There are two main varieties of German lebkuchen<\/strong>. <\/strong>The very famous N\u00fcrnberger lebkuchen from Nuremberg and the brown lebkuchen and they are very different from each other. N\u00fcrnberger lebkuchen are round chewy thick cookies that have very little flour<\/strong>. Ideally flour should be no more than 10%, in addition to nuts, spices and candied fruits. The dough is very sticky and cannot be rolled, instead it is scooped on very thin wafers called Backoblaten.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The brown lebkuchen have a soft dough that can be rolled and cut into different shapes. The dough has a much higher ratio of flour<\/strong>. The large heart-shaped cookies you find all over Germany are a commercial variety of the brown lebkuchen. One thing both varieties have in common is that both are sweetened with honey<\/strong>. They also use the infamous Traditionally the spices use the infamous Lebkuchengerw\u00fcrz (lebkuchen spice mix. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The spices are insanely good and smell so much like Christmas. It is not easy to buy a ready mix of the lebkuchen spices<\/strong>. <\/strong>This is why I am including a recipe here. This is a recipe I got from a German pastry chef and is a keeper. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The recipe I am sharing today is of the brown lebkuchen<\/strong>. As delicious as the other variety but is much easier to bake. There are different var recipes and spice mixes all over Germany, but they are all an integral part of Christmas!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The recipe for the spice mix is measured by weight and is for whole spices. Freshly ground spices always taste better.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Use the highest quality honey there is, not the commercial runny type. It would even be ideal if you use high quality citrus honey. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you heat the honey and sugar together, do not let it come to a boil or even a simmer. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastry flour is used because it has less protein, which is important to get the right texture. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before working with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I bake at 180\u00b0C for 11 minutes, but each oven is different. You know your oven the best, so this is just a guideline rather than a strict rule. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The shelf life of these cookies is very long, they can be stored for weeks in a sealed jar. The dough itself freezes really well up to 3 months.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/test.thebitterolive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Lebkuchen-13-scaled.jpg?fit=683%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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