My First Attempt at Springerle Cookies

This past week, I ran across a magazine article about springerle cookies. I'd heard of them but didn't know what they looked like until I saw the photos of beautiful cookies with raised designs, some painted and some plain. As I read the article, I learned that springerle cookies can be made with molds or a special rolling pin.

And I thought to myself...HEY, I've got one of those fancy rolling pins! I've had it for years but had no idea what it was until I saw a picture of it in the article.

The magazine piece intrigued me, so I decided to try making springerle cookies for Christmas. I found a recipe with a picture of a rolling pin that looks almost like mine and thought that might be a good place to start. Springerle cookies are traditionally flavored with anise (licorice) but since I don't care for that flavor, I decided to substitute almond flavoring instead.



The springerle dough is extremely dense and stiff. I would guess it has to be that way in order to produce detailed impressions from the rolling pin or mold.

I used a standard rolling pin to flatten the dough then rolled over it firmly with the springerle rolling pin. Given my track record in the kitchen, I really didn't expect success but to my surprise, the rolling pin worked quite well! After creating the patterns, I used a pastry roller to cut apart the cookies.

Here's the unusual step: After cutting apart the cookies, they have to dry -- uncovered -- overnight in order to "set" the patterns. If you skip this step, the patterns will flatten out in the oven.

And here is how the cookies looked after baking. They have a very dense texture, similar to shortbread. I love the almond flavoring and the designs! And believe me, they are perfect with a cup of coffee. We have so many springerle cookies that I think we'll be enjoying them for quite some time!