Two Great German Holiday Cookie Recipes

There's no time like the holidays to break out the old family recipes, or find those special desserts that come out only once a year. There is a strong tradition of holiday foods, and one of the best examples may be German holiday cookies. There are many types of German cookie recipes meant specifically for the holiday seasons, and this article will share two of my personal favorites: the German gingerbread cookies and wine pastries. As a note, there are multiple variations of the recipes, these are just the two from my grandma's cookbook, so those are the ones you're going to get!

German Gingerbread Christmas Cookies:

Necessary ingredients:

½ cup dark molasses
½ cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cups ground California pistachios
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 teaspoons water

For decoration:
1/4 cup each chopped and whole shelled California pistachios or walnuts

First, combine the molasses with butter and sugar in the saucepan. Heat (don't boil), stirring until the butter melts. After the butter melts, let it cool.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, spices, salt, ground pistachios (or walnuts), and baking powder. Add the egg and cooled syrup mixture. Blend all of it into a dough.

When it's all ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit). Roll the dough out into two rounds and cut out whatever holiday shapes you want with your specialized cookie cutters. Place the cookies on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving around ½ inch between them. Brush with egg yolk-water mixture. Decorate with chopped and whole nuts of your choice.

Bake in the oven at 375 for 10 minutes, or until light golden at edges, then cool.

Wine Pastries:

(because there is a long waiting period, make sure to start this dessert well ahead of dinner ((as in the day before)) to ensure it's finished in time)

Necessary Ingredients:

½ pound butter
½ pound sugar
1 lemon
6 tablespoons wine
1 pound flour
1 egg, beaten
coarse sugar (for decoration-these words "for decoration" come up all the time in the dessert section of the cookbook)

First, grate the rind from the lemon, squeeze out the juice and keep it to the side. Then, mix together the butter, sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and rind until it is all well combined. Then, add the wine and the flour.

Knead the dough well, and then let it rest in a warm spot for a full two hours. Pinch off portions of the dough, then roll them into long strands and form into pretzels. Allow the formed pretzels to rest overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350° F. Brush each pretzel with beaten egg, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Bake until cookies have a dark golden color, and enjoy!