Moravian spice cookies

Votes: 1

Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Complexity: easily
Servings: 60

Nutritional value per serving:

Calories 38, total fat 1 G., saturated fats 1 G., proteins 0 G., carbohydrates 6 G., fiber 0 G., cholesterol 6 mg, sodium 22 mg, sugar 4 G.

Crispy Moravian cookies are popular in North Carolina, where they arrived from Central Europe during the colonial era. These classic cookies, flavored with aromatic spices, were brought to the United States by the Moravians in the 18th century. When making them, it's important to roll the dough very thinly to ensure the cookies are crispy like wafers. This is easiest done between two sheets of waxed paper. If you can't roll them out that thin, make them thicker; this will make the cookies soft like gingerbread. Either way, they make a wonderful treat for the winter holidays.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

1 and 2/3 cups premium flour
0.5 tsp fine salt
0.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
0.5-3/4 tsp finely ground white pepper
0.5 tsp mustard powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg yolk

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

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Recipes with similar ingredients: premium flour, eggs, molasses, cinnamon, white peppercorns, carnation, mustard powder, ground ginger

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Preheat oven to 160°C.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper, and mustard. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the molasses and egg yolk. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the dough is smooth but still crumbly, about 3 minutes. Stir the dough a few times with a spatula to bring it together into a ball.

Place waxed paper on a clean work surface and place about 1/3 of the dough on top. Press down lightly and place another sheet of waxed paper on top. Using your hands or a rolling pin, carefully form the dough into a rectangle. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of 0.1 cm, but be careful not to crack it. This is as thin as possible. Carefully peel off the waxed paper and then place it loosely on top of the dough.
Transfer the rolled-out dough to a flat baking sheet and freeze until firm and easily peelable from the waxed paper, about 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Freezing Tips

The dough can be frozen between sheets of waxed paper, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and stored in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Finished cookies can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then wrapped in aluminum foil, and frozen for up to 1 month.
Using a small (5-7 cm) round fluted cookie cutter, cut out shapes from the dough and return to the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up again. Transfer the frozen cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until crisp and slightly and evenly browned (but not brown), about 10 minutes. Store finished cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 10 days..

This will make a lot of cookies, so don't worry. This dough freezes well, so you can roll it out ahead of time, then cut and bake them as needed. It's a great time saver for the holidays.