Honeyless Gingerbread

Ingredients

• 25 g candied orange peel
• 25 g candied lemon peel
• 125 g flour
• 125 g ground almonds (or hazelnuts)
• 1 tsp gingerbread spice mix
• 1 egg
• 40 ml rum
• 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 125 g Brown sugar
• 35 baking sheets (diameter 5 cm)
• 50 g powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 150 g dark chocolate

Instructions

1. 1.

   Add the candied orange and lemon peel with 1 tbsp flour to a blender and finely chop. Mix the nuts with the remaining flour and gingerbread spice mix. Whisk the egg with rum, vanilla sugar, and brown sugar until frothy. Fold the chopped candied fruits and nuts into the batter using a spatula. The dough should be pliable; adjust nut quantity if needed.

2. 2.

   Preheat oven to 180°C fan.

3. 3.

   Place baking sheets on parchment-lined tray and put about 1 tbsp dough balls in the center of each sheet. Smooth tops and edges with a damp palette. Once all cookies are shaped, chill for about an hour to retain shape.

4. 4.

   Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

5. 5.

   For glaze, whisk powdered sugar with lemon juice into a thick glaze, put in a zip‑lock bag and cut a small corner.

6. 6.

   Coarsely chop chocolate and melt over a hot but not boiling water bath.

7. 7.

   Remove cookies from oven, brush with melted chocolate and let dry. Then decorate with glaze and allow to dry again.