German Lebkuchen Bars Recipe, Whats Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

What does Lebkuchen mean in German? ›

What is Lebkuchen? Lebkuchen (pronounced leyb-koo-kuh n) is a centuries-old German spiced treat traditionally baked during the winter holiday season. While lebkuchen is often translated to English as gingerbread, it's not exactly what most Americans envision when they think of gingerbread.

The addition of a few spices to regular buttery pastry does not make a Lebkuchen. Traditionally, gingerbread is baked with potassium carbonate as a raising agent. Regular baking powder or baking soda is not really suitable for gingerbread dough that needs to rest for several days.

What is Lebkuchen? Most dictionaries translate Lebkuchen as “gingerbread”, but that's not quite right. “Gingerbread-like”, perhaps. Consider it a rich, dry, soft biscuit pastry that traditionally uses plenty of honey and spices.

Lebkuchen dough is usually placed on a thin wafer base called an Oblate. This was an idea of the monks, who used unleavened communion wafer ingredients to prevent the dough from sticking. Typically, they are glazed or covered with very dark chocolate or a thin sugar coating, but some are left uncoated.

The name literally means 'peppernuts', and does not mean it contains nuts. The cookies are roughly the size of nuts and can be eaten by the handful, which may account for the name. They are named for the pinch of pepper added to the dough before baking.

Originally Answered: What are Keks and what are Plätzchen in German? Keks = Cookie.

Bavarian gingerbread is traditionally made with honey, spices, ground nuts, rye flour, and orange peel, while American gingerbread prominently features molasses and ginger.

Pfeffernusse and lebkuchen are both similarly flavored with honey and lots of warm baking spices but pfeffernusse are almost always small, rounded cookies coated with a powdered sugar glaze, while lebkuchen may be shaped like regular cookies or cut in bars and are generally glazed with chocolate.

The dessert's roots can be traced to the 13th century when spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg were introduced to Europe. Franconian Monks are believed to have been the first to combine honey, spices, and breadcrumbs to create a sweet, flavorful dough. Lebkuchen has become associated with the holidays since then.

What is that white papery thing on the bottom of the cookie? That is called an Oblaten - German for a paper thin wafer. They may look familiar to anyone who has taken Communion in a Lutheran or Catholic Church. It is absolutely edible.

Which German city is famous for its Lebkuchen? ›

In Germany, when you think of Christmas, you think of Nuremberg Lebkuchen, the city's famous gingerbread. These sweet and spicy treats have been baked for more than 600 years and are loved by young and old alike.

Lebkuchen, also called Pfefferkuchen, is German gingerbread. These cookies are either rectangular or round, they have a sweet, lightly nutty taste, and their aroma is spicy, a bit like nutmeg and allspice.

Hanuta - the famous German hazelnut wafer! Imported from Frankfurt, Germany, this pack holds 10 individually wrapped wafers. Luscious, rich hazelnut chocolate mixed with hazelnut bits and smothered in between two crisp wafers.

Slide the parchment paper with the lebkuchen out onto a flat surface and cut the lebkuchen into bars. To store, stack in a tin, layered between waxed paper, and keep, tightly closed, in a cool spot. The lebkuchen will keep three weeks or longer but also can be frozen for long storage, wrapped in waxed paper and foil.

Back-Oblaten, also called Wafer Papers, are made of wheat flour and starch, and are for making your favorite German Christmas cookies. 50 millimeter ( 2 inch) wafer discs for traditional baking. Use for Lebkuchen, gingerbread, and other specialty cookies! Look forward to a tender and crispy baking result.

It most likely stems from the Latin word “libum” meaning flat cake or sacrifice cake. In early times, people sacrificed to gods what was most important to them: bread, also called “Laib.” Throughout the years “Laibkuchen” turned into “Lebkuchen.” Lebkuchen go back to Teutonic times.

The 'leb' in lebkuchen is said to refer either to the German word for life, 'Leben', derivative of the term 'leibspeise', which means 'favorite food', or to possibly have something to do with the Germanic term, 'lebbe', meaning 'very sweet'. 'Kuchen' of course, means cake.

Word origin. German, literally: loaf cake.

The word Lebuchenhertz is comprised of two words. Kuchen it the word for cake in German and Hertz is heart but the Leb part of the word is often debated. Some historians say it stands for “Libum”, which is flatbread in latin.