This recipe comes from my mom’s dad’s mom. It seems that we make more every year around Christmas time, as more and more friends expect their share of the tasty, gingerbread-like cookies that look a lot like dog food. They taste quite a bit like gingerbread, though they have no ginger. The name is also similar to the German Pfeffernüsse, but they do not have anise.
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Peppernuts ready to bake -
Rolling out peppernuts -
Cutting up peppernuts with a dough cutter
Ingredients
- 1 cup mild molasses (or mix mild and strong)
- 3 teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 teaspoon ground cinammon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup strong cold coffee
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (I use spectrum non-hydrogenated)
- For: 1
- Preparation: 30 min
- Cooking: 1 h
- Ready in: 1 h 30 min
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Stir together sugar and crisco. Add coffee and molasses. These will not mix in well, but will become a dough when the other ingredients are mixed in. Stir in cloves, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add two cups flour and mix well. Add rest of flour gradually, until a stiff dough is formed. To make peppernuts, place a fist-sized ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a back and forth motion with the tips of your fingers, roll the dough into a long snake about 3/4 inch in diameter. Cut the snake into bite-size pieces at 3/4 inch intervals. Arrange on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.