With the arrival of December comes an extra crispness in the air, evenings in front of the log-burner and a festive feeling that’s fast sneaking up on us.
Thoughts are turning to Christmas and, if I could, I’d be heading to Europe to soak up some authentic yuletide atmosphere in a traditional Christmas market. Lebkuchen biscuits, Glühwein and schnapps spring to mind and with them my Lebkuchen recipe.
The medieval towns do it best; Christmas time in Bruges is magical, Cologne is home to an epic Christmas Market and Christmas in Freiburg is on my wish list but Munich is home to my favourite Christmas market. Or, as the Germans would say, ‘Weihnachtsmarkt’.
I first tasted German Lebkuchen biscuits at Munich Christmas market. These irresistible spiced bites are like a cross between ginger cake and a biscuit and totally capture the taste of a German Christmas. One bite of these soft, spicy biscuits is sure to put you in a Christmassy mood with the irresistable lebkuchen spice flavours.
But first let me tell you a little about Munich’s Christkindlmarkt. Scroll down for the printable Lebkuchen biscuit recipe.
Munich Christmas Market
Contents
Munich Christmas market is one of the oldest in the world and dates back over 700 years to the fourteenth century. The main Christkindlmarkt is in the Marienplatz pedestrian square. The Town Hall (Rathaus) makes an impressive backdrop to the towering Christmas tree twinklingwith over 3,000 lights.
The sound of choirs and carols float on the night air mingling with the aroma of Glühwein (mulled wine), roasting chestnuts and warming winter spices. Munich in December is like stepping into a Christmas card – guaranteed to put a sparkle into the eye of the most stalwart of bah humbugs.
Read about the best Christmas markets in Germany
Christmas Market Crafts
A maze of wooden chalet-style stalls decorated with winter foliage and fairy lights fill the Marienplatz Christmas market. When I visited with my daughter Amy, we wrapped up warmly against the crisp night air and explored the stalls. We discovered some kitsch Christmas decorations and the green glass gherkin Amy bought has become a quirky family favourite.
Bavarian craftsmen sell wooden carvings, blown glass ornaments and hand-made gifts. German Christmas markets are big on nativity scenes and at the nearby Kripperlmarkt, or crib market, you’ll find a range of traditional nativity scenes, cribs and wooden figures.
Food at German Christmas Markets
The food at Munich market is ridiculously good and was one of the highlights of our trip. Mugs of steaming Glühwein, red wine heated up with an infusion of spices, kept the cold at bay. The smell of hot roasted chestnuts wafted around us while bratwurst sizzled temptingly and baked apples loaded with sugar slowly caramelised.
And then there’s the aroma of German gingerbread spice, pumpkin pie spice and lebkuchen spice mix from all the fabulous cookie stalls.
Check out my friend Christina’s post about food at German Christmas markets if you need further encouragement! Or you might like to read about my favourite Austrian foods.
Stalls are stacked with trays of fruit-laden Christollen, Strudel, Striezel and Lebkuchen biscuits. The cookies are very easy to make and I’d like to share my Lebkuchen recipe with you with its own special spice blend.
How to make Lebkuchen Biscuits
You’ll see bags of Lebkuchen hanging from stalls and laid out on trays. We bought a bag of soft, lightly spiced, gingery biscuits coated with a light layer of icing sugar – Lebkuchen biscuits.
We also bought some homemade gingerbread spice mix cookies which were amazing the but the Lebkuchen cookies were our favourite.
You can also buy deliciously Christmassy lebkuchen cookies on Amazon.
The spicy festive flavour of these little German biscuits will forever transport me back to Munich market and the taste of Christmas. The spicy delights are quick and easy to prepare. If you’d like to make them yourself here’s my Lebkuchen biscuit recipe with its extra special spice mix.
Traditional Lebkuchen Biscuit Recipe
Yield: 30
Lebkuchen Biscuit Recipe - German Christmas Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
A recipe for Lebkuchen biscuits - lightly spiced German Christmas cookies
Ingredients
- 250g plain flour
- 85g ground almonds
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200ml clear honey
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 85g butter
- 1 pinch each of:
- ground cloves, grated nutmeg, black pepper
- 1 tsp baking powder
- For the icing:
- 150g icing sugar
- 1 egg white – beaten
Instructions
- Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a saucepan heat the butter and honey over a low heat until the butter melts. Add this and the lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly until you have a fairly stiff dough. Cover and leave to cool. At this point the dough can be frozen for up to one month.
- Heat over to 180c/fan, 160c/, gas mark 4.Put the dough on a board and cut it into quarters. Cut each quarter into 8 and roll the pieces into small, even balls with your hands. Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment and place the balls of dough on them, leaving room for them to expand. Flatten the balls with your fingertips so they are about 5mm high or you could use cutters to make Lebkuchen stars or hearts like I did.
- Pop in the oven. After ten minutes check the Lebkuchen biscuits and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
- To ice, mix together the icing sugar, egg white and a little water to form a smooth and runny icing. Dip the top of each biscuit into the icing and leave to dry on a wire rack. (I re-use the baking parchment underneath the rack to save on clearing up). Store in an airtight container for up to five days – as if…!
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What’s your favourite Christmas market nibble?
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Suzanne Jones
Suzanne Jones is a full-time travel blogger and writer at The Travelbunny website which she started in 2011. A serial traveller, she enjoys culinary encounters and the outdoors. When she’s not indulging her wanderlust or writing about her adventures you’ll most likely find Suzanne, camera in hand, enjoying coastal walks on England’s South Coast.
Suzanne also runs Hello Sussex a website which showcases the best of East & West Sussex. Read more about Suzanne here…
