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"Printen" traditional German recipe
I love baking Printen. As a traditional Aachen pastry, they are an absolute must at Christmas time. With their spicy mixture of honey, rock candy and gingerbread spice, they are always a delicious and festive addition. Through years of practice, I have refined my Printen recipe time and time again and I look forward to sharing it with you.
Ingredients
- 500 g rye flour
- 200 g sugar beet syrup
- 125 g Brown sugar candy
- 2 TL gingerbread powder
- 1 TL Staghorn salt
- 125 ml water
- 50 g Candied orange and lemon peel, finely chopped
- 50 g Almonds
- Powdered sugar for dusting
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Directions
Place the rock candy in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Allow the sugar to dissolve completely. This step is very important for the consistency of the Printen, so be patient.
Add the sugar beet syrup, gingerbread spice and staghorn salt. Stir everything well until it is completely mixed.
Add the rye flour and knead everything into a firm dough. Work thoroughly - lumps of flour can affect the quality of the pastry.
When the dough is firm, work in the candied orange peel and candied lemon peel. Then cover the dough and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least one night. This resting time is essential to give the dough its typical consistency and allow the flavors to develop.
The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out very thinly on a floured work surface. Cut out the Printen and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Now press an almond onto each Printe.
Bake the Printen in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 15-20 minutes. Make sure that they do not get too dark.
Leave the Printen to cool on a cake rack. Then dust them with powdered sugar while still warm. Leave them to "mature" for a few more days before enjoying the Aachener Printen. They taste simply heavenly!