Spicy Christmas Gingerbread (a traditional German Lebkuchen recipe)
By: Ashley Dew
If you want a bonafide German gingerbread experience, look no further. In Germany they call gingerbread, ‘Lebkuchen’ and this is a traditional German recipe that will impress. I moved to Germany around Christmas time and Lebkuchen (all nouns are capitalized in German, so to honor their word, I’ll stick with the capital L) and I quickly became friends. An extra bonus is that Lebkuchen is naturally paleo and gluten free (made with almonds and honey as opposed to wheat flour and sugar). Because of this, the texture is fluffy and rich, unlike the gingerbread cookies we know at home. So get yer’ lederhosen and dirndls on folks! This traditional German recipe will transport you overseas and you’ll want to be looking good when you get here.
Servings
8
Ready In:
45 mins
Calories:
369
Good For:
Snack
Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
- 200g ground almonds or walnuts (a little more for rolling out)
- 0.5 tsp cream of tartar baking powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves powder
- 0.55 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1 tsp allspice powder
- 80 ml honey or maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch(s) sea salt
Nutrition Facts
| Servings | 8 |
| Amount per Serving | |
| Calories | 54 |
| Total Fat | 3.2 g |
| – Saturated Fat | 2.4 g |
| Cholesterol | 20 mg |
| Sodium | 59 mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 5.6 g |
| – Dietary Fiber | 0.3 g |
| – Total Sugars | 5.9 g |
| Protein | 0.8 g |
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C, remove the baking tray, line with baking paper and grease with 1 tsp coconut oil.
Step 2
Mix the ground almonds, spices, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Form a volcano-shaped crater.
Step 3
Melt 1 tbsp coconut oil. In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, melted coconut oil, and egg, then pour into the crater of the nut and spice mixture.
Step 4
Mix well with a fork from the inside out until you get a uniform mass.
Step 5
Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes. If you find that it is too wet to shape into a ball, you can shape it with the plastic wrap.
Step 6
Take the dough out of the fridge and sprinkle with some ground almonds. Divide into 6 balls and use your hands to form evenly round 1 inch thick flatbreads.
Step 7
Spread the flatbreads on the baking tray and place in the oven for about 14 minutes.
Step 8
Remove, let cool and enjoy.
Step 9
Once they have cooled, you can cover the gingerbread with a little dark, melted chocolate. I make mine with raw cacao powder and coconut oil melted and mixed together.
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