- Amanda
My grandmother, Helen Getz, turns 94 today, and she's as sturdy and charming as the springerle cookies she makes this time of year. What, you've never heard of a springerle? Now's your chance to learn all about this lovable German treat.
But first, the truth: when I was young, why anyone would eat a springerle, a hard anise-and-lemon scented cookie, was incomprehensible. It was white and not at all buttery. It did not melt in your mouth, but assaulted you with an intense flavor called anise! It showed up at Christmas and could linger in the cookie jar until Easter, giving my mother an excuse not to make any other cookies until they were gone. And the adults who liked them were obviously misguided.
I have grown wiser with age and have come to appreciate springerle’s defensive façade. Its anise seed is balanced by lemon. Its patterned top is a thing of beauty. It’s the under-appreciated German cousin to biscotti. Moreover, I now have an actual appreciation for method and springerles are all about method.
Springerles are typically made using either springerle molds or a springerle rolling pin (but you don’t have to have them, so don’t give up). After patting (or rolling) out the dough, you use the mold or springerle rolling pin to imprint the top of the dough with shapes and designs. You cut the dough into rectangles, set the cookies on baking sheets, and then comes the odd-ball part: you let the cookies sit out overnight to dry out the dough before baking. (Is this safe? I don’t know. I’ve eaten them my whole life and I’m still here)
Finally, when you bake them, you do so at a low temperature so the cookies never brown. And after all that, you’re left with a hard, fragrant chip that’s as beautiful as a majong tile and a perfect partner to eggnog and warm milky tea.
Helen Getz’s Springerles
Makes about 24 cookies
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons crushed anise seed or fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or by using good ol’ elbow grease, beat the eggs and salt until light and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar (I do about 1/ 4 cup at a time) until thick and cream-colored. Be patient – this takes a while.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon just until a dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface. Knead it lightly for less than a minute, then pat into a rectangle 1/ 4-inch thick and just a little narrower than the springerle rolling pin (if you don’t have a springerle rolling pin, read on, I’ll get to this), sprinkling flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface. If you have a springerle rolling pin, roll it over the dough, firm enough to make in impression but not so firm as to flatten the dough. Cut into individual cookies, following the pattern. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheets and let stand overnight. (If you don’t have the rolling pin, roll the dough a smidgen thinner and simply cut into 2-inch by 1 1/ 2-inch cookies.)
3. The next day, heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the springerles for 20 minutes; rotating the pans back to front, halfway through baking. Do not let the springerles color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container.
54 Comments on Springerles:
These are the best! I made a batch right after Thanksgiving that I've just started eating. (They last forever, tasting better after a few weeks.) I used the springerle mold my mother had when I was a girl, which is the only thing from her kitchen that is now in mine. I use Penzeys' anise seeds from Spain, which have a bright, beautiful freshness about them, and Meyer lemon -- though I had to buy the lemons, as the Meyers here are very late in ripening this year. These springerle are perfect with hot chai on these bleak winter days. ;o)
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added 4 months agoAll of your adjustments and tweaks sound terrific. Makes me want to bake these right now!
This year I used an organic unbleached cake flour for my springerles; it turned out really well! I will be gilding some for the New Year!
I was a lucky recipient of Sagegreen's springerles and they are absolutely delicious. I enjoy with tea, froze some and take out of the freezer as needed. They freeze beautifully, keep well and are utterly delectable.
My Great Grandmother made these every year...and I can still taste and smell them...but still haven't mastered them! Have her old molds and will try your recipe. Her recipe listed a nickles worth of and a dimes worth of ingredients....it's hard to figure that out in 2011 when she made them in the early to mid 1900's! Thank you!
A dear friend of my mother made these every year for Christmas, when I was a kid. Not everyone enjoyd hem so I always had them pretty much to myself. What lovely memory and time to make them again.
Thanks for the memory!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoYou're welcome.
My mother still has a springerles rolling pin. Long survived her divorce from my father in the 70s -- he's of German/Belgian descent. Will ask her to borrow and try your recipe. For fun, check out the vintage springerle rolling pins and molds over on ebay -- magnificent! Thanks for this post.
Lexi (LightheartedLocavore.com)
Love these! My grandmother's recipe includes hartshorn (ammonium carbonate) which you can only get from a drugstore (tho' I now use baker's ammonia!) Gives a bit of a rise to the dough -- and makes the dough itself less snackable :) My mom always made these in August for maximum crispness! I always warn recipients -- hated them as a child, love them now 50 some-odd years later.
Every year at Christmas my aunt would give my dad a ziploc bag filled with Springerle because she knew they were his favorite. They were perfect little tiles, each with an imprint of a flower or a bird, just too beautiful to eat! My dad would make them last for months! Sometimes we'd find them in a drawer under a pile of papers and if we were lucky he would share. They really do last that long, a delicate crunch on the outside and slightly chewy inside and that special anise flavor; my aunt would sprinkle some of the seeds on the board before rolling them out.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks for your comment -- glad to find others with springerle memories.
My mother made Springerle, Liebkuchen and Pfferneusse every Christmas. My ancestors were mostly of German descent and those cookies always signaled the beginning of the Christmas season around our house. My Mother is 99 now and unable to do the cooking, so my sister and I will carry on the tradition. What wonderful memories this blog brought back to me. I could never wait til these cookies softened up enough to eat, so dunking them in hot tea was a special treat for the holidays. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good cookie. :o)
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you for your lovely comment. Happy holidays!
Amanda - What an interesting little cookie. I happen to have all the ingredients on hand and out of sheer curiosity am going to make these. I have never heard of them, or seen the rolling pins or cookie moulds, but I am sure they will still be edible without the decorations on them! I guess I could always buy some of the scottish shortbread biscuit moulds though.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoNo need to have the rolling pin -- that's just for show!
My mother had a friend who baked these each year - and insisted that they were only hard "at first." If you left them in the cookie jar for a week or two, she said, they get easier to bite.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoHaven't had that experience, but certainly if your house is humid, the cookies will soften a bit.
This is such a charming recipe. Thank you for sharing. I'm looking forward to making them with my own Grandma (96) this Christmas.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoHave fun with it -- it's a forgiving dough.
How do you pronounce "springerle"?
Spring-girly
Spring-girl
Shpring-garel
etc. etc.
Please advise - thanks!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI pronounce it spring-err--LEE.
Danke
Ahh! too funny! I had a German Deli for some years and always carried these at Christmas. The German descendant patrons always snatched them up...but I was always issuing refunds to the run of the mill population.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoVery funny. Definitely an acquired taste/texture.
It's so nice to see this post about your grandmother, Amanda. I loved the stories about her in your book. Best birthday wishes to her. If I ever get a springerle rolling pin, I'm going to make her recipe first. Great video too - and tree.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you -- my grandmother will be pleased to hear it!
When I was little, my mother had a beautiful carved wood rolling pin for Springerles - not that I recall her ever using it. I wonder if she still has it, and if so I may have to liberate it from her. I know anise is the classic, but I have a lifelong aversion to anything in that flavor group (anisette, pernod, ouzo, even fennel unless used very sparingly - as a kid, I was black Good & Plenty-phobic.) So, is there any other flavoring you'd recommend as a substitute? Cardamom maybe?
I am going to be experimenting with some lavender ones. Probably will also do some with almond oil and some with cinnamon oil. Lemon, lime and orange are other great flavorings. Cardamom works really well with orange. These will be such fun!
I know these usually are left white, but one of the things that I most enjoy with springerles is painting them with natural coloring! They make gorgeous ornaments either way. Lemon and orange cardamom are great flavors, too. I wonder how lavender or rose would taste. This week while other folks are busy with dinner rolls, I may do some of these instead as gifts.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI've never painted them before -- like that idea.
If you make holes in each cookie, you can hang them and decorate an entire tree as decoration as some folks do with gingerbread. When they are painted, they truly are edible art!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks!
Oh my, I haven't thought of these in years. I grew up next door to a famly that made these every holiday. I became obsessed with the rolling pins and collected them at an early age. Wonderful dunked in hot tea!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoWould love to see your collection! I like them with Earl Grey (with milk and raw sugar).
There's a fantastic kitchen shop closing down near where I live and last Sunday, I bought a 'fancy' rolling pin..........Guess what it was? Oh yes, a springerle one!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for adding yet another cookie to the genre of European bakes and very best wishes to your Grandma
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoMaybe you're psychic!
Happy Birthday to your grandmom - I make her blueberry pie every summer!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoShe'll be so pleased to learn this!
I have a springerle recipe that my mom gave me. It was from a family friend of my grandmothers. It uses anise oil in the dough, no lemon peel, and after the overnight rest you rub some cold water on the back of the cookie then set it a shallow dish of anise seeds before it goes on the baking sheet. I loved the cookies as a kid!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI think my grandmother occasionally did the same thing with the dish of anise seeds -- that or another relative did.
I keep passing up these molds and rolling pins in the Christmas markets here. You've inspired me to get one and try this recipe. Thanks! I love that it's your oma's recipe.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoDo get one -- it's a fun dough to work with and the cookies are really unusual!
I can see a trip to sur la table in my near future, maybe this afternoon, aw hell, kids get in the car were are going on an adventure.
I think I am going to try to track down my recipes. One nearby friend whose mom just moved in may also be able to get her mom's old recipe. Dust off those molds!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoYou definitely win the fun dad award!
Amanda, your grandmother's recipe is very close to the one in "The Joy of Cooking" (1943 edition), except the latter does not use salt. I grew up with springerle and loved them as a child, and love them even more now. (My mother made springerle every Christmas.) I recommend using cake flour, a trick learned from James Beard in his "American Cookery." Also, as suggested by Mrs. Rombauer and Mr. Beard, I sprinkle the anise seed on the cookie sheets, so the seeds toast. That gives the cookies a beautiful fragrance when you bite into them and a richer taste. It also makes the house smell divine. Although it's really hard to wait, springerle taste immeasurably better when eaten no sooner than two and preferably four weeks after making them. ;o)
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoWill try both tips! And that's interesting about the Joy reference -- I don't think my grandmother owned Joy of Cooking, but she may have gotten the recipe from someone who did. Hers was written on a recipe card.
I am going to try this using the antique Japanese rice and pastry molds I have.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoLet us know and send a photo if you have a chance.
Thank you, Amanda, for posting this! I managed to lose the recipes I had brought back from the market in Freiburg, a few years ago, but still have my molds. As gifts then, I had given out recipes with molds to friends. How do you manage to stay so thin with springerles in your background? "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag" to Helen Getz!
I am down with the birthday wishes for Helen Getz too. I think you need to have her over next time you make one of her recipes and have her help you make it for the slide show.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoWould love to -- she's lots of fun -- but she lives in Maryland. Far, sadly.
Pretty tree! And now I want a springerle rolling pin under mine. Did you see the foodpickle thread on springerle rolling pin substitute? Maybe a cut-glass bottle? Or antique butter molds? Not that I have either of those.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI missed that thread -- looking it up now!
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