Peppernuts

A big-batch heirloom Christmas cookie: butter, milk and sugar boiled to softball stage, spiced with cinnamon, clove and black pepper, rested cold for days, then cut small and baked.

Not this recipe — add a photo of yours.Photo: Sylwia Bartyzel (CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

I have doubled the spices from the original recipe - we like it this way.

Cook: 10 min
Source: Great Grandma Luetchens - Hulda Oehlerking - Lavina Schwaninger - Deb Topp

History of this recipe

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Ingredients

1 lb. butter
2 cups milk
8 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons clove
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons soda
Rind and juice of 2 lemons
Rind and juice of 3 oranges
6 eggs
10-12 cups flour, plus more as needed

Directions

Boil the butter, milk, sugar and salt until softball stage.
Add and mix in the cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, ginger, vinegar and soda.
Stir in the rind and juice of the lemons and oranges.
Stir in flour (about 10-12 cups) until it makes a stiff dough.
Set in a cool place for a couple of days.
Warm up and add the eggs and enough flour to make the dough very stiff.
Roll into 1-inch logs and cut into 1 1/2-inch rectangles.
Place close together on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Notes

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