Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Icing (Perníčky)

Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Icing (Perníčky)

Pernicky, delightful Christmas cookies from the Czech Republic, are infused with the aromatic spices of cloves, anise, and cinnamon. Adorned with sugar icing, these treats are a cherished staple on every Czech Christmas table!

Course cookies

Cuisine Czech

Keyword Christmas cookies, Honey recipes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Resting time 1

Total Time 1 30

Servings pieces

Calories 77kcal

Author Petra Kupská

Ingredients

Czech gingerbread spice:

1 anise star
½ teaspoon anise seed
4 cloves
3 allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pernicky dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons bee honey
½ stick unsalted butter melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon dark cocoa powder unsweetened
½ Tablespoon Czech gingerbread spice see the list of spices above

Sugar icing:

½ egg white
1 cup icing sugar
1 Tablespoon potato starch

Misc.:

1 egg yolk to brush the baked Pernicky cookies for a shiny look

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Grind the gingerbread spices: 1 anise star, ½ teaspoon anise seed, 4 cloves, 3 allspice, and remove any larger particles by sifting the mixture through a coarse sieve. Mix the ground spices with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Melt ½ stick unsalted butter and, if your 3 Tablespoons bee honey are granulated, melt them as well.
Mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon dark cocoa powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda, then sift these dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add ¾ cup powdered sugar, ½ Tablespoon Czech gingerbread spice, 1 egg, melted butter, and honey.
First, use a fork to mix the ingredients until they form compact chunks. Then, carefully transfer the mixture onto a work surface and knead it by hand into a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
Wrap the Pernicky dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Roll out the rested dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of about ⅛ inch. Cut out your desired shapes from the dough, carefully lift them with a pastry spatula, and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 325 °F and bake the pernicky cookies for 8 minutes. The baking time depends on the cookie size; smaller ones need less time, while larger shapes will require a minute or two longer in the oven.
If you want your gingerbread cookies to have a shiny surface, prepare 1 egg yolk in a bowl and beat it with a fork. As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, brush them thinly with the yolk. The heat from the gingerbread will cause the egg yolk to firm up, creating a glossy layer.
Prepare the sugar icing by sifting 1 cup icing sugar and 1 Tablespoon potato starch into a bowl. Add ½ egg white and mix well until you achieve a thick glaze. The icing should be thick enough that, when you scoop it with a spoon, it doesn't run off but falls down in chunks.
Pour the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a #2 or #3 piping tip and decorate the gingerbread cookies to your liking. Allow the iced cookies to dry overnight before placing them in a box.

Notes

The basic recipe makes about 30 pernicky cookies (depends on their size)
STORAGE: When removed from the oven, the Pernicky cookies are crispy. To soften them, place them in a paper box with a lid. Line the paper box with kitchen paper towels and stack the gingerbread inside. Cover the box and store it in a cool, dark place. The breathable paper box allows the gingerbread to absorb moisture, softening the cookies over time.
If you want soft pernicky for Christmas, bake them 3-4 weeks in advance and store them as described above.
The most popular gingerbread cookie cutters in the Czech Republic include star, comet, gingerbread man, bell, Christmas tree, angel, or fish shapes.

Nutrition