Christmas Calendar 2014 Day 4 - German version of "brunkager" (brown Christmas cookies)

When I am in Germany, I always going shopping for baking stuff in the German supermarkets. During one of my shopping explorations in Germany I found a little paper bag with Pefferkuchen Gewürz, which made it´s way into my heavy shopping basket.

Making this cookie dough for this German version of "brunkager" was almost killing off my Kitchen Aid, as the motor started to smoke and become very. very warm after 10 minutes kneading !!!! So be careful out where in your kitchen !!!!

German version of "brunkager" (brown Christmas cookies):

• 1 bag of Pefferkuchen Gewürz
• 1000 g (cake) wheat flour
• 500 g dark syrup
• 125 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100 g almonds - blended into flour
• 200 g butter
• ½ pod of vanilla - only the corns
• 15 g potash
• 5 carbamate
• 100 g rose syrup

1. Put sugar, syrup and butter into a smaller cooking pot. Heat it up, until the butter is melted.
2. Put flour, almond flour, vanilla corn and Pefferkuchen Gewürz into the mixing bowl of an electrical mixer.
3. Give the dry content a little stir, so the ingredients are mixed well together.
4. Add in the egg and sugar-butter liquid into the dry ingredients.
5. Dissolve the potash and carbamate into the rose syrup, before adding into the cookie dough.
6. Let the dough knead for 15 minutes. Here my Kitchen Aid had to give after 10 minutes !!!!
7. Divide the cookie dough into 3 portion of dough, which it formed in a roll covered in baking paper. Let the dough rest for one hour or place it in the freezer for later use.
8. Heat up the (fan) oven to 160'C.
9. Cut the cookie dough roll into slices of ½ cm.
10. Place the cookies on baking trays covered with baking paper.
11. Bake the cookies for approx 10 minutes at 160'C.
12. Cool down the cookies, before storing them in air-tight containers.