How to Make a Springerle

Ingredients:

4-5 eggs, 220g without the shell
500g fine white flour (cake flour)
500g powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of cleaned and slightly roasted anise
If desired, add 1 tablespoon of cherry brandy

Beat the eggs and sugar well and extensively until the mixture turns into an airy crème.

Knead the anise and flour into it and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough, which is still slightly sticky, into four parts.

Once again lightly dust with flour so that the dough feels like silk and roll it out to a thickness of 8-10mm, which works best if you use our Dough Sticks (0009).

Now press the very finely dusted Springerle mold evenly into the dough, just sufficiently to fill the mold cavity.

Remove the mold and cut out the mold image with a suitable pastry, biscuit or cookie cutter.

Place the Springerle on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper. Let the Springerles dry for 12-24 hours, depending on size, in an undisturbed place with an even temperature and no draft.

Bake the Springerle at approx. 150-160ºC at the very bottom of the oven for about 12-15 minutes. The picture should stay quite white and the bottom should be slightly brown.

Thanks to the firmness that the dough gets through the drying, the lower portion of the Springerle rises when baked and creates the so-called "little feet".
"Anise cookies without little feet are a nuisance" according to a Swiss saying.
"Springerle that don't spring are not Springerle" according to a Swabian saying.

Perfect Springerle are soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. Just like everything else in life, the most important things are:

Time and love!

After several re-rollings of the dough scraps, the remaining dough may become too dry for molding. When that happens, you can still use it to make the traditional Swiss «Chräbeli».

Roll the remaining dough by hand until it is about 1 meter long and as thick as your finger.

Cut the rolled dough into log pieces about 5cm long.

Cut partial slices into the top of each little log in two or three places with a knife and slightly bend the little log into a crescent.

Place on a greased baking tray and let dry overnight.

Bake the «Chräbeli» at approx. 150-160ºC at the very bottom of the oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Just like the Springerle, the «Chräbeli» will also have little feet.

The «Chräbeli» should stay white on top and be very lightly browned on the bottom.

Perfect «Chräbeli» are soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. A genuine pleasure!