I could write an entire essay about Elisenlebkuchen but instead I want to keep it short and sweet today - just as these cookies are. I do hope you find the time to make these delicate traditional German Christmas Elisenlebkuchen cookies before this holiday season ends. 
It took me a while to perfect my recipe but now I am more than pleased with the result (and i am a perfectionist!). In fact I started to work on a blog post on my Lebkuchen spice mix on December  13 in 2015 but I never ended up publishing this post until now. These cookies are so dear to my heart and it fills me with joy finally sharing this recipe my you. 

The cookies are quite easy to make and it does not require a lot of baking equipments. This is really the beauty of these cookies. And at the same time these Christmas cookies feel so luxurious and festive with typical winter spices. Most of the time Elisenlebkuchen are very big in size but I prefer making small cookies because they are quite rich due to the high content of almond and hazelnut flour and the lack of flour. 
I hope you enjoy these delicious chewy and moist cookies as much I do.
Stay safe wherever you are. Happy Holidays!

Makes 20 cookies

INGREDIENTS
  • 75 g candied orange peel, finley chopped
  • 150 g / 1 1/3 cups hazelnut flour
  • 150 g / 1 1/3 cups almond flour
  • 3 teaspoons Lebkuchen spice mix (you find my spice mix here) 
  • 2 teaspoons cacao powder, unsweetend
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs, medium size
  • 125 g / 2/3 muscovado sugar
  • 150 g / 6 ounces dark chocolate, 70%, chopped / I use Valrhona Guanaja
  • 50 g / 1/3 cup almonds, skinned
DIRECTIONS
  • Preheat the oven to 150 °C / 300 °F.  
  • Line two baking sheets with baking paper. 
  • Add finely chopped orange peel, hazelnut and almond flour, Lebkuchen spice mix, cacao powder, salt and baking powder in a bowl and mix well. 
  • Add eggs and sugar into a big bowl and whisk until fluffy (it should be doubled in size). Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and gently mix until well combined. 
  • Form balls out of the mixture - about a tablespoon for each cookie - and flatten the balls until they are 6 cm / 2,5 inches size in diamater. 
  • Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. The outside of he cookies should be firm but when you touch the cookies they should still be soft.
  • Gently transfer the cookies on a wire rack and let them cool down. 
  • While the cookies are cooling, prepare the glazing. 
  • In order to temper the chocolate, melt 2/3 of the chocolate over a double boiler or in a microvawe (when using a microwave, stir the chocolate every few seconds, in order to make sure not burning the chocolate). The chocolate should have the temperature between 45 °C / 113 °F and 50 °C / 122 °F. Then add the remaining 1/3 chocolate and stir occassionally until the chocolate is melted and cooled down between 30 °C / 86 °F and 32 °C / 89 °F. The temperture is very important for tempering the chocolate.
  • Coat the Elisenlebkuchen with the tempered chocolate and decorate with almonds. 
  • Keep the Elisenlebkuchen in an airtight tin. You can keep the cookies up to a month.