I made these as party favors for my niece Camila’s wedding. Normally I don’t do large batches of cookies, but this was a special occasion, so twenty-five cookies of each style materialized in our kitchen. It was – I cannot lie – a labor of love, but totally worth it! Unfortunately I could not attend the ceremony, as we are back in the US, but I am definitely there, at least in cookie format…
It all starts with baking the cookies and allowing them to dry for 48 hours. I used my default recipe for Springerle, which you can find in my main food blog clicking here. Once they are baked, the fun begins. Yes, each one is painted by hand, I do one color at a time in all cookies to make the process easier and faster. You can find a video showing the whole process included in this post of my recent past. In this batch, the heart-shaped cookies were not painted, just sprayed with PME luster (pearl or a combination of pearl and pink).
I chose to make Springerle because they are supposed to last for a long time, and I had to make them 6 weeks before the big day. These are small cookies, and each guest received two in a small package. I hope they liked them…
Four colors were used for the floral cookies: pink, green, peacock blue, and gold for the edge. Some of them got an extra detail of pearl here and there just to add variety.
For the hearts, things happened a lot faster, as I used the spray to coat the surface. Some got white, some got pink mixed with white, as the pink alone would be a little too strong for what I had in mind. I wanted the to be delicate and subtle.
One of my favorite cookies to make this time of the year, they are a bit of a labor of love, but the more I make them, the more I love their unique flavor and texture.
My default recipe for springerle is published in my food blog (click here). I have shared a detailed post and video about painting springerle cookies, and you can find those here.
In this batch, the new technique was glazing instead of painting. I used this method to make the green-teal cookies shown below.
The method is very simple: mix honey and vodka 1:1 BY WEIGHT, not by volume. If you do by volume there won’t be enough alcohol and the honey will stay sticky. You can even use a little more vodka than honey to make sure it will dry without any issues. Add a tiny amount of the gel color of your choice. Paint that with a brush, preferably not silicone brush, because those tend to add too much liquid. Once that is dry, you can paint the final details with an accent color (I used gold luster).
All other biscuits from this batch were painted as I have shown in the video, with luster powder mixed with vodka. I’ve had these flower molds for many years, and I never get tired of using them.
This is another favorite mold of mine, that can be decorated in many different ways as far as colors go.
Another great mold I use every yearis the rectangular one below…
Springerle is perfumed with anise, and lasts for a long time, so they are perfect as cookie gifts. The molds are not cheap, so if you are interested in starting to bake this type of cookie, brace yourself for the initial investment. But if you have a good quality mold, it will last for a lifetime.
When you want to minimize icing and glazes on your cookies, resorting to molds, stamps and embossed rolling pins is the answer. The cookies will look great even if nothing else is done to them as far as decorating goes, but of course, if you go the extra mile, they will look super special. The key is to use a dough with little to no leavening agent. You might have to play with a few of your recipes to see which one performs best for each different pattern. It is fun to experiment, and even if some end up as failures, they will still taste great…
Links to every mold, stamp and rolling pin used in the cookies are included in the text.
DESIGN #1
FLOWER MOLD
For these cookies, I used this mold. Once they were baked, I sprayed the surface with PME pearl spray and then went over the details with luster powder mixed with vodka.
I love working with this mold, you can do egg yolk painting, egg white painting, work with marbled dough, or just add a simple light glaze with the color of your choice, for a more dramatic effect like below…
DESIGN #2
WOODEN MOONCAKE MOLD
I used this mold for the cookies, except the center one, which I don’t remember where I got, a while ago. They don’t need any adornment, the pattern is beautiful as it is, but a little bit of gold or copper never hurt! Working with these wooden molds takes a little bit of getting used to, but soon you will realize how much flour or cocoa powder to add to the mold for easier release. Chilling the dough helps a lot also.
DESIGN #3
PLASTIC MOONCAKE MOLD
For these cookies, I used molds similar to these. These make small but thick cookies. The plastic molds are easier to work with, because they come with a little thingie that pushes the dough out. Again, working with chilled dough is a must to help the pattern form well.
DESIGN #4
DRAGON STAMP
Stamp used can be found here. One of my favorites for sure. I just love the Game of Throne-ish look of this pattern. I do believe this one shines with a little gold or copper, but if you don’t have that available, no major harm done. Chocolate is a must, or any cookie dough that is dark and won’t expand during baking.
DESIGN #6
SPRINGERLE ROSES
Most of my springerle molds are from this shop at etsy. I need to optimize the recipe for these, that used strawberry powder in the dough, once I do that the recipe will be available on my main blog. I often paint springerle type cookies, but left these exactly as they baked for a change.
DESIGN #7 ROSES ROLLING PIN
The rolling pin used is available here. The cookies above were painted with Sugarprism, and made into Oreo-type sandwich cookies.
DESIGN #8
MODERN LEAVES ROLLING PIN
The rolling pin used is fromthis etsy store. I have used this pattern countless times, it looks great without any adornment, but I liked the mixture of copper and red that I used in this batch. It is just luster powder diluted with vodka and applied with a brush.
DESIGN #9
FOREST ROLLING PIN
This is the rolling pin used. In the batch above, the cookies were baked and left naked. The pattern alone is enough to give it a nice elegant look.
DESIGN #10
HIEROGLYPHS ROLLING PIN
This cute rolling pin is available here. In this batch I used lime and a touch of coconut, but they puffed a little more than usual, so the design was not as sharp. They were made into sandwich cookies with a lemon buttercream as filling.
For a little tutorial on painting the cookies, visit my youtube channel here.
Baking Springerle turned into an annual tradition for me. I love the slow pace, the patience involved. The dough takes a bit of time to put together, whisking the eggs to achieve maximum volume, slowly incorporating flour, then rolling, pressing the molds, and letting the cut cookies sit and dry for a couple of days before baking them. In gentle heat, so they never get dark. For my default recipe and to learn a little more about these delicate cookies, click here . And now let me share some of the biscuits I made this past holiday season.
My recipe starts with 3 eggs, and that makes a large enough batch for about 30 cookies, although of course it depends on their size. Once they are baked and cold, it is time to paint them…
My favorite method is mixing luster powder with alcohol, either vodka or everclear. Vodka dries a little slower, so it is more forgiving to use. This year I got to play with a new color, called Mermaid (featured in my recent In My Kitchen post).
The same design will look quite different depending on the color scheme you choose.
One of my favorite shapes is the Flower Staff mold because is is so unusual…
You can see it better here, next to another favorite of mine, a special mold I received as a gift years ago…
In every batch I like to mix some modern shapes with the classics, because they can be fun too…
Here they are, sitting in the sun on a winter day…
Springerle is perfect to bake romantic, flowery motifs… Think Valentine’s!
The Flower Staff in a more subtle coloring…
Finally, a very special mold, the center one below, a gift from Phil. It is not easy to find molds made from real wood, those are pretty much antiques. He managed to find one, and it is so so beautiful, the intricate details… I love it!
Painting Springerle is one of the most relaxing activities…
Traditionally these cookies are flavored with anise oil, which for some is not a very pleasant flavor. If you like the overall look but prefer a different flavor, orange oil is a great alternative.
For the Love of Cookies 