Baking, Breakfasts, Christmas, Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten Free, Lunchbox, Naturally Sweetened, Nuts, Snacks, Thermomix, Vegetarian, Wholefood
Peppernuts (Gluten Free)
What are Peppernuts? A delicious, crunchy, spicy miniature cookie, traditionally made at Christmas time in Russian Mennonite, German and Dutch homes. They are “spicy little holiday sweets about the size of a nut. They may be dark and peppery, soft and light, or crisp and crunchy” (via). They are also known as Pfefferneuse, Pebbnodder, Pepernoten, and who knows what else… Whatever you call them, they’re delicious by any name! (Okay, I know they look a little like dog food, but they really are yummy!!!)
We love peppernuts – the kids love to stuff them in their pockets for snacks on the go, and the adults love to dunk them in their coffee. They’re very addictive – I bet you can’t eat just one!
I have started using my gluten free gingerbread dough for these, because it’s so spicy and such a perfect texture – even after days, they stay crispy. They taste an awful lot like the crunchy gingernut biscuits you can buy, except a little more peppery, and a lot more healthy!
The traditional way of making them is to roll out pencil sized pieces of dough, and cut them into little circles and bake until crisp… but I found that very time-consuming, so now I just do it like this:
1. Make your gingerbread dough with this recipe – and make sure it’s really spicy and a bit peppery!
2. Divide the dough into four pieces, wrap in plastic wrap (or baking paper) flatten to a rectangular shape, and refrigerate for a day or two (or three) to let the flavours develop.
3. When you’re ready to make them, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, and roll one rectangle of dough out on a silicon mat (or piece of baking paper) until it’s a bit less than a centimetre thick. With a butter knife, cut 1 centimetre strips, then squares…
…place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper (make sure they’re not touching), and bake for 10 to 15 minutes – until nicely browned and crunchy.
4. Leave them to cool, then put them into jars. You can store them in the fridge or freezer if you want them to last longer!
But they probably won’t last long anyway, once the kids get their hands on them!!
Yum! I made a spicy gingerbread this year and made my dough quite thin. The resultant gingerbread shapes were deliciously crunchy.
I’ll have to try these with your gingerbread recipe.
I love my gingerbread thin and crunchy too!
We made these peppernuts today; they are delicious, very more-ish. I think my oven is a bit slow, the first batch were a bit fudgy, so I put the second lot in longer & then returned the first lot for another 8 minutes; perfect! Thankyou so much for sharing your recipe.
Deb
That’s great, Deb – glad you liked them! 🙂
YUM! Perfect to throw a couple in a little bag as a morning treat with coffee!
How come I have never seen this recipe?? On my list
Hope you like it Tenina! 🙂
you shouldn’t cut them, you should ROLL THEM! in little balls, in your hands, and make them about as big as your thumb. Otherwise they won’t look like pepernoten at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!