First, I am overjoyed that you made my recipe and I'm so glad that you liked them. Next, they are supposed to be smaller and a bit harder, mom said that they're supposed to last a while and you can dunk them in coffee to soften them up.
In Holland we have "Pepernoten" also literally translated to Pepper Nuts. They can be small round hard little cookies or small (1 inch) soft squares. My husband's Dutch grandfather was a baker and he used to bake them around Sinterklaas (December 5) every year. His recipe came from his grandfather who was also a baker. The ingredients are quite different from those you have used, but if you would like the recipe I would be happy (and proud) to provide it.
Peppernuts are often known by their German name, "pfefferneusse." They're a German cookie that also shows up in Pennsylvania Dutch and Mennonite communities' cuisines. They tend to show up in German households around Christmas.
Not surprisingly Peppernuts or Pebernødder also crops up in Denmark. The recipe I use have pepper, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon. So more than just pepper.
I grew up in a Danish-American family in the northwest. Danish Pebbernødder were spiced with pepper, along with cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. The dough was rolled the size of a pencil and cut into small chunks. They are a part of a traditional cookie tray at Christmas.
I grew up in the midwestern US in an area with German and Mennonite communities. Peppernuts (or pfeffernuse) were very common during the holidays. This recipe is quite different from what I know as a peppernut without anise or the other warming spices and white pepper. Our dough was always stiff enough to roll into ropes and cut almost like making gnocchi.
I Thought I had Never heard of this cookie UNTIL - You called it by it's proper Name = " Pfeffernuse " - Then I was Like - Yup - Not exactly right, but looked delicious .. Young Katie did a fine job writing in & I'm glad Glen Made Shared them..
That's the same when we make them here in Denmark (the Danish name is pebernødder). And we usually make them way smaller; the ropes are finger thick, and then cut into 1.5-2 cm thick rounds
That is the kind my Michigan-nice (ie, extra nice) neighbor shares during the holidays. Hers, surprisingly, have no pepper. I love the warming spices AND pepper, so I’m good to go either way.
My grandma’s family were Mennonite and she made these with cinnamon, cloves, sometimes nutmeg and sometimes white pepper if she had it. She always put grated lemon peel in as well.
Greetings from another Minnesotan! I'm in Minneapolis, about 2 hours from Katie. Glen, you did not make the cookies "wrong." You probably/possibly made them differently. The only "wrong" cookie is an inedible one. The ingredients on my Kari Light (clear) Corn Syrup are: corn syrup, salt, vanilla (vanilla beans, water, ethyl alcohol).
Wonderful Day when you receive a handwritten letter. Awesome when a recipe is included. Happy Dance. Thank you for sharing with everyone. Looking forward to making them soon. 😀
In another video recently, they seemed to have sweaters with the same pattern. It's the sweater that Glen's wearing in this one and Julie had one that seemed to coordinate with Glen's. Knitters notice everything!!
Did anyone else watch this and immediately say "Holy cow, that's a lot of corn syrup!" lol These sound delicious, and I love seeing new ways to work with pepper.
That is so cool. Those peppernuts only seem to be very loosely similar to German "Pfeffernüsse". The traditional German versions are more like (German) gingerbread and mostly do not contain pepper, but other oriental spices. And supposedly, pepper never really was an important ingredient of them, but in the middle ages oriental spices in general were called "Pfeffer" in German. And of course, there is quite some variety of quite different versions of them in Germany. Also, what is common and maybe even regarded as necessary for these kinds of christmassy cookies is to never eat them right after baking, but to let them rest in a box for at least 2 weeks. One, that is supposed to be important for the flavour, two, it definitely changes the consistency. So the German "Pfeffernüsse" usually are a bit harder than the usual German gingerbread, but also I would say, you would start with rather hard cookies that over time get softer and chewy in the box - much like gingerbread. It is cool, that in North America those cookies became their own separated tradition.
For the Karo syrups, the Karo Dark is closer to the Beehive brand in ingredients, where the Light Karo Syrup is the one that contains vanilla. So the Crown brand you showed is closer to a mixture of the Light and Dark Karo. I honestly would like the addition of a bit of vanilla.
I made something similar recently, from a Scandinavian recipe, it’s really interesting to see how recipes travel the world! The stuff I read on it was that pepper wasn’t originally an ingredient, (they just called a lot of spices pepper) but later on was added as a result of long misunderstanding! Traditionally it’d have cardamom, nutmeg and your general warming spices. Definitely supposed to be smaller, you probably needed more flour
In Norway the spices in the recipe for pepper nuts and pepper cookies can vary a bit from recipie to recipie. But most recipies have cinamon, ginger or/and cloves and sometimes pepper.
The recipe I know, from Denmark, is with clove, cinnamon and a tiny amount of pepper. And almonds and candied cedrat. Rolled into ropes 15mm diameter (19/32"), cut into 15mm lengths and baked till hard / brittle. Lots of variations!!
Oh, I'm adding this to my repertoire! And while I'm at it, I'll experiment with various other spices added such as cinnamon/clove/ginger. I also think a cheese/peppernut might be interesting.
My mother and grandmother used to make these. When my grandmother made them, she dipped them in a plain icing. Mother would shake them in a bag of powered sugar. They also had course ground pecans in them.
This is very different from the pfeffernüße recipe I use that has honey, molasses & lebkuchengewürz. Certainly not saying anything is wrong with that, but it's fascinating how recipes mutate over time!
I have a cookbook that has a chapter on cookies and then an entire chapter on peppernuts. Because not only does everyone have a different version of what a peppernut is, but everyone insists that theirs is the proper way to make them, and the author obviously didn't want to offend anyone. (She also was trying to make an archive, so the different styles needed to be represented.)
Kudos for reusing the parchment. I do love the stuff, but I find it problematic to use something so disposable so I use it several times. And I love pfefferneusse.
It's funny where are grandparents and great parent grandparents used black pepper. My grandma and I'm almost 68 was born in 1900 and she used between 1/8 and 1/4 of teaspoon of coarse ground only fresh black pepper along with the other spices in her apple pie it was amazing it just did something to the pie
The amount of flour required can vary due to seasonal humidity and processing. My paternal grandmother would flour her hands if she was shaping a cookie ball recipe, but cookie scoops (a later culinary innovation) work just as well. Her recipe had allspice (Jamaican pepper).
My grandmother made these every Christmas. I haven't had one since the 1970's, I was wanting to make them last year, but couldn't not remember the name or even how to begin to look up a recipe. I think she called them by their German name. She also rolled them in powdered sugar with more pepper in it to finish them. They were small and crunchy but had a soft interior.
Refrigerate the dough for easy rolling into little balls, then press them down slightly with a fork to make an imprint resembling a walnut or pecan. We had fun doing it as kids...My Grandma's we're crunchy with a sort of chewy soft center. Very similar to the texture of a nut. Scrumptious!
My brother-in-law makes a rolled chocolate cookie with pepper, which is a favorite with all our friends and everyone in the family, including me, and I don't even care about chocolate. I would never had thought of pepper in sweet foods, but now I know better! Pepper is good with strawberries, too.
After your video we made these based on listed ingredients, except before adding pepper, SWMBO split the dough in half. 1/2 Black pepper, other half was ginger, clove, cardimen, allspice, nutmeg, & Cinnamon. Both versions very good. Visited a friend, who like lemon so made a simple stiff frosting of 1 part lemon juice to 2 parts powdered suger to stick 2 flat cookies together. Another great recipe, thank you.
Oh wow, I grew up with these but I didn't know until I read the comments! I had never heard the English name. Now I want some and might have to enlist my 90-year-old mother to help me out.
Cool variation. You gotta make Chef John’s version of Pfeffernussen. Interesting technique. No butter and no creaming and more spices, plus a lemon flavoured glaze that is killer.
There are two kinds of Karo: dark and light. Light has a little vanilla flavoring. Dark is comparable to beehive. Neither have high fructose corn syrup. Katie: thank you for the recipe! I’ve never heard of these cookies. I will be making them soon.
They look lovely i bet they would also be good with cardamom as it is a lemony peppery flavored spice. I always do these kind of cookies by teaspoon sized drops of dough. They look like a lovely tea/coffee dunking type of cookie.
My Grandma used to make these but I didn't remember that she called them peppernuts. She made them really small, about the size of a peanut. I never had the patience to make a batch of them, but I LOVED eating them.
Several friends make these and they are all native Minnesotans, now living in Minneapolis but originally from up north in Duluth, they are very tiny, rolled into ropes and cut and crunchy
Katie, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with all of us. And thanks to Glen for making them here on the channel. I am wondering if Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup would work?
Do you remember what was in it? There were a few recipes we tried to get like my German Grandfather said his mother made, but could never get the seasoning correct.
@@joantrotter3005a while ago I saw a recipe for Peppernuts for the first time. Unfortunately, I cannot recall where. But I did record the spice blend. Not sure if it comes anywhere near what you are looking for ... 1 tsp cardamom, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp anise, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp white pepper. I would blend these spices together and use whatever total " spice" quantity you have used in your cookie recipe. I suspect that this is a modern take on the flavours, but it sounded interesting.
The name peppernut makes me think of Christmas and eating Peppernotten. Little walnut sized cookies that taste suspiciously like Voortman Windmill Cookies with black pepper.
This is very different from what I think of as peppernuts in Norway. They are more like small rounded gingerbread cookies and contains other spices in addition to pepper, often cloves and star anise. Also, I'm used to not creaming the butter and sugar, but heating the syrup, sugar, cream, spices and salt in a pan and then adding the flour and baking soda to that.
Pfeffernüsse - it is an American version of the German classic. Use honey instead of corn syrup and add some more spices to the black pepper - muskat, anis, ginger, ... and you have the German version. Cover with sugar glaze to get hard outer shell (nut) while retaining the soft and moist cookie inside.
Glen, if you want to try a Norwegian recipie from a 1965 cookbook for pepper nuts, I will try to translate it: 1dl=100ml ts=teaspoon Syrup most likely is golden from cane or beet. The lemon and almond would be essence or extract. I think the amount of hartshorn is to small to affect the taste, so baking powder probably can be used. This recipie is for about 150 nuts. 250g syrup (ca 1-3/4dl) 200g sugar (ca 2-1/4dl) 125g butter 1-1/2 ts ginger 1-1/2 ts coriander 1 ts cloves 1 ts pepper 5 droplets lemon 5 droplets almond 2 small eggs 1/2 ts hartshorn/powdered baking ammonia 500g flour (ca8-1/4dl) Method Bring the syrup and sugar to a boil. Pour over the butter. Add spices and essences. Whip the eggs. Sift the flour mixed with the hartshorn and the eggs in the syrup/butter mix, alternating. Mix swift to combine to a dough. Rest for a few hours a cool place. Roll small balls and press a bit flat(press gently I'm thinking). Bake at 175 celsius for 8-10min.
It has been decades since I’ve heard the name “Peppernuts.” My great Grandmother used to always have these in a tin when we visited. It is the only place/time I’ve ever seen and/or had them. They were the size of your thumb (pecan-sized) and very very hard. I never considered them a cookie...just Great Grandmother’s treats. I do remember it was an odd taste (for a child) as I was only 5 or 6 when I first tried them. I do recall that they were dusted with a white substance (likely powdered sugar). My Great Grandmother was an immigrant from Germany from the 19th Century (post-civil war). These should not be soft and/or chewy. You have piqued my interest so I need to go search for the recipe. I always enjoy your channel. Thanks for sharing.
So on the farm we had these with the same name, but with cinnamon, anise and ginger...funny how recipes differ either way, I love how these get passed down generations...need to it keep em going !
Karo is regular corn syrup, and the light corn syrup does contain vanilla flavor. Only their maple-flavored pancake syrup contains HFCS. In the United States, high-fructose corn syrup isn’t readily available for consumers to buy. It’s typically only sold to industry in 5-gallon containers (or bigger).
In the Netherlands we call these Pepernoten (which means exactly the same) and they are almost always soft like how you made them. They are traditionally eaten around the feast of Sinterklaas (December 5th), which is a germanic version of Santa Claus.
Danish pebernødder (literally translates to pepper nuts) are much smaller than these, not even a quarter of the size, they're almost round and not at all flat, and they're definitely meant to be very crunchy
Glen look up pfeffernusse cookies “pepper nut cookies” very common in Kansas which had a lot of German settlers. You cookie probably came from this German cookie. I’ve never seen a black pepper Used in this cookie. Roll the dough in a thin 1/4 inch rope and cut thumb size pieces. going to try your version because I don’t like anise flavor they add they added to other warm spices
Was surprised they actually have pepper in them. From the title I thought it would be something like the Dutch Pepernoten which have nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and aniseed. I wonder if this recipe is the origin of those?
Fantastic recipe Katie, thank you for sharing it..! Great job as usual Glenn, we live about an hour and a half west of Cairo, Georgia where Kayro ("Kay-row") syrup originated..
Glen have you ever thought about publishing a cook book of your favorite old recipes from your cook book collection, and maybe some of the more interesting ones your viewers have sent in to you? I bet you could write a whole book yourself about how recipe formats and measurements have changed over the years, you probably have already done all the research you would need to do from making your videos.
In Wisconsin we call these Pfeffernuse a traditional Christmas cookie. My Grandma made these every year. Grandma's did not have the cream, not as much corn syrup, did have anise & sometimes caraway seeds.
My bottle of Karo Light Corn Syrup says "With Real Vanilla" right on the front. And the ingredients are Corn Syrup, Salt, Vanilla. I would assume if it was HFCS it would have to say that on the label somewhere. So there you go! Great Grandma's Peppernuts look really good and I will be trying them this weekend! 😃
As a German (from the Rhineland) - all the peppernuts I can remember eating were soft, and coated in a sugar glazing. But then again, my (quite extended) family doesn't have any peppernut recipes - they all make a bunch of other cookie types for Christmas. And yeah, they're very much considered a Christmas kinda deal here. So long story short: I *think* that I only every ate "industrially produced" peppernuts (like, I bought them in supermarkets). Which, naturally, means they were homogenized for all markets (regional differences matter _a lot_ in Germany, not only when it comes to food), and not nearly as tasty as the home-made stuff. I'm actually intrigued by the idea of peppernut flavor in a crumbly biscuit.
For those interested, per the ingredients on the side of the bottle, Karo Dark Corn Syrup: (No High Fructose Corn Syrup): Corn syrup, Refiner's syrup, Caramel flavor, Salt, Sodium Benzoate (To protect quality), Caramel color. So Dark Karo has a bit of flavoring added, but it is caramel instead of the vanilla in the syrup used here.
right...they're supposed to contain spices like cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, mace, and anise. not JUST black pepper. personally, i can't see why you'd only use black pepper....
This is also known as the German Mennonite cookie PFEFFERNUSSE. They would roll the dough in a log thin roll. The cookie was about the size of a button. I remember the recipe made dozens of cookies.
Although Mennonite pfeffernusse have the same name as these ones, the Mennonite type is more like Dutch cookies called pepernoten or kruidnoten. I recently made a "small" batch which made 320 little cookies.
My grandmother had a very similar recipe, but used peppermint instead of black pepper. A completely different taste! She also made them the size of quarters, and not as big as you did here.
Since this is from Minnesota I assume it is a recipe from Scandinaivian immigrants, that means they are supposed to be crunchy and crumbly. Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter are small halfdome teaspoon size cookies made for Christmas. It is sort of a variation on Gingerbread. They are also extremely popular in the Netherlands where they are called Kruidnoten, in english Spicenuts. Supermarkets there sell them in crazy amounts for the late autumn and Christmas season.
Almost correct. We Dutch have both pepernoten and kruidnoten, not the same thing. Although many mistakenly call both pepernoten. If the half dome cookies are crunchy they are similar to kruidnoten. The pepernoten are chewy and are a bit like lebkuchen.
@@MaltAndPepper I am not sure what you mean by almost correct. I know from experince that Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter and Kruidnoten are the respective countries version of the same type of cookie. Recipes can of course vary a little, but basically what you are looking for is a small domed crunchy thing. I was referencing these because Glen said he had seen people disagreeing if Pepernuts should be soft or crunchy. As Minnesota, where this recipe was from, has a high proportion of people with Scandinavian ancestry I am assuming that it is the Scandinavian version of this little cookie that is the starting point. The Dutch Pepernoten, while having a name that directly translates to Pepernuts, would not have anything to do with what is called Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter, also directly translated into Pepernuts, in Scandinavia. Possibly confusion between the Dutch Pepernoten which are soft as you say and the Scandinavian Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter which are crunchy is what leads to North America not being able to decided what is what.
peppermints are a Christmas tradition for my family (Manitoba Mennonite). I have such a strong emotional attachment to them, despite not actually liking them that much.. Regarding shape/size: the ones my mom makes are much smaller. She rolls the dough into snakes about a cm in diameter and cuts them into little disks from there. Baked until crunchy. You suck on them more than chew.
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First, I am overjoyed that you made my recipe and I'm so glad that you liked them.
Next, they are supposed to be smaller and a bit harder, mom said that they're supposed to last a while and you can dunk them in coffee to soften them up.
Thanks, Danielle, Katie, and family! I've long wanted to try peppernuts. 😋💜🍪☕📝
@@shastahill You're welcome. I hope you enjoy them if you make them. :-)
Seeing the handwriting I suppose the letter was written by a young child. It's adorable. So I assume Katie is your daughter/niece/cousin?
@@Jeffffrey0902 Nope. It's me. :-) and thanks for saying my handwriting is adorable.
@@TherealDanielleNelson Silly me!🤣Anyway, thank you for sharing your family's recipe.
In Holland we have "Pepernoten" also literally translated to Pepper Nuts. They can be small round hard little cookies or small (1 inch) soft squares. My husband's Dutch grandfather was a baker and he used to bake them around Sinterklaas (December 5) every year. His recipe came from his grandfather who was also a baker. The ingredients are quite different from those you have used, but if you would like the recipe I would be happy (and proud) to provide it.
I will never lose my love with pen and paper! I'm 36 and still strongly dislike most social media, and that people think digital is king.
Close the syrup bottle, hold it by the bottom and do a Pete Townsend windmill for about 15 seconds. Then you have enough!
You can also run the bottle under hot water, or put it in the microwave for a few seconds - I'm generally not a fan of microwaving plastics though....
Ha ha! You should see what I did to my honey bear when microwaving for 10 seconds! 😂
Peppernuts are often known by their German name, "pfefferneusse." They're a German cookie that also shows up in Pennsylvania Dutch and Mennonite communities' cuisines. They tend to show up in German households around Christmas.
I've heard of pfefferneusse although I've never had them. Never heard of peppernuts before this video.
These are not spicy enough to be called pffeffernusse by anyone with German heritage 🙃
Not surprisingly Peppernuts or Pebernødder also crops up in Denmark. The recipe I use have pepper, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon. So more than just pepper.
That’s why this seems so familiar! My mother (or my grandmother or my aunt - haha) made these.
These are not pfefferneusse as I know them. Don't pfefferneusse have anise in them? And more spice than just pepper.
I grew up in a Danish-American family in the northwest. Danish Pebbernødder were spiced with pepper, along with cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. The dough was rolled the size of a pencil and cut into small chunks. They are a part of a traditional cookie tray at Christmas.
WOW! Communicating with lined paper. Katie might be setting a trend. Go Katie Go!
I grew up in the midwestern US in an area with German and Mennonite communities. Peppernuts (or pfeffernuse) were very common during the holidays. This recipe is quite different from what I know as a peppernut without anise or the other warming spices and white pepper. Our dough was always stiff enough to roll into ropes and cut almost like making gnocchi.
I Thought I had Never heard of this cookie UNTIL - You called it by it's proper Name = " Pfeffernuse " - Then I was Like - Yup - Not exactly right, but looked delicious .. Young Katie did a fine job writing in & I'm glad Glen Made Shared them..
That's the same when we make them here in Denmark (the Danish name is pebernødder). And we usually make them way smaller; the ropes are finger thick, and then cut into 1.5-2 cm thick rounds
My mother was German and the Pfeffernuse she made with white pepper and other spices,and ground nuts but no butter.
That is the kind my Michigan-nice (ie, extra nice) neighbor shares during the holidays. Hers, surprisingly, have no pepper. I love the warming spices AND pepper, so I’m good to go either way.
This is the way I make them. They turn out crisp and crunchy and will keep for eons...
Based on the title, I wasn't expecting a cookie 😄 Thank you to Katie for sharing a much loved heirloom family recipe. I look forward to trying them.
My grandma’s family were Mennonite and she made these with cinnamon, cloves, sometimes nutmeg and sometimes white pepper if she had it. She always put grated lemon peel in as well.
I love the rare letter in the mail! Thanks, Katie, for sharing your family recipe.
Greetings from another Minnesotan! I'm in Minneapolis, about 2 hours from Katie.
Glen, you did not make the cookies "wrong." You probably/possibly made them differently. The only "wrong" cookie is an inedible one.
The ingredients on my Kari Light (clear) Corn Syrup are: corn syrup, salt, vanilla (vanilla beans, water, ethyl alcohol).
Wonderful Day when you receive a handwritten letter. Awesome when a recipe is included. Happy Dance. Thank you for sharing with everyone. Looking forward to making them soon. 😀
Love your fair isle sweater Julie. Thank you Glenn and Katie for making my day a whole lot happier 😊
In another video recently, they seemed to have sweaters with the same pattern. It's the sweater that Glen's wearing in this one and Julie had one that seemed to coordinate with Glen's. Knitters notice everything!!
Neat! I'm going to try these with ginger and clove for a chai masala cookie.
Love Glen rocking the CBC logo on his hat.
Did anyone else watch this and immediately say "Holy cow, that's a lot of corn syrup!" lol These sound delicious, and I love seeing new ways to work with pepper.
It honestly doesn't seem to be any more sugar than the cups of white and brown sugar other cookie recipes call for.
That is so cool. Those peppernuts only seem to be very loosely similar to German "Pfeffernüsse". The traditional German versions are more like (German) gingerbread and mostly do not contain pepper, but other oriental spices. And supposedly, pepper never really was an important ingredient of them, but in the middle ages oriental spices in general were called "Pfeffer" in German. And of course, there is quite some variety of quite different versions of them in Germany.
Also, what is common and maybe even regarded as necessary for these kinds of christmassy cookies is to never eat them right after baking, but to let them rest in a box for at least 2 weeks. One, that is supposed to be important for the flavour, two, it definitely changes the consistency. So the German "Pfeffernüsse" usually are a bit harder than the usual German gingerbread, but also I would say, you would start with rather hard cookies that over time get softer and chewy in the box - much like gingerbread.
It is cool, that in North America those cookies became their own separated tradition.
My grandmother made these too, and I do remember them being smaller, but as long as they are delicious she would approve of yours Glen.
For the Karo syrups, the Karo Dark is closer to the Beehive brand in ingredients, where the Light Karo Syrup is the one that contains vanilla. So the Crown brand you showed is closer to a mixture of the Light and Dark Karo. I honestly would like the addition of a bit of vanilla.
Always wanted to try these.
You're going to get inundated with more family recipes in the mail. That'll be fun!
That letter was the cutest thing I've seen all day
Ok... this is going on my list of things to try. I love the use of pepper in a "sweet".
I made something similar recently, from a Scandinavian recipe, it’s really interesting to see how recipes travel the world!
The stuff I read on it was that pepper wasn’t originally an ingredient, (they just called a lot of spices pepper) but later on was added as a result of long misunderstanding! Traditionally it’d have cardamom, nutmeg and your general warming spices.
Definitely supposed to be smaller, you probably needed more flour
Usually you toss them in lemon juice and icing sugar to coat as well.
In Norway the spices in the recipe for pepper nuts and pepper cookies can vary a bit from recipie to recipie.
But most recipies have cinamon, ginger or/and cloves and sometimes pepper.
The recipe I know, from Denmark, is with clove, cinnamon and a tiny amount of pepper. And almonds and candied cedrat.
Rolled into ropes 15mm diameter (19/32"), cut into 15mm lengths and baked till hard / brittle.
Lots of variations!!
I make these at Christmas but we call them by their German name, Pfeffernusse . I usually add a but of anise, as well.
That sounds delicious!
You are 100% Correct and they are yummy too!
Are those crunchy? Dutch pepernoten aren't, and also feature aniseed.
Thank you for sharing the history and little known facts about the recipes. Watching you is the best of my day.
Oh, I'm adding this to my repertoire! And while I'm at it, I'll experiment with various other spices added such as cinnamon/clove/ginger. I also think a cheese/peppernut might be interesting.
My mother and grandmother used to make these. When my grandmother made them, she dipped them in a plain icing. Mother would shake them in a bag of powered sugar. They also had course ground pecans in them.
I love the family connection- could make for a new videos around that content.
This is very different from the pfeffernüße recipe I use that has honey, molasses & lebkuchengewürz. Certainly not saying anything is wrong with that, but it's fascinating how recipes mutate over time!
yes, i have always had it with gingerbread spices 😋
Got a recipe? Would be much appreciated.
I have a cookbook that has a chapter on cookies and then an entire chapter on peppernuts. Because not only does everyone have a different version of what a peppernut is, but everyone insists that theirs is the proper way to make them, and the author obviously didn't want to offend anyone. (She also was trying to make an archive, so the different styles needed to be represented.)
Kudos for reusing the parchment. I do love the stuff, but I find it problematic to use something so disposable so I use it several times. And I love pfefferneusse.
It's funny where are grandparents and great parent grandparents used black pepper. My grandma and I'm almost 68 was born in 1900 and she used between 1/8 and 1/4 of teaspoon of coarse ground only fresh black pepper along with the other spices in her apple pie it was amazing it just did something to the pie
@@GracefulHaka her pie was absolutely excellent I don't know if it was the pepper or if it was the grandma made it. I hope you like it
@@GracefulHaka, let us know! Served with ice cream or cheese?
The amount of flour required can vary due to seasonal humidity and processing. My paternal grandmother would flour her hands if she was shaping a cookie ball recipe, but cookie scoops (a later culinary innovation) work just as well. Her recipe had allspice (Jamaican pepper).
Sweet. Have you ever made a pfferneuse cookie. Uses black pepper also, but it’s dark brown and contains cloves. A delicious German cookie.
My grandmother made these every Christmas. I haven't had one since the 1970's, I was wanting to make them last year, but couldn't not remember the name or even how to begin to look up a recipe. I think she called them by their German name. She also rolled them in powdered sugar with more pepper in it to finish them. They were small and crunchy but had a soft interior.
Refrigerate the dough for easy rolling into little balls, then press them down slightly with a fork to make an imprint resembling a walnut or pecan. We had fun doing it as kids...My Grandma's we're crunchy with a sort of chewy soft center. Very similar to the texture of a nut. Scrumptious!
My brother-in-law makes a rolled chocolate cookie with pepper, which is a favorite with all our friends and everyone in the family, including me, and I don't even care about chocolate. I would never had thought of pepper in sweet foods, but now I know better! Pepper is good with strawberries, too.
Love that the Tic Toc crowd is watching this wonderful channel!
After your video we made these based on listed ingredients, except before adding pepper, SWMBO split the dough in half. 1/2 Black pepper, other half was ginger, clove, cardimen, allspice, nutmeg, & Cinnamon. Both versions very good.
Visited a friend, who like lemon so made a simple stiff frosting of 1 part lemon juice to 2 parts powdered suger to stick 2 flat cookies together.
Another great recipe, thank you.
Oh wow, I grew up with these but I didn't know until I read the comments! I had never heard the English name. Now I want some and might have to enlist my 90-year-old mother to help me out.
Love old family recipes! Definitely tried and tested until perfect 🥰
Cool variation.
You gotta make Chef John’s version of Pfeffernussen. Interesting technique. No butter and no creaming and more spices, plus a lemon flavoured glaze that is killer.
The use Karo syrup is definitely a widwestern americanization, and it's so endearing.
I’ve never heard of these before, but since Katie is from Saint Cloud and so am I then I feel like I need to try making them some time!
There are two kinds of Karo: dark and light. Light has a little vanilla flavoring. Dark is comparable to beehive. Neither have high fructose corn syrup.
Katie: thank you for the recipe! I’ve never heard of these cookies. I will be making them soon.
A great way to start the day!
They look lovely i bet they would also be good with cardamom as it is a lemony peppery flavored spice. I always do these kind of cookies by teaspoon sized drops of dough. They look like a lovely tea/coffee dunking type of cookie.
My Grandma used to make these but I didn't remember that she called them peppernuts. She made them really small, about the size of a peanut. I never had the patience to make a batch of them, but I LOVED eating them.
Yum. Peppernuts are a Christmas cookie. They are delicious.
Several friends make these and they are all native Minnesotans, now living in Minneapolis but originally from up north in Duluth, they are very tiny, rolled into ropes and cut and crunchy
Katie, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with all of us.
And thanks to Glen for making them here on the channel. I am wondering if Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup would work?
Glen, This is so cool. That letter made my day!
Looks like a winner 👍🏻
Karo Dark Syrup ingredients are: corn syrup, salt, vanilla, refiners/cane syrup, caramel flavor, sodium benzoate, by the way.
The ones I made where called Peppernuts Cookies (Pfeffernüsse Cookies) and used a special spice blend
Do you remember what was in it? There were a few recipes we tried to get like my German Grandfather said his mother made, but could never get the seasoning correct.
@@joantrotter3005a while ago I saw a recipe for Peppernuts for the first time. Unfortunately, I cannot recall where. But I did record the spice blend. Not sure if it comes anywhere near what you are looking for ... 1 tsp cardamom, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp anise, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp white pepper. I would blend these spices together and use whatever total " spice" quantity you have used in your cookie recipe. I suspect that this is a modern take on the flavours, but it sounded interesting.
The name peppernut makes me think of Christmas and eating Peppernotten. Little walnut sized cookies that taste suspiciously like Voortman Windmill Cookies with black pepper.
This is very different from what I think of as peppernuts in Norway. They are more like small rounded gingerbread cookies and contains other spices in addition to pepper, often cloves and star anise. Also, I'm used to not creaming the butter and sugar, but heating the syrup, sugar, cream, spices and salt in a pan and then adding the flour and baking soda to that.
Pfeffernüsse - it is an American version of the German classic. Use honey instead of corn syrup and add some more spices to the black pepper - muskat, anis, ginger, ... and you have the German version. Cover with sugar glaze to get hard outer shell (nut) while retaining the soft and moist cookie inside.
I love the pepper flavor in cookies!
Sounds awesome! We make some Italian cookies with pepper that are probably related and they're great!
Glen, if you want to try a Norwegian recipie from a 1965 cookbook for pepper nuts, I will try to translate it:
1dl=100ml
ts=teaspoon
Syrup most likely is golden from cane or beet.
The lemon and almond would be essence or extract.
I think the amount of hartshorn is to small to affect the taste, so baking powder probably can be used.
This recipie is for about 150 nuts.
250g syrup (ca 1-3/4dl)
200g sugar (ca 2-1/4dl)
125g butter
1-1/2 ts ginger
1-1/2 ts coriander
1 ts cloves
1 ts pepper
5 droplets lemon
5 droplets almond
2 small eggs
1/2 ts hartshorn/powdered baking ammonia
500g flour (ca8-1/4dl)
Method
Bring the syrup and sugar to a boil.
Pour over the butter.
Add spices and essences.
Whip the eggs.
Sift the flour mixed with the hartshorn and the eggs in the syrup/butter mix, alternating.
Mix swift to combine to a dough.
Rest for a few hours a cool place.
Roll small balls and press a bit flat(press gently I'm thinking).
Bake at 175 celsius for 8-10min.
It has been decades since I’ve heard the name “Peppernuts.” My great Grandmother used to always have these in a tin when we visited. It is the only place/time I’ve ever seen and/or had them. They were the size of your thumb (pecan-sized) and very very hard. I never considered them a cookie...just Great Grandmother’s treats. I do remember it was an odd taste (for a child) as I was only 5 or 6 when I first tried them. I do recall that they were dusted with a white substance (likely powdered sugar). My Great Grandmother was an immigrant from Germany from the 19th Century (post-civil war). These should not be soft and/or chewy. You have piqued my interest so I need to go search for the recipe. I always enjoy your channel. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Katie!
So on the farm we had these with the same name, but with cinnamon, anise and ginger...funny how recipes differ either way, I love how these get passed down generations...need to it keep em going !
Just Wow
When I was little, some time ago. They were small and crunchy. Thanks for the great memories. Great video's.
My favorite episode. It goes up there with all the great PBS programs!
My mother made these cookies, hers had powdered sugar, also was told they go with red wine, I like them with coffee.
Karo is regular corn syrup, and the light corn syrup does contain vanilla flavor. Only their maple-flavored pancake syrup contains HFCS. In the United States, high-fructose corn syrup isn’t readily available for consumers to buy. It’s typically only sold to industry in 5-gallon containers (or bigger).
beatifull
Good show as always thank you. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing your shows 😊
In the Netherlands we call these Pepernoten (which means exactly the same) and they are almost always soft like how you made them. They are traditionally eaten around the feast of Sinterklaas (December 5th), which is a germanic version of Santa Claus.
Love pepper nuts they are smaller and harder. Love them with coffee, or as a side with ice cream.
I always reuse my parchment paper several times if it did not get too messy.
Danish pebernødder (literally translates to pepper nuts) are much smaller than these, not even a quarter of the size, they're almost round and not at all flat, and they're definitely meant to be very crunchy
My Danish recipe calls for potash in the recipe. Definitely adds to the taste.
And yet Dutch pepernoten (also littl. Pepper nuts) contain aniseed and are supposed to be chewy. Kruidnoten (spice nuts) are brittle and crunchy.
Good morning. Karo has no high fructose corn syrup and is the same as what you used except it has caramel flavoring instead of vanilla
The dark Karo has caramel flavoring, but the light has vanilla. And you are 100% right: no HFCS in Karo corn syrups.
Nice video, Glen, and thank you Katie for sharing with us too!
Glen look up pfeffernusse cookies “pepper nut cookies” very common in Kansas which had a lot of German settlers. You cookie probably came from this German cookie. I’ve never seen a black pepper Used in this cookie. Roll the dough in a thin 1/4 inch rope and cut thumb size pieces. going to try your version because I don’t like anise flavor they add they added to other warm spices
Was surprised they actually have pepper in them. From the title I thought it would be something like the Dutch Pepernoten which have nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and aniseed. I wonder if this recipe is the origin of those?
Fantastic recipe Katie, thank you for sharing it..!
Great job as usual Glenn, we live about an hour and a half west of Cairo, Georgia where Kayro ("Kay-row") syrup originated..
Glen have you ever thought about publishing a cook book of your favorite old recipes from your cook book collection, and maybe some of the more interesting ones your viewers have sent in to you? I bet you could write a whole book yourself about how recipe formats and measurements have changed over the years, you probably have already done all the research you would need to do from making your videos.
Nice video! As I already expected 😊
I love black pepper so im going to try these! So interesting!!!!
In Wisconsin we call these Pfeffernuse a traditional Christmas cookie. My Grandma made these every year. Grandma's did not have the cream, not as much corn syrup, did have anise & sometimes caraway seeds.
My bottle of Karo Light Corn Syrup says "With Real Vanilla" right on the front. And the ingredients are Corn Syrup, Salt, Vanilla. I would assume if it was HFCS it would have to say that on the label somewhere. So there you go! Great Grandma's Peppernuts look really good and I will be trying them this weekend! 😃
I see Glen is going down the pfefferneusse hole.
I have a Danish recipe for peppernuts that uses potash for leavening. The are balls and crunchy.
As a German (from the Rhineland) - all the peppernuts I can remember eating were soft, and coated in a sugar glazing. But then again, my (quite extended) family doesn't have any peppernut recipes - they all make a bunch of other cookie types for Christmas. And yeah, they're very much considered a Christmas kinda deal here.
So long story short: I *think* that I only every ate "industrially produced" peppernuts (like, I bought them in supermarkets). Which, naturally, means they were homogenized for all markets (regional differences matter _a lot_ in Germany, not only when it comes to food), and not nearly as tasty as the home-made stuff. I'm actually intrigued by the idea of peppernut flavor in a crumbly biscuit.
For those interested, per the ingredients on the side of the bottle, Karo Dark Corn Syrup: (No High Fructose Corn Syrup):
Corn syrup, Refiner's syrup, Caramel flavor, Salt, Sodium Benzoate (To protect quality), Caramel color.
So Dark Karo has a bit of flavoring added, but it is caramel instead of the vanilla in the syrup used here.
Totally pfeffernuse! Love these.
Love this
Pfeffernusse cookies! Like my mom made. I’m from Northfield, Minnesota.
Smaller, and crunchy is how ours at home come out. But I imagine there are variations among the mennonitische diaspora.
Try ammonia cookies next 😋😋😋
In bygone times "pepper" was a catch-all term for spices.
right...they're supposed to contain spices like cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, mace, and anise. not JUST black pepper. personally, i can't see why you'd only use black pepper....
The Crown is closer to Karo, FWIW. Since it contains vanilla.
This is also known as the German Mennonite cookie PFEFFERNUSSE. They would roll the dough in a log thin roll. The cookie was about the size of a button. I remember the recipe made dozens of cookies.
Although Mennonite pfeffernusse have the same name as these ones, the Mennonite type is more like Dutch cookies called pepernoten or kruidnoten. I recently made a "small" batch which made 320 little cookies.
My grandmother had a very similar recipe, but used peppermint instead of black pepper.
A completely different taste! She also made them the size of quarters, and not as big as you did here.
Since this is from Minnesota I assume it is a recipe from Scandinaivian immigrants, that means they are supposed to be crunchy and crumbly. Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter are small halfdome teaspoon size cookies made for Christmas. It is sort of a variation on Gingerbread. They are also extremely popular in the Netherlands where they are called Kruidnoten, in english Spicenuts. Supermarkets there sell them in crazy amounts for the late autumn and Christmas season.
I am Danish and make Peppernødder!
If I had cookies that size, I would eat them like potato chips. LOL
Almost correct. We Dutch have both pepernoten and kruidnoten, not the same thing. Although many mistakenly call both pepernoten. If the half dome cookies are crunchy they are similar to kruidnoten. The pepernoten are chewy and are a bit like lebkuchen.
@@MaltAndPepper I am not sure what you mean by almost correct. I know from experince that Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter and Kruidnoten are the respective countries version of the same type of cookie. Recipes can of course vary a little, but basically what you are looking for is a small domed crunchy thing. I was referencing these because Glen said he had seen people disagreeing if Pepernuts should be soft or crunchy. As Minnesota, where this recipe was from, has a high proportion of people with Scandinavian ancestry I am assuming that it is the Scandinavian version of this little cookie that is the starting point. The Dutch Pepernoten, while having a name that directly translates to Pepernuts, would not have anything to do with what is called Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter, also directly translated into Pepernuts, in Scandinavia. Possibly confusion between the Dutch Pepernoten which are soft as you say and the Scandinavian Peppernødder/peppernøtter/pepparnötter which are crunchy is what leads to North America not being able to decided what is what.
Adding a tablespoon of mint extract might be interesting ... 😎👍
peppermints are a Christmas tradition for my family (Manitoba Mennonite). I have such a strong emotional attachment to them, despite not actually liking them that much.. Regarding shape/size: the ones my mom makes are much smaller. She rolls the dough into snakes about a cm in diameter and cuts them into little disks from there. Baked until crunchy. You suck on them more than chew.