German Cookies

These German cookies are an adaptation of a festive and easy bar cookie that my mom has made at Christmas for years. These flavorful spiced bars are made with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest and are packed with chopped pecans. They're magically both light and meringue-like, yet sturdy with a nice chew.

Some whole wheat flour in the dough provides additional flavor without feeling heavy. The bars are blanketed with an orange glaze that resembles patches of snow as it dries. Cut into a star pattern (or  squares), these are a simple and straightforward spice cookie that keeps very well.

The original recipe for these bars is from a 1960s edition of a Sunset Magazine "favorite recipes" compendium that my mom still has. Her handwritten notes say 1976 was the first year she baked them, and the fact that we make them still is a testament to their ease, reliability, and great taste.

The star shape (or snowflake, depending on your eye) of the bars was inspired by Joanne of Olive and Mango. She baked a cake that featured this pretty design, and I've been wanting to try something similar ever since.

It's a beautiful way to dress up a simple bar cookie recipe or cake. For reference, I shared a stop motion video demonstrating how to slice bar cookies into a star shape.

With holiday cookie season upon us, also try these German recipes for kokosmakronen (coconut macaroons) and nussecken (nut corners).

For more spice-forward recipes, there are also biscoff butter cookies, these triple ginger molasses cookies, and chocolate ginger cookies.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Recipe tips
• Frequently asked questions
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Ingredients

* See recipe card for detailed ingredients and quantities.

Brown sugar - Brown sugar helps keep these bars moist and chewy and gives them a deeper caramel taste.

Whole wheat flour - A bit of whole wheat flour adds a nutty, complex taste. It does absorb a bit of extra moisture, which creates a fairly thick dough. If you don't have whole wheat flour, feel free to replace it with the same amount of all purpose flour.

Cinnamon - A warming spice that adds a lovely holiday feel to these cookies.

Cloves - Ground cloves are the pulverized dried flower buds of the clove tree. They impart an intense and pungent flavor that always reminds me of winter baking.

Pecans - I recommend toasting the pecans in order to bring out their nutty flavor.

Orange zest - Wash your orange and use a microplane or fine toothed grater to zest the orange. Avoid grating the white pith as it adds a bitter taste.

Powdered sugar - Sift your powdered sugar to ensure there are no lumps in the glaze.

Orange juice - Freshly squeezed orange juice will provide the best, brightest citrus flavor for the glaze. Juice the orange that you zested for the cookie dough.

Instructions

• Preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Centigrade, Gas Mark 5). Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.
• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs and brown sugar. Beat until airy, light and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
• Add flours, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix until flour is fully incorporated and no dry streaks remain.
• Mix in the chopped pecans and orange zest.
• Pour the dough into the pan. It will be quite thick, and won't look like there's enough. Spread the dough to the edges of the pan, making sure there are no areas of the pan left bare.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes, until bars are just beginning to turn golden and the top has turned dull.
• While bars are baking, mix up the orange glaze. Combine the powdered sugar and orange juice. Whisk until you achieve a smooth, thin glaze.
• Immediately upon removing the bars from the oven, pour the glaze over the bars and spread with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to cover the entire top.

Substitutions

Whole wheat flour- The original recipe was written with all purpose flour. My mom adapted it to include a bit of whole wheat flour. I've made it both ways, and both are great. Feel free to substitute all purpose flour for the whole wheat if you don't have it in your pantry.

Pecans - You can substitute other nuts for the pecans (walnuts, chopped almonds, or hazelnuts come to mind). I wouldn't recommend omitting nuts completely as it will reduce the total quantity of dough.

Variations

• Spices - I enjoy the simplicity of the cinnamon and cloves here, but you can add additional spices if you wish. You might try adding ¼ to ½ teaspoon of ginger, allspice, nutmeg and/or cardamom.

• Add-ins - You could add a few tablespoons of chopped candied ginger for a bit of zing, or additional texture and flavor with ¼ to ⅓ cup dried cranberries.

Equipment

9 x 13 metal pan - This is my preferred brand of metal pan. The square corners will give you well defined, 90 degree edges on your bars rather than curved, slanted edges from glass. Straight edges are extra helpful if you want to cut the bar cookies into a decorative shape.

An important note about bakeware: glass and metal pans conduct heat differently. Glass bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and retains heat for longer once hot.

Using a glass pan without adjusting this recipe might result in overbaked edges, as the dough will take longer to cook, and then might bake too quickly towards the sides.

If you only have a glass pan, you may need to experiment with lowering the heat by 25 degrees Fahrenheit and baking for an additional 10 minutes. King Arthur Baking has visual examples of recipes tested using different pans here.

A small offset spatula makes spreading dough into the pan SO much easier.

Storage

These bars store well in an airtight container for up to a week.

For longer storage, they freeze beautifully in an airtight container as well. Place parchment paper between the layers to ensure they don't stick.

Recipe tips

Make sure your ground spices are fresh, especially if it's been a good while since you used them. Fresh spices make a world of difference. Store your spices in a well sealed container in a cool, dry location. Whole spices are usually fresh for around 2 years, while ground spices have a much shorter shelf life of around 6 months.

If you have the option to buy spices in bulk at your local grocery store, I encourage you to do so. Buying spices in bulk just means purchasing the amount you need from a larger container that the grocery store restocks frequently. (You won't go home with 3 pounds of cinnamon unless you really want to).

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