Baking the Best Elisen Lebkuchen

While Germany is most famous for producing Lebkuchen, bakers and manufacturers of these gingerbread-like cookies are also to be found in other German speaking countries, most notably Switzerland and Austria. In general, Lebkuchen seems to encompass everything from the dry-cardboard heart cookies available at Oktoberfest and other fairs, to the softer, frosted rounds and bars prevalent in grocery stores, bakeries, and Christmas markets during the Christmas holiday season.

Last year I realized that there is a certain type of Lebkuchen that is made with very little to no flour at all. This type of Lebkuchen known as “Elisen Lebkuchen” appears to be revered as the “crème de la crème” of the gingerbread cookies. By law, these cookies must contain a minimum of 25% nuts (only almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts are allowed) and no more than 10% flour. The relatively high price of these cookies (bakeries sell them for about 2 euros each) and the lack of quality in most packaged Elisen Lebkuchen first drove me to the internet, and then into the kitchen.

What I found was that these cookies did not take any special equipment or any hard to handle ingredients (such as lye which is needed to successfully produce the ever popular German soft pretzel- the bretz’n). They did however have a curiously long preparation time (up to 13 days!) Some recipes recommend waiting 2- 3 days to let the dough rest before baking, while most recipes recommend waiting 10 days for the cookies to rest after the baking. The general idea is that waiting time gives the ingredient flavors a chance to diffuse and combine more thoroughly. The post bake wait also gives the cookies a chance to achieve their ideal soft, chewy, and dense texture.

Below are two recipes for Elisen Lebkuchen. The first is a very simple recipe yielding a brown cookie with a slightly spongy texture, and a dominate cinnamon-spice flavor. The recipe is an obvious winner for ease-of-preparation (and the resulting cookie is pretty tasty). The second recipe is more involved and takes more time to prepare, but yields a dark blond cookie with a dense texture, and a delicate, well-balanced flavor profile. This is the Lebkuchen to gift or to share at a special occasion.

Before you begin your baking here are some Elisen Lebkuchen Ingredient Notes you may wish to review.

Recipe 1- Simple Elisen Lebkuchen
Recipe 2- Sophisticated Elisen Lebkuchen