Aachen Gingerbread Cookies - Aachener Printen

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Aachen Gingerbread Cookies - Aachener Printen

A German Gingerbread recipe

Prep Time20

Cook Time18

Total Time38

Course: Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: Gingerbread, Gingersnap, Printen

Servings: cookies

Calories: 220kcal

Equipment

1 Rolling Pin
1 Cookie Sheet

Ingredients

14 oz Sugar Beet Syrup see blog post
2 tbsp. Water
3 oz Light Brown Sugar
4.4 oz Brown Rock Sugar see blog post
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
½ oz Candied Orange Peel finely chopped, see blog post
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baker's Ammonia see blog post
2 tsp. Ground Anise Seed
1 tsp. Ground Coriander
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Ground All Spice
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
½ tsp. Ground Cardamom
½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg

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Instructions

Heat up the Sugar Beet Syrup with ⅔ of the water in a pot.
14 oz Sugar Beet Syrup, 2 tbsp. Water
Pound and crush the rock sugar into tiny crystals
4.4 oz Brown Rock Sugar
Take the pot off the heat and add the flour, light brown sugar, crushed rock sugar, baking soda, candied orange peel and all the spices.
3 oz Light Brown Sugar, 4 cups All-Purpose Flour, ½ oz Candied Orange Peel, 1 tsp. Baking Soda, 2 tsp. Ground Anise Seed, 1 tsp. Ground Coriander, 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon, ½ tsp. Ground All Spice, ½ tsp. Ground Cloves, ½ tsp. Ground Cardamom, ½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
Dissolve the baker's ammonia in the remaining water and add to the dough.
1 tsp. Baker's Ammonia
Using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients until fully combined. The dough will be soft and pliable but not sticky. If the dough is very sticky add a little more flour. If the dough is too dry, add a tiny bit of water.
If you don't have a stand mixer you can stir and then knead this by hand.
Roll the dough out onto a non-stick surface (I use plastic wrap) to about 1/4 inch or 5mm thickness. If the dough is too sticky knead in a little more flour.
Cut the dough into small rectangles. Place the Printen on a greased and splashed with water cookie sheet.
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and bake the Printen for 18 minutes until lightly browned.
You can decorate the Printen as you like, for example you can coat or dip them in chocolate after they're baked and fully cooled. You can add one or more whole blanched almonds while the chocolate is still wet or cover them in sliced or slivered almonds. Or you can glaze the Printen. For the glaze you can either brush the cookies with a little milk before baking them to create a sheen or you can bake the cookies first and brush them while they're still hot with a glaze made from half sugar beet syrup/half water and let them sit to dry.
Once cooled completely, store them in an airtight container. Properly stored in an airtight container in a cool place, Aachener Printen will keep for several months and their flavor only gets better with time.

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