Pfefferkuchen, spicy german cookies

When I returned from holidays, one of the first things I did, was to find the recipe for cookies that were stuck in my memory, with its aroma and texture.

I found that pepper was not an ingredient of these, but was for the mixture of spices, they call Pfeffer, for the ​​German Christmas cookies. These cookies are sisters of the Lebkuchen´s, which adorn the Christmas tree, and have the same species.

Pfefferkuchen
Ingredients
Honey 75 g
300 g sugar
Baking powder 1/4 tsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
455 g flour
Unsweetened cocoa 1/2 tsp
Ground cloves 1/2 tsp
Ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp
Ground ginger 1/2 tsp
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Egg 2 units
4 tbsp Vin Santo (holy wine)


Optional
50 g candied ginger*
60 g ground almonds

Procedure
- Heat the honey in a saucepan and add sugar. Continue heating until it seems to melt
- Mix the flour and rest of dry ingredients in a separate bowl, add the sugar and honey mixture, eggs and Vin Santo.
- Mix well everything. If the dough seems a little dry add a little more wine.
- Cool the dough.
- Roll out dough with a rolling pin over the floured counter, to avoid sticking it to the counter. The dough ust be half centimeter of thick. 
- Cut with a cookie shape and cook in oven at 180°C in a greased pan for aproximately 10 minutes.


You will have many cookies, like 80 ** depending on the shape. They wi´ll be soft and very aromatic. If you like the can be decorated with icing.

I think they are ideal to start the fall with a delicious tea.

Notes
** You can store uncooked cookies in the freezer. Then in a craving moment, put the in a cooking pan and send them to the oven unfrozen.