German Honey Bars (Lebkuchen)
Celebrate Christmas by serving Lebkuchen also known as German Honey Bars that tastes like a gingerbread cookie and is topped with a lemon flavored glaze.
Ingredients
Cookie Bar Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup molasses
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, (slightly beaten)
- ½ cup slivered almonds, (roughly chopped and toasted)
Lemon Cookie Glaze Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
Recipe Prep
- Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper leaving about an inch over hang. Set aside until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly toast the almonds on a baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes. Toss after 5 minutes. Toast just until some of the almond pieces are golden brown. Transfer the nuts to a bowl or paper plate to cool.
Make the cookie batter
- In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, and ground ginger until the spices are even distributed through out the flour. Set the bowl aside.
- In a medium sauce pan mix the honey and molasses. Heat the mixture until boiling. Remove from the heat.
- Pour it into a large bowl and allow to cool until the sides of the bowl are just warm to the touch.
- Add the brown sugar, melted butter, and beaten egg to the cooled honey and molasses.
- Beat with a hand held mixer until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low until the flour is mixed into the wet ingredients.
- Switch to a wooden spoon when the dough gets too stiff to beat with the mixer. Mix until combined.
- Add the toasted almonds to the bowl and mix well until the almonds are evenly mixed in.
- Spread the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire cooling rack.
- Cool completely.
Glaze the cookies
- Add the lemon juice and lemon zest to the powdered sugar.
- Mix the glaze ingredients with a wire whisk until all lumps of powdered sugar are dissolved.
- Spread over the glaze over the top of the baked and cooled sheet of cookie batter.
- Allow the glaze to harden for about 30 minutes.
- Cut the cookies into 1 x 3 inch cookie bars.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
Video
Recipe Expert Tips
- Quickly toast the almonds: If you have an air fryer you can quickly toast the almonds in the air fryer for about 3 minutes on 400 degrees.
- Cooling the honey and molasses: Make sure the molasses and honey has cooled down to warm before adding the other ingredients. If the mixture is hot the egg will cook and you will have pieces of scrambled egg floating around in it. The brown sugar will also form very hard lumps and you will not be able to break them up.
- How to spread the thick cookie dough in the pan: If the dough sticks to your spoon or offset spatula dip it in warm water which will help spread the cookie dough. Wipe off any batter and re-dip as needed.
Nutrition
Serving: 2CookiesCalories: 104kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 1gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 66mgPotassium: 92mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 34IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg
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