I grew up on these cookies. They were made especially for the holidays in our household, but I make them every time I have a yen for them with a cup of tea. The recipe came from my grandmother through my mother. I buy extra chopped citron in December and put it in the freezer for later cookies. In the old days, we had to chop the citron ourselves—a tedious, sticky job.
Unlike the pfefferneuse you find in the market, these cookies are not covered with powdered sugar. When they come from the oven, they are hard little balls. They must be put into a container with a tight lid to "season" for several weeks. This blends the flavors and softens the cookies.
They seldom made it to the end of the "seasoning" period in our house. We dipped the hard cookies into hot tea to soften, or we kids just sucked and chomped on them like hard candy.
I wrote the traditional measurements for the recipe off my recipe box card, with the modern equivalents in parentheses.
Pfefferneuse Cookies
1 lb flour (4 c )
1 lb sugar (2 c )
3 oz chopped citron (1/2 c )
4 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1. Beat eggs and sugar.
2. Add spices and baking powder, and beat again.
3. Stir in the chopped citron.
4. Add flour and work in. The batter should be stiff enough to knead on a board.
5. Shape into balls.
6. Bake in slow (300 °) oven until slightly browned on top.
Yield: appoximately 8 dozen cookies
