Recipe: Chocolate Pfeffernuesse

CHOCOLATE PFEFFERNUESSE
Source: Richard in Cincy
Makes about 70-80

Note from source: Here is one I make every year. I bake lots of German Christmas cookies and most of them require a long storage time to mellow before they are eaten. This makes them ideal since they can be baked well in advance of the holidays and pulled out when they are needed. If any of these make it to January, that's when they really start tasting good.

1 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses (not corn syrup)
1 cup light brown sugar, not packed
1/2 cup butter
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sifted dark cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. each of cinnamon and white pepper
1/2 tsp. mace
2 eggs
1/4 cup diced candied lemon peel
3/4 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
zest of 1 lemon
FOR DIPPING:
1 1/2 lbs. good semisweet chocolate

Combine honey, molasses, brown sugar, and butter in a heavy saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter melts and mix begins to bubble gently. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes.

In large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add eggs to honey mixture, pour at once into flour mixture. Stir to form a dough. Add candied lemon peel, almonds, and lemon zest; mix well. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 1 week.

TO SHAPE AND BAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets.

Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll into balls (use about a heaping teaspoons worth of dough to make 80 cookies). Place on greased baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes, or until done. Remove to racks to cool completely. Pack into air tight containers and store for at least 1 month.

TO FINISH:
Temper the chocolate (refer to Joy of Cooking-Chocolate, Coating and dipping). If you are in a hurry, you can melt the chocolate slowly and stir in 1 tsp. of shortening.

Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and tap excess off side of dipping bowl. I spear them from the back with a fondue fork, swirl them in the chocolate, then carefully place them backside down on wax paper to harden.

Store these for at least another week, preferably two. Then be prepared for one of the most sublime cookies you've ever tasted (IMHO).