Lebkuchen Recipe - Festive Flavours from a Christmas Market
With the arrival of December comes an extra crispness in the air, evenings in front of the log-burner and a festive feeling that’s fast sneaking up on us.
Thoughts are turning to Christmas and, if I could, I’d be heading to Europe to soak up some authentic yuletide atmosphere in a traditional Christmas market. Lebkuchen biscuits, Glühwein and schnapps spring to mind and with them my Lebkuchen recipe.
The medieval towns do it best; Christmas time in Bruges is magical, Cologne is home to an epic Christmas Market and Christmas in Freiburg is on my wish list but Munich is home to my favourite Christmas market. Or, as the Germans would say, ‘Weihnachtsmarkt’.
I first tasted German Lebkuchen biscuits at Munich Christmas market. These irresistible spiced bites are like a cross between ginger cake and a biscuit and totally capture the taste of a German Christmas. One bite of these soft, spicy biscuits is sure to put you in a Christmassy mood with the irresistable lebkuchen spice flavours.
But first let me tell you a little about Munich's Christkindlmarkt. Scroll down for the printable Lebkuchen biscuit recipe.
Munich Christmas Market
Munich Christmas market is one of the oldest in the world and dates back over 700 years to the fourteenth century. The main Christkindlmarkt is in the Marienplatz pedestrian square. The Town Hall (Rathaus) makes an impressive backdrop to the towering Christmas tree twinkling with over 3,000 lights.
The sound of choirs and carols float on the night air mingling with the aroma of Glühwein (mulled wine), roasting chestnuts and warming winter spices. Munich in December is like stepping into a Christmas card - guaranteed to put a sparkle into the eye of the most stalwart of bah humbugs.
Read about the best Christmas markets in Germany
Christmas Market Crafts
A maze of wooden chalet-style stalls decorated with winter foliage and fairy lights fill the Marienplatz Christmas market. When I visited with my daughter Amy, we wrapped up warmly against the crisp night air and explored the stalls. We discovered some kitsch Christmas decorations and the green glass gherkin Amy bought has become a quirky family favourite.
Bavarian craftsmen sell wooden carvings, blown glass ornaments and hand-made gifts. German Christmas markets are big on nativity scenes and at the nearby Kripperlmarkt, or crib market, you’ll find a range of traditional nativity scenes, cribs and wooden figures.
Food at German Christmas Markets
The food at Munich market is ridiculously good and was one of the highlights of our trip. Mugs of steaming Glühwein, red wine heated up with an infusion of spices, kept the cold at bay. The smell of hot roasted chestnuts wafted around us while bratwurst sizzled temptingly and baked apples loaded with sugar slowly caramelised.
And then there's the aroma of German gingerbread spice, pumpkin pie spice and lebkuchen spice mix from all the fabulous cookie stalls.
Check out my friend Christina's post about food at German Christmas markets if you need further encouragement! Or you might like to read about my favourite Austrian foods.
Stalls are stacked with trays of fruit-laden Christollen, Strudel, Striezel and Lebkuchen biscuits. The cookies are very easy to make and I'd like to share my Lebkuchen recipe with you with its own special spice blend.
How to make Lebkuchen Biscuits
You'll see bags of Lebkuchen hanging from stalls and laid out on trays. We bought a bag of soft, lightly spiced, gingery biscuits coated with a light layer of icing sugar - Lebkuchen biscuits.
We also bought some homemade gingerbread spice mix cookies which were amazing the but the Lebkuchen cookies were our favourite.
You can also buy deliciously Christmassy lebkuchen cookies on Amazon.
The spicy festive flavour of these little German biscuits will forever transport me back to Munich market and the taste of Christmas. The spicy delights are quick and easy to prepare. If you'd like to make them yourself here's my Lebkuchen biscuit recipe with its extra special spice mix.
Traditional Lebkuchen Biscuit Recipe
A recipe for Lebkuchen biscuits - lightly spiced German Christmas cookies As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Lebkuchen Biscuit Recipe - German Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
Recommended Products
What's your favourite Christmas market nibble?
To save it for later and pin to Pinterest
I love Lebkuchen - it's one of my favourite things about visiting Nuremberg, now I just need to go back when the Christmas market is on! I've pinned this recipe so I can have a go at making my own 🙂
I love them too - they’re easy to make and the house will smell so Christmassy!
Those paper lanterns look so beautiful shining in the dark. As for the Lebkuchen biscuits, they must be very tasty! Thanks for the recipe
Lebkuchen cookies epitomise the taste of a German Christmas market!
Wonderful recipe and I just adore the German Christmas markets! Cannot wait to return, and hope that it's next year! Sharing this on FB and Twitter!
The house smells so Christmassy when these are baking! Thanks you for the shares and Happy Christmas Christina 🙂
Lebkuchen are just the smell of Christmas! Munich's markets look lovely, I'm just back from Salzburg and although I can't eat the biscuits any more I did pick up some Lebkuchen liquer (sort of spicy Baileys) which sounded too tempting!
Lebkuchen liquer sounds delicious and very acceptable alternative!
I am licking my lips reading this and they are so simple to make too!
Simple to make and delicious - can't go wrong with that!
A good friend has just come back from Copenhagen and a side trip to Malmo and Lubeck. Lots of chilly, windswept photos 🙂 🙂 I had my Lebkuchen at Nottingham market last year. Not so exotic but the lovely daughter was there and that makes everything alright. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Suze!
Lubeck's meant to be beautiful Jo - I'd love to visit next year. I know what you mean - love spending time with my daughter 🙂 Happy Christmas to you too Jo and good times ahead in 2018.
This takes me right back to the Christmas markets I visited in Coburg and Heidelberg - every different place seems to have a different Christmas cake or biscuit as their speciality.
They all seem to have their unique touches. I've visited Bruges as well as Munich but would like to see what the French and Austrian Christmas markets are like too.
Wonderful post, Suzanne ... I'm not a Christmas-fan, but I love the markets ... been to Vienna (lovely), they have a couple going on at the same time. Been to Manchester that have the same set up - markets all over the city centre, I really liked Manchester in Christmas gown. Been to Lübeck, that has a very good one and Kiel ... Prague, was okay, but it didn't blow my socks off.
I love Lebkruchen, but to make them myself ???!!! No way... I go to Lidl. Striezel, my favourite .. market snack.
Munich, a fantastic city ... but never been in the winter. Thanks for bringing me along.
For someone who doesn't like Christmas you've been to a lot of Christmas markets! The Lebkuchen are quick and easy
to make and keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container - by which time they'll have gone soft and chewy. Really delicious and worth the effort. Especially if you love ginger 🙂
I love Lebkuchen, but I'm not really into baking ... and I love ginger, so I buy mine at Lidl. Yes, I know .. but I love the glitter and all the light that Christmas brings. I will find out how the market is in Krakow in a weeks time. I love your post.
Looking forward to seeing your post about Krakow - it'll be so pretty at this time of year. Lots of lights, glitter and winter magic to see there. Enjoy 🙂
Thanks, Mrs Jones ... I hope so too .. the forecast isn't the best, but nothing I can do anything about. Had hoped for a white Christmas, but I have to pack my new all weather jacket instead. I promise I will enjoy myself and I'm sure there will be some posts about Krakow. Thank you!
Have a lovely time 🙂