Honey-based gingerbread cookies are a Polish specialty. The city of Toruń is particularly known for their gingerbread cookies. The cookies date back to the Medieval times–I love them just for this reason! While Christmas-themed gingerbread cookies are made in our home during the holiday season, these cookies can be enjoyed anytime of year. Wedel is one brand that we been able to buy in our area. These cookies are usually filled with a fruit filling. The largest producer of gingerbread cookies is Kopernik.
The version I tried baking myself for the first time was during our trip to Poland for Christmas. I was pretty happy with them, though I think they were not as spicy as I would have liked. The cookies were a quickie version since I only had a day to make them. Since then, I’ve improved on the quickie version. Check this recipe out, especially if you are in a pinch. These cookies are a little more puffy and light:
Same Day Polish Gingerbread Cookies (Pierniczki).
A more traditional way of making the cookies requires caramelizing sugar and aging the cookie dough, which is what the recipe in this post is all about. It’s all well worth it. Since I first posted the recipe, I got great feedback from fellow bakers in the comment section. I’ve learned (and can confirm from my own baking) that the recipe works with gluten-free baking flour, so I’ve updated the recipe with that option! Also, I’ve improved on the spice combination.
Following is the recipe, after which are step-by-step illustrated instructions. See you after the recipe!
| Servings |
cookies
|
- 1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk or hot water (or lemon or orange juice) [more may be necessary to reach the desired consistency]
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional) [pairs with milk or hot water option above]
Ingredients
For Glaze
|
|
- In a medium saucepan, caramelize 1/4 cup of the sugar by heating it on medium-high heat until sugar melts. Swirl but do not stir to ensure even heating. Heat until sugar changes to a light amber color. Stir in honey and butter and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.
- While the honey mixture is cooling, sift together flour, cocoa powder, spices, and baking powder. When the honey mixture is warm to the touch, transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer. On low speed, mix flour mixture into honey mixture. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and remaining 1/4 cup sugar, about 3 minutes. Mix into the flour/honey mixture.
- In a small bowl, mix together baking soda and milk. Mix into the flour/honey/egg mixture until well-combined. Briefly knead dough on counter until smooth. Transfer dough to a stoneware or glass container and cover. Let stand in a cool place for at least 24 hours and up to 7 days. [Alternatively, wrap dough in plastic wrap, place in Ziploc bag, and store in refrigerator.]
- Preheat oven to 390°F (200°C). Remove dough from refrigerator or other cold location. Roll out a portion of cold dough to about 1/4 of an inch (5-6mm). Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 7 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Repeat for the remainder of the dough.
- Make the glaze: Stir together the confectioner's sugar, milk (or hot water or lemon or orange juice), corn syrup (if using), and almond extract (if using) until smooth. Add more confectioner's sugar if too runny or add more liquid if too thick; however, note that mixture should be rather thick. Using a pastry brush, cover the tops of each cookie with glaze. Let glaze harden before serving or storing. Store in air-tight container at room temperature for up to a month.
* For spicier and more flavorful cookies, it is recommended to add more cinnamon (1 teaspoon), as well as some ground pepper (1/8 teaspoon) and 3/4 teaspoon each of ground cardamom and coriander.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
To make this version, I first had to caramelize the sugar. In the photo below, I’m in the process of doing that. You have to keep an eye on the sugar because it can burn easily. You also shouldn’t stir it, but instead swirl the pot to ensure even heating. As you can see below, I fell behind in my swirling since some of the sugar wasn’t even melted, yet the melted sugar was already amber-colored! It all turned out OK though.
After caramelization of the sugar was complete, I added the honey and butter and stirred until fully incorporated.
The mixture then had to cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, I sifted together the flour, cocoa powder, spices, and baking powder.
Using a standing electric mixer on the slowest speed, I mixed the flour mixture into the honey mixture until well-combined.
Off to the side, I separately beat the eggs and remaining sugar together. Then I mixed the egg mixture into the dough.
The dough came together nicely.
I “dissolved” baking soda in some milk (it doesn’t really dissolve). Then I mixed it into the dough until fully incorporated. I kneaded the dough a little bit by hand and then put it in a stoneware pot, which I placed in a cool spot for a few days. The dough was a little sticky, but not much. The container I used had a lid, so that came in handy. Tying a cloth over top is another option. I was afraid the dough would form a crust if I did it that way though, so I opted for a stoneware pot with a lid.
After about 3 days, I was ready to roll out the dough–I didn’t have time to wait a full week. I thought I would need to flour my counter so that the dough wouldn’t stick when being rolled out, but I was wrong! In fact, the flour I used on the counter in the photo below had to be cleaned off as it was getting in the way of proper rolling.
The dough didn’t stick to the counter at all. It was so easy to roll out, cut out shapes, and peel off the counter. No chilling or flouring necessary!!
Stars are a typical shape for Polish Christmas gingerbread cookies, but I tried out other shapes as well.
Out of the oven the gingerbread stars came. They made the house smell so good!!
After the cookies cooled, I brushed on a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze, let the glaze harden, and them stored the cookies in one of those festive-looking metal Christmas cookie containers.
These are the kind of cookies that taste better with age. The cookies have a somewhat mild spicy taste, despite what I thought was a heavy load of spices that I put into them. Nevertheless, they are tender and delicious. Well worth the time and effort! My next gingerbread project will be to try out making Toruń-style gingerbread cookies. . . .
20 Comments
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My late father used to make these every Christmas so I’m going to make them now to your recipe which looks like the real thing.
Oh wow! I hope it comes close to your father’s. If he made the puffy kind of pierniczki, you might want to check out another recipe on the site, called Same-Day Polish Honey-Gingerbread Cookies. It’s at this link https://hollytrail.com/2018/12/29/same-day-polish-honey-gingerbread-cookies-pierniczki/. Merry Christmas!–Ania
A couple things. First the recipe sounds great and I’ll be making the dough later today. Second, thank you for the reasonable, and well thought out, lay out. I hate it when I go to a site to look at a recipe and I have to scroll through a 10-15 page story and 15 pages of instructions before ever coming across the ingredients list.
Thanks for your feedback–it’s much appreciated. I want to add that if you are interested in Polish Gingerbread cookies that have a puffier and smoother texture/mouthfeel (more like the kind they sell nowadays), I suggest looking into another recipe on the blog – Same-Day Polish Honey Gingerbread Cookies. There is a third type I have in the works which has an even smoother texture (it has sour cream in the dough). One of these days, I plan on comparing three different gingerbread recipes and maybe even doing a video on it. It’s interesting how slight changes to a base recipe affect the end result. And which is better is an individual thing. Thanks again for your comment and hope all goes well with your baking!
We made this using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour. The dough was so easy to work with, unlike many other gluten free recipes. Thank you for the recipe.
That’s great to hear! I’ll need to try it with this gluten free flour this Christmas – I had no idea it would work with this recipe. Thanks so much for your feedback!
How much butter do I use? It says 11 tablespoons, but in parenthesis it says one 4 oz stick + 3 tablespoons, which would be 7 tablespoons total. Which is it? 11 or 7? I used 11 tablespoons, and the dough was so greasy after I mixed it all together and set to chill. Will the dough absorb the butter as it chills? I’m thinking I should have gone with the 7 tablespoons… help!
I figured it out—I did 11 ounces of butter, not 11 tablespoons of butter. My butter is pooling at the bottom of my container as it cools/rests in the fridge. If I bake the cookies, will they burn because of too much butter?
Hi! Sorry this happened! I think in an effort to be more descriptive, I ended up being more confusing. I think the cookies might end up being hard to roll out and cut into shapes and might be very delicate (and greasy) when baking. One thing to do would be to take out the dough, and clean out the pooled butter, and then put the dough back in. Another thought was to do that plus knead in some more flour (plus maybe 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ginger) until it doesn’t feel greasy. Like maybe up to a 1/2 cup of flour?–Ania
I tested it out—some of the butter pooled and cooled at the bottom of the container, so I just picked it off the dough. Then, to test it, I took a small chunk of dough and sat it on counter for 30 minutes to warm up. I was able to roll it, and cut it, and bake it. Beautiful result! I don’t think it changed the cookie at all. Absolutely delicious. We dunked in chai tea and it was beautiful. I’m so thankful it still worked, and fairly shocked too because it was double the butter. The honey flavor was unbelievably delicious. Also—I used gluten free flour, and the texture was just perfect. It did not change the chemistry of the recipe to make it gluten free. I make my own blend of gluten free flour because I do so much baking for my family. It is similar to King Arthur GF all purpose flour, for other GF bakers, FYI. I’ve been researching the history of gingerbread, and even watched a documentary on it, and have wanted to try these Polish “honey cookies” that have become “gingerbread”. Thanks for the traditional recipe!
Marvelous! Thanks for letting me know what steps you took and how the cookies turned out. Glad they turned out well–what a relief! I’m also glad that you’ve shared your GF info. I want to make a batch of GF as a gift this holiday season and am doubly excited that GF works for this recipe. Kudos to you for making your own GF blend. Thanks again for sharing your experience!
When putting the dough in a “cool spot”, do you mean just leaving it out at room temp? Or should I put the dough in the fridge? I want to make sure I do it the right way before I make these! I’m super excited 🙂
Hi! Great question. “Cool spot” can be either the refrigerator or a very cold room. It needs to be quite a bit colder than room temperature. The old recipes just say cold spot though! For the batch I made depicted in the blog post, I put it in a really cold room that we have in the house and it worked out fine–the room probably goes down to 50F. To be safe since the recipe has raw egg in it, you might want to opt for the refrigerator if you don’t have a super cold room. Hope it all works out well for you!
I was disappointed with my results. I followed instructions exactly and I found the flavor to be fairly bland. They wouldn’t hold a stamp pattern. At 1/4” thick, even seven minutes was considerably too short of a cooking time and they ended up very cakey. May try again with a few modifications.
I’m so sorry you were disappointed with the results! I wanted to address the issues you raised, and hope my thoughts are helpful. On holding a stamp pattern, I don’t think this recipe would work for that. I haven’t found a Polish-style cookie recipe that would be successful at holding a stamp pattern even though it looks like centuries ago, that is how the cookie recipe turned out. I think they used rye flour, which may be one factor – I’m still searching for the kind of cookie recipe you are talking about. In my family, we prefer the puffy pierniczki (like the ones produced by Wedel), so this cookie recipe is more in line with that type of cookie, but not quite as puffy; it’s somewhere in between. You may want to try Belgian Speculoos spice cookies (check out 196 Flavors Website) if you are looking for a recipe and technique for a cookie that will hold a stamp pattern. In terms of bland flavor, you may be happier with the spice combination in my other recipe for pierniczki posted on the blog: 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; dash of ground pepper (about 1/8 teaspoon); 1 teaspoon ground cardamom [if not using, add allspice instead]; 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed (optional) [if not using, add extra ginger]; 1 teaspoon ground anise seed (optional). Anise seed and pepper do a lot to pump up the flavor, so I suggest adding those two spices, but more cloves may also be needed. About the baking time, I wonder if it’s dependent on the oven, but it might also be about the texture you are looking for. (In either case, I will check it out so thanks for raising the issue). If you want a stiffer, crispier cookie, the baking time should be longer, but I don’t think this recipe works for that kind of cookie texture. These cookies are supposed to be somewhat cakey. When I bake them, I tend to stress out at the oven because if I take them out too early, they are raw, if too late, they aren’t as tasty. I have a similar experience with chocolate chip cookies! I hope my answers help. Thanks so much for your feedback and I hope you find the right texture you are looking for!
Based on comments I’ve received and my experimentation this week, I’ve updated the recipe to increase the variety of spices (anise is a key addition) and clarified that the dough can be placed in the refrigerator for aging. I’ve also updated the glaze proportions and ingredients. I received feedback that there wasn’t enough glaze, it was too thick and dry, and the glaze loses its luster and appears cracked after drying. This is because the sugar crystallizes once dry and set. To help slow down the sugar crystallization process, I suggest adding some light corn syrup (e.g., Karo brand). It’s not the high fructose corn syrup that has a bad reputation, so no worries there. I was thinking about another option – honey. I haven’t tried that yet, but will report back when I do. So adding a little corn syrup to the glaze should minimize the problem. Also, I’m happy to report that the recipe works with a stamp pattern (or at least an uncomplicated stamp pattern). It turns out I was using the stamping gadget incorrectly! My daughter was able to do it successfully. I hope to update the post with some photos soon. And last thing, these cookies aren’t really complete or great tasting without the glaze, so be sure to glaze them!
I love the dough’s rolling/cutting/transfer and perfect shape retaining properties, and yet it actually stays soft texture and has a very good spiced flavor (even raw) after the baking, but I wonder if it could suffer a touch more SODIUM CHLORIDE in the taste? No salt and unsalted butter adds to a lighter flavor/texture profile somehow reminiscent of Barnum and Bailey Animal Crackers (which is nice) but I don’t know if that means anything to you because you could have never encountered that product if you never had them before.
I guess what I am trying to say is this recipe actually rocks (👍) but would it spoil something else to increase the saltiness a little?
I followed the instructions closely and aged my dough 7 days, and while the dough was a bit stiffer in the mixing process compared to your photos, I truly am very pleased with the overall outcomes!
Thanks so much for your feedback about your experience making the cookies and your suggestion about adding salt. You raise a great point that reveals something curious about Polish baking. Many years ago, I was shocked to learn from my Polish mother-in-law that they (Polish home bakers) never add salt to sweet doughs and batters, only to savory. I checked out several Polish cookbooks–both old and slightly more recent–and sure enough, I didn’t see salt in the recipes for traditional baked desserts! I am not sure why they take this no salt approach, but I noticed that Polish desserts are much less sweet and intense flavored than American desserts–maybe because of the lack of salt? I haven’t tried to bake these cookies with some salt, but I suspect that using salt will not cause problems with the dough, so it’s worth a try if you’d like a more intense flavor. Cheers!
I used Kerrygold unsalted Irish butter. It has a slightly higher fat content than the average brands of standard unsalted butter.
I also used Jumbo eggs. So who knows if these factors reduced the net salt factor in flavor.
Happy Christmas!
In reading most comments, I wonder if most are of a Central or Eastern European background? I ask because all things there are and will be different in taste, texture, and methods used. For example, what cookie recipe calls for you to ferment a cookie dough? Every Polish recipe I have read reads:”The longer you let it sit, the better the tastes!” When was the last time pepper was used as an ingredient in a chocolate chip cookie? Never! Show me a cookie recipe that your mom made that says “Sit!”and uses pepper! Fruitcake does not count as Polish Fruitcake is very different from the traditional English “seasoned” one, I admit I love. Be open to new ideas, textures and tastes. Oh, the traditional Polish recipe uses 200g butter=8 Tablespoons.