Springerles

This might be a new cookie to some people but my grandma made these and my mom had to learn how to make them when she married my dad. They are a German cookie. Traditionally they are flavored with anise but no one in my family is crazy about anise so I use orange flavoring. To make the cookies you need a special rolling pin or molds that press designs into the dough.

This was my mom's springerle rolling pin.


The recipe simple but you mix up the dough and form the cookies one day, let them set out on trays over night and bake the next morning. Oh yeah and where the recipe says beat for 15 minutest, my grandma's old recipe read beat for 1 hour by hand. My aunts said it took them years to convince her to use an electric mixer.

Springerle

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of anise or orange flavoring
(2-3 tablespoons grated orange peel)
4 1/2 cups sifted flour.

Beat the eggs until very light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar; beat for 15 minutes. Do not under beat. Fold in flavoring and flour. (I add the orange peel near the end of the 15 minutes of beating)
Roll the dough out 3/8 of an inch thick. Thoroughly flour the springerle rolling pin or molds. This is important or the dough will stick to the rolling pin and molds. I sprinkle the top of the dough with flour too. Carefully press the molds into the dough or use the rolling pin. You will not use the molds to "cut out " the cookie, just to impress the design in the dough. Cut the cookies apart. Lay them out on greased and floured cookies sheets. (I did use the silicon baking sheets this year and skipped getting flour over everything in sight with no problems) Let dry overnight at room temperature, covered with paper towels or uncovered.
Next day preheat the oven to 375 F. Place the trays in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 300 F. Bake 15 minutes. Cookies should not brown, so watch them closely. Store cookies for 2 to 3 weeks to mellow flavor. (but they still taste great fresh from the oven so sneak a few) The cookies get hard and go perfect with tea, coffee or milk.
A side note, I have a convection oven so this year I tried using the convection setting. I heated the oven to 375 and when I turned it down to 300 I used the convection bake setting. The cookies took 10 minutes instead of 15 to bake. Since I had 4 trays, I did 2 trays at once. When I took the first set of trays out of the oven I turned the temperature up to 375 again waited until the oven reached that temp. and then put the 2nd set of trays in and again turned down the oven to 300 using the convection setting.