the written message in.
  3. Using the #2 tip, pipe whatever message you would like in the middle of the plain cookie.

  4. Switch to the star tips and pipe a stars border around the edges of each heart. You can use one color or alternate 2 or three colors. Add some decorating inside the border on the face of the cookie, if you like.

  5. When you are finished piping, let the icing harden completely.
  6. String the ribbon through the holes and present them to your favorite people.

Recipe Notes

WARNING! The icing recipe contains raw egg whites.